Tags

, , ,

09:45.

A quiet night in a hotel in Rotterdam has allowed me to start catching up on sleep after a very hectic week. I resisted the temptation to go out and explore yesterday and elected to stay in my room with a beer and a laptop in order to catch up with the volume of pictures I’ve been taking this past week. Food was provided by a little Persian supermarket around the corner where I bought the Iranian version of the Greek Dolmades (stuffed vine leaves). Only the main ingredient in Dolmeh appears to be chickpeas rather than rice. They were delicious!

Now I’m about to check out of my hotel to spend the day exploring the city before heading to the Hook of Holland to catch the night boat. Sadly, this one isn’t to Cairo but back to Brexit Britain run by the asset strippers of the Tory party…

13:30.

I’m taking a short break to rest my weary bones and enjoy the sun having spent the past few hours wandering miles around Rotterdam. I’ve realised that I’ve not bee here since 2007 when I was working for a French firm who build train simulators. In one way it seems like the blink of an eye, in other ways it’s a lifetime. Here’s a few phone piics from my wanderings. As you can imagine, my real camera has been kept very busy!

I love the mix of architecture here. I spotted these doors on a building opposite my hotel.
Rotterdam is a city built for people, not for cars.
The old docks and a preserved ‘Sik’ (Goat) shunting engine.
A memorial to Jewish children killed in the war.
As you can imagine, there’s plenty of bridges here. The tall one is a former railway bridge.
The view from where I’m sitting right now.

20:00.

I’m finally on my way to the Hook of Holland after a lovely day exploring the city. There’s so much that I could write about the place and my experiences through the day, but here’s a few. Holland is a melting pot. I passed and took photos of a silent march by members of the Muslim faith where the sole purpose was to remind people that no-one is free of opression. I had a lovely chat with one of the stewards whi saw my interest. Heading back to thr hotel I popped in to a Persian supermarket to buy some if the delicacies I’d seen last night. I had a chat with the lovely he old guy running it where he talked about what’s happening in Iran right now. When I got to the metro station and started poring over the map a chap of Indisn origin worked out I was English and offered to help. We struck up a conversation as he was Sri Lankan but had livef in the Netherlands for 40 years whereas I’ve been a regular visitor to the island. I love these chance meetings and interatctions.

21:40.

It’s time to say goodnight. I’m now on the ferry back to Britain and there’s no free wifi on this one. See you on the other side as they say…