Gallivanting Grandma

Tuesday – August 22, 2017

We sailed away from Rotterdam, The Netherlands yesterday afternoon and cruised southward along the English Channel between Great Britain and France.  Fortunately, the wind was light and the seas were calm last night.

Rotterdam marks the end of our eastward cruise and the beginning of the return westbound cruise.  Or, looking at it another way, the midpoint between the circuit.  The first half passed very quickly and there are several exciting ports ahead on our way back to Boston.  We even travel around the northern part of Iceland near the Arctic Circle.

Because we’re heading westward, we had to set our clocks ahead one hour.  Maybe I’ll catch up on lost sleep during several time changes cruising to Europe.  It was a clear day with blue skies.  Ships are passing on both sides of the Rotterdam because we’re in a major shipping channel.

The Irish government sent two officials onboard to stamp our non-EU passports this morning.  Not a bad job.  They fly to Rotterdam, work one morning, enjoy leisure time onboard, and disembark in Dublin.  Similar to the Ice Pilots who rode with us from Greenland to Reykjavik.  I now have an Ireland stamp in my passport in anticipation of going ashore tomorrow in Dublin.

We have a new Captain abroad because the other one retired from active duty in Rotterdam and will have an office job for three months of the year.  The new Captain is Eric van de Wal and he seems happy and excited about his new position.  He’s more visible than the previous captain.  We saw Captain Eric in the Lido smiling and laughing with crew members.

The cruise social director, Jan, packed in lots of activities to keep us from getting too bored today.  There are several lectures we want to attend, also movies, games, art auctions, Casino, gym classes, and live shows tonight.

Lectures today: excursions and sights to see in Dublin, Liverpool, Douglas on the Isle of Mann; Arctic Explorations presented by Dr. Hannesson; and The Other Side of the Moon presented by the meteorologist, Dr. Bendel.

Monday – August 21, 2017

We were docked in the city of Rotterdam for two days to mark the middle of the cruise and load the ship for our return trip to Boston.  Some passengers disembarked this morning and a few more boarded to take their place.  We could have done half the cruise but since the itineraries were different we decided to complete the circle; leave from Boston and return to Boston.  On the way back to North America we’re going to stop at three more towns in northern Iceland and visit another town in Greenland.

Yesterday we took a one-hour bus ride from Rotterdam to Amsterdam because we wanted to visit the Rijks Museum.  Today we planned to see the city of Rotterdam – our ship’s namesake.

First we had to get our passports stamped and go through an abbreviated customs procedure.  Afterwards, we took the shuttle bus from our side of the harbor across the Erasmus Bridge over the Maas River to the “Centrum” of Rotterdam.  We stood on the corner and looked around at the buildings and noticed the variety of architectural diversity which surrounded us.  Contemporary architect must have had great fun designing all the multi-purpose “modern” buildings in Rotterdam.

Down the street were the “Cube Houses” which looked like rectangular prisms stacked and mounted on tall columns. When we approached the Cube Houses we realized we could walk through a center courtyard.  Light streamed in between angles of the rectangles.  One of the houses was open to the public so we paid 2 Euros and climbed the steep stairs into the cube.

There were three levels: living room/kitchen on the first; bath & bedrooms on the second.  An attic with slanted walls and skylights was on the top floor.  The house was small, modern, and compact with circular stairs, but it seemed like it could be a fun place to live for young people.  Price tag: 250,000 Euros.

There was a steel structure in the middle of the plaza which looked like a flying saucer.  We discovered that it was the roof of the train station.

The market was built in the center of the base of an apartment building and painted with huge murals.  The market was a huge food/restaurant center with international restaurants and cafes.  We walked through and around the stalls surprised at the choices: Turkish, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, French, Italian, Greek, Thai, Spanish, and Mexican.  I’m not sure how to categorize a “spicy sushi burrito.”  Free Wifi in the market meant that many people (some from our ship) were hanging around staring at their devices.

The hours passed quickly and we took the shuttle bus back to the ship in time to have a very late lunch.  I tried to post my blog in the ship’s terminal with about a hundred other Wifi deprived seniors.  Unfortunately, it didn’t work so I returned to the ship in plenty of time for our 4:00 sailing.

Jeff and I went out to the top rear deck for the Cast Away Party to watch the Rotterdam pull away from the dock.  She blared her horn and off we went down the Maas River and out to the Atlantic Ocean.  It took two and a half hours to get beyond the last buoy marking the entrance to the harbor.  We stood for the duration and watched the huge, seemingly endless commercial Port of Rotterdam go by.  We learned it is the third largest commercial port in the world after Singapore and Shanghai.

I was happy that we explored Rotterdam today.  Several years ago when we were in Holland, we had decided not to see Rotterdam because it was a commercial city.  We had no idea that it was such an appealing and interesting city.  We only scratched the surface of ‘things to see’ so it would be fun to return someday.

Sunday – August 20, 2017

It was a rough ride last night on the ship as it cruised south from Norway to Rotterdam.  The wind was blowing 45 knots and the inky sea churned with large waves topped with whitecaps.  The outside decks were closed to passengers for their safety.  Our stateroom creaked and shook as it rolled side to side.  Walking was a challenge and we had to hold on to railings or walls in order to move around the ship.

Sometime during the night, the Rotterdam left the wild ocean behind and turned into the calm Maas River. Everything became quiet and serene.  It took several hours for the ship to slowly move up the river to its namesake city: Rotterdam.  This is the half-way point of our cruise. We have traveled 4487 nautical miles from Boston.  Tomorrow afternoon the ship will leave Rotterdam and begin our journey westward back to Boston.

I awoke at 5:50AM and was surprised that the ship wasn’t swaying.  I had set an alarm for six because we had to catch a 7:30 bus to Amsterdam.  We were ready in plenty of time to board our bus for the hour-long ride to one of our favorite cities.  We had been to Amsterdam twice before and we knew there was a lot to see and do.

On our last visit, the Rijksmuseum was closed.  It had been closed for major renovation for several years and reopened last year.  The Rijksmuseum is a world class museum on a level with the Louvre or the Metropolitan in NY and I was eager to see it.

The building looks like a giant castle with ornate turrets and interesting features.  Inside and down one level, there was a central glass covered reception area. The cafe overlooked this area and the gift shop was below.

We wandered around for a while admiring the collection then went to the Dutch Masters’ galleries.  The museum had a wonderful collection of Rembrandt’s paintings.  It also owns several Vermeers which were on exhibit.

After we walked around for a couple of hours we were tired and took a coffee break in the cafe.  We realized the weather was sunny and warm so we decided to leave the museum and enjoy the outside.  We took the exit on the other side of the museum to see one of the wonderful Amsterdam canals.  Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people on bicycles were out riding around on a lovely summer day.  There was a busy arts & crafts fair and international food market around a pool.

We had fun looking around, snacking, and walking through the market.  There were lots of local people and tourists.

As it approached two o’clock, we went back to the bus stop for the ride back to Rotterdam.  It was a pleasant ride through the countryside.  After resting in the bus, we wanted to see some of Rotterdam, so we walked across the Erasmus Bridge to see what was on the other side.  There were beautiful views of the city and the M. S. Rotterdam, our ship.

We walked a little way and discovered the outside section of the Rotterdam Maritime Museum.  They had a wonderful collection of antique commercial ships in the harbor which were in excellent restored condition.  The wide variety of ships and boats was amazing!

Across the harbor there were many large old boats tied to the piers which people lived on.  Further on there was a restored Lightship which was used as a restaurant.

We discovered a “water taxi” stand and joined a short line of people who were waiting for the next taxi to go to the “New York Hotel.”  We knew this was near our ship so we hopped on.  The young woman driver collected our fare of five Euros each and we sped off down the river.  We learned later that a Water Taxis was the fastest way to get around Rotterdam.

The DHG Water Taxi depot was near the original restored Holland America Line building which is now the New York Hotel.  The new Cruise Terminal was built up the street from the old building.  The Holland American ships still dock at the same place near their old headquarters.  There was more than a little bit of nostalgia attached to the original building.

It was a short walk for us to our ship.  We rested up for a while, had dinner, and walked on the top deck to take night pictures.  What a fantastic city Rotterdam is!