Hetty had told us last night that she had to leave the hotel about 9:00 a.m. to go to Central Station by tram, and said that we could come with her if we wanted. Even though she said it was “very easy” we took her up on her offer, as nothing is easy when you're unfamiliar with the little things like having exact change for the tram, using the ticket machine at the airport that won't take credit cards, how to find where to go in a train station where the signage scheme assumes you go through that station daily. It was really nice to have Hetty's help, as she made our process of getting tickets to Rotterdam seamless; without her help, we would have gotten the job done, but probably only after a good half hour of trial-and-error frustration.
So on we traveled to Rotterdam, passing through tulip fields that we weren't expecting, so the camera didn't make it out of the bag until we'd passed the best views of the many colors of tulips, but we did get one picture. They were amazing. We saw a couple of old windmills, too, and hoped to see more before we left the Netherlands. After about an hour train trip, we got to Rotterdam. Mary had given us her address and directions to their home, which is in the center of Rotterdam and only a few blocks from Central Station, so we set out. We got directions from a couple people along the way, but found our way to Mary's door, complete with her name on their doorbell. She came to the door and we told her we were the homeless Americans that she was waiting for. She was every bit as warm and welcoming as her brother Steve, one of my law partners, had said she would be!
We went into the home Mary shares with her husband, Renee, who is a native of Rotterdam and relaxed and visited. Renee was at work. Mary Sue had been at the University of South Dakota at the same time we were there in the early 70's but we hadn't known each other. But South Dakota being what it is, we had many mutual friends, not to mention Mary's brother Steve, and her other two brothers who I'd met through Steve. So we had more than enough to talk about, including over the great soup and sandwich lunch Mary prepared for us.
We rested for a couple of hours then the three of us set out on a little walking tour of downtown Rotterdam. As we'd learned from the Dutch Resistance Museum yesterday, Rotterdam was flattened by German bombs in May of 1940, so unlike most cities of Europe, the buildings are mostly new, with her modern architecture almost seeming to make a determined, if not defiant, statement of moving on. We were glad to see that there are parts of the city that survived the bombings, so some of the beautiful, old architecture remains. We walked to the port and watched ships and boats coming and going. Our little grandsons, Alex and Gabe, would have really gotten a big kick out of that. Rotterdam is the second biggest port in the world and is quite busy! On the way home, we stopped in a little shop that sells marijuana and hash-which are legal here. It was quite busy also!
When we got back to the house, Rene was home from work. He works as a draftsman for the City of Rotterdam. With all of the building that continues to go on still, after the bombings of WW II, Rene keeps very busy. Job security! We had a great dinner that Mary prepared. She's a terrific cook, having honed her skills at the Wine 'N Del in Vermillion. It was so good to have a home-made meal after so many restaurant dinners! After dinner, Renee rented a “Green Car” so that we could take a little driving tour of Rotterdam in the twilight. Because they live in the center of the city, where cars are a hassle, they don't own one! When they need or want a car, they go online and reserve a car that is parked in their neighborhood, take it for, say, an hour, and return it to its parking spot. The car is accessed with a card that you swipe across a chip that is in the windshield. Really slick! And, as they say, “green.” In their daily routines, they get around the city by walking, public transportation or bicycle. We found ourselves envious of being able to get around that way, and not having the trouble and expense of owning several cars!
We look forward to seeing more of the area around Rotterdam tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment