Rotterdam, Netherland

A trip is Holland was in order for me and Olga as we needed a weekend break after the Christmas period. Instead of flying, we choose to go by Eurolines from Victoria coach station in central London for an amazing 52pounds return each. This was the first time I went to Victoria coach station, and I won't be going back in a hurry. Dirty, gritty, run-down, and when it came to the actual coach, no organization as there is at other European coach stations, and no reserved seating.

Anyway, after getting told off by the driver for having hot food on board the coach and made to throw it away, we left London very quickly and traveled through the Kent countryside in the middle of the night to our destination out of England, the port of Dover. We missed our ferry thanks to other passengers not having the right documents to enter France.

So, after a choppy trip over the channel, we arrived into France, and after that, slept all the way until we reached Amstel in the outskirts of Amsterdam.

First impressions of Holland (or basically) the transport system in Amsterdam was good. Very reliable ticket machines, English spoken, and easy to get to the centre of the city, five stops on the metro. Apart from the graffiti inside the trains, a first good impression. This is my first time in the country of the low lands by the sea, (country number 27 for me) and straight away, instead of going into Amsterdam as many tourists would, we grab lunch, left our stuff in the lockers at the station and got on an early morning train to Rotterdam.

On a dull, grey, windy and wet morning, Rotterdam just looks like any other city in Europe.

All apartments, people walking to work or the shops, and nothing interesting at first. The main train station is getting a major make over and business buildings with amazing architecture. We walked through the centre, looking at the Euromast in the far distance. Could have gone up it, but with low clouds it wasn't worth it. We carried on and found these cube shaped houses by the Oude Haven. Just look at the photos to see the weird cube liked houses which were built in the 80's. There was a museum so we walked in, up the stairs and paid 2 euros each. Built on three floors, the rooms were so small, artistic and groovy. Not much floor space when all the furniture is all in place, and makes me wonder how the homeowners get the stuff up the bendy staircase. Apart from that, there was a market and a shopping centre, so then we made our way back to the train station for a train to Den Haag (The Hague)