The last two weeks have been rather busy but I now have a 14 hour bus ride ahead of me so what else to do besides blog?
As an early birthday present, my aunt (mom’s sister) gave me an overnight stay in Rotterdam with her as my tour guide. After class on Friday I hopped on the train to Rotterdam and met her at the central station. We were both rather bundled up because it was cold and windy but we braved the elements to explore the city at night.
Rotterdam is second largest city in the Netherlands (population wise) and definitely the most modern of the cities. This is because it was heavily bombed during the Second World War and had to be almost entirely reconstructed after. The city is full of bold architecture but I have zero knowledge in that realm so all I can say about is that is was really interesting and cool. Rotterdam also wins as the biggest port in Europe (according to Wikipedia) but Antwerp is not far behind. In Rotterdam, there happens to be a pedestrian bridge made with wooden planks, one of which says Canada Hinlopens. Unfortunately, the building next to it is under construction so I could not see our plank but hopefully when I go back in April it will be open. We did still stop by just to check it out.
Next we headed to the Markt Hall aka my new favourite place on earth. The building itself had a unique design and a super high ceiling but the best part was the entire building was tiled with fruit and vegetables. There were a bunch of different stands selling fruit, veggies, charcuterie and all types of cuisine. A bit pricey maybe but my nose and eyes (and stomach) were in heaven. We shared some nachos and shoarma for dinner in the hall and then went to a coffee stand, where I had some delicious cinnamon hot chocolate. Sounds pretty normal but actually they steam the milk for you and you can pick from over 50 flavours of chocolate on a popsicle stick to mix into the milk. Now I realize this is not a new concept but it was my first experience with chocolate on a stick and it is definitely not my last because I ended up buying four different flavours. Only 45 left to try after that.
Post me pretty much fangirling over a market hall, we walked a bit more through the city before taking a water taxi to our hotel for the night. Much to my surprise we pulled up to an even bigger boat (technically a ship I think?) known as the SS Rotterdam. This was the transatlantic liner from the Netherlands to the United States during the 1960s and then became a cruise ship that was in use until 2000. Approaching the SS Rotterdam by water taxi put the size of the cruise ship into perspective when compared to the little taxi boat. Although it is just an inanimate object, I felt connected to the SS Rotterdam immediately. If my parents or other family had immigrated to Canada 55 years ago instead of 27, they would have been on it with the many others who immigrated from the Netherlands during the 1960s. I definitely appreciate planes a little more though considering how long the journey to get here would have been without them.
We explored the boat briefly before attempting to go to bed. However, just as we were crawling under the sheets, the alarm goes off… because life is never dull. We quickly threw back on our warm clothes and went to the meeting spot on dry land. By now it 11 pm, snowing and super windy. As terrible as it sounds, I am very glad I was not a young kid just woken up and standing there in my pyjamas. The hotel did bring us blankets and we were back inside before 11:45 so all is well that ends well. Just a little late night excitement to end the evening.
Saturday morning we stepped outside to a winter wonderland in Rotterdam and made the trek across the Erasmus Bridge to my aunt’s hairdresser. We had a super small breakfast so about halfway there I felt the hangry coming. Luckily, my aunt had an oatmeal cookie with her so I quickly returned to my regular blood sugar levels. The hairdresser also served us coffee and a cookie so I was back to happy camper status. My aunt treated me to a luxurious hair wash, with 20 minute head massage and deep conditioner. Soooo relaxing and my frizz was gone for about a week thanks to the conditioner. After a very lovely girly morning, we followed with a lunch at Jamie’s Italian in the Markt Hall. I am not going to dwell on it much because I am not sure when my next real meal will be after this bus ride and I am already hungry. Obviously, it was carb-filled and delicious and there was no trace left of the morning’s hangry episode nor food on any of the plates.
With ful stomachs and glorious hair we continued our exploration of Rotterdam via a boat tour of the ginormous harbour. The size of some of the ships that lay in the harbour was impressive but in all honestly, I suffer from an inability to stay awake on boats, in trains and cars, so I might have missed a ship fun fact or two. The food coma definitely did not help divert the sleepiness but it was worth it. Just look at the photos above… After a relaxing boat tour we then continued through to the Cube houses, which are exactly what they sound like – houses in the shape of a cube but then put at an angle and clustered together. Very random and super weird to walk through but we had fun brainstorming how we would lay it out if we lived there. We finished our tour of Rotterdam back in the Markt Hall for coffee before catching the train and picking up my aunt’s car to head to her home in Kolhorn.
For those of you who have never had the privilege of meeting my Tante Sas, I hope that you at least have someone in your life like her. You know that type of person who brightens up a room when they walk in and can make the best out of any situation. Her love for life is rather infectious so despite the snow, the cold and the hangry, we had a great time together filled with lots of laughs and love in Rotterdam. We followed the busy city trip with a delicious homemade salad (post pasta detox) and a movie before calling it a night.
The next day we headed to my mom’s parents (Omi en Opa) to pick them up en route to the beach town Callantsoog. My grandparents try to walk along the beach weekly and then of course follow it up with a coffee and piece of pie and this week I got to tag along. After a two weeks of ice cold weather (Siberian weather as some Dutchies would say), we were lucky enough to have sunshine and ten degrees for our stroll. Almost bikini weather really for Canadians right? Warm sunshine, sand and the sea make for a a very enjoyable Sunday morning. In case anyone is wondering, my life as an exchange has been a very tough adjustment… Oh and about our outfit coordination, we collectively came together and decided black is too boring.
The rest of the day was spent playing rummikub and hanging out with Omi en Opa before I started the very long train journey home. I chose the farthest point from pretty much anywhere else in the Netherlands so despite the country being so small, my trek was still four hours. Well worth it though.
The rest of the week was pretty busy with school work. Ya I know, I sometimes have to do that too. Two presentations and a test, tough week. Regardless of what my Oma thinks, I still do some studying in between all the adventures but no one really wants to read about how competitive advantage is related to business strategy formulation and analysis. After taking four or five courses at a time throughout my undergrad, just taking two at time really changes the workload. That and being a business exchange student might have something to do with it. I did just skip a week of school to go skiing in the Alps so clearly I am making the most of it.
PS skiing blog post will be up later in the week.
Life is an adventure. 
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