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Monday: Ferry from NL to UK
Aug. 19th, 2019 11:00 pmWe got up and out of De Kuilart only a few minutes after checkout time. It was nice that T. got his bike returned last night so we did not have to do that this morning. It was a bummer having to throw food away — we overbought on the second grocery outing, and we will not have a fridge for the rest of the trip, which limits our options. Also, ice is hard to come by, so the cooler only helps a little.
We drove into Koudum to finally mail the postcards T. got in Kaatsheuvel. Yay us!
We drove to Rotterdam. We stopped at a McDonalds for lunch.
We returned the rental car. I had initially planned to return it at Centraal Station office and then take the bus to the port, but I failed to get tickets for the bus, so we wound up going to the Rotterdam Zuid station (hey, it is way nicer in that neighborhood than you might expect — NL is prosperous these days) and getting a taxi. I am still unclear how all our bags and selves were wedged into that one taxi. Really nice driver, super awesome getting to look at Rotterdam port, albeit from the highway. I mean, my grandfather and his brother came through there over a hundred years ago, but honestly, my interest was even more in just the sheer size of the place and the amount of stuff that moves through there.
We got to P&O Ferry Port right at 3 pm, the earliest they would allow boarding. I did the check in in Dutch, and startled the woman there when I summarized in English (which was as much for my daughter as it was to be sure I understood what I had just been handed). She really thought I was Dutch. I am terrible at understanding spoken Dutch even after all these years, but apparently my accent is impeccable at this point, and obviously I look the part.
We got right on the boat, and A. and I rested for a bit in our cabin. T. found someone to unlock the connecting door, which was fun. Later, A. and I explored the boat. R., A. and I ate dinner in the sit down restaurant, and then watched one of the kid shows in the live theatre, and she got a balloon animal that promptly unraveled halfway, traumatizing her. Oh well! Tons of vegan options on the menu. This is really the theme of the trip. I got the vegan pizza, complete with Italian vegan cheese (grated and sprinkled lightly).
We drove into Koudum to finally mail the postcards T. got in Kaatsheuvel. Yay us!
We drove to Rotterdam. We stopped at a McDonalds for lunch.
We returned the rental car. I had initially planned to return it at Centraal Station office and then take the bus to the port, but I failed to get tickets for the bus, so we wound up going to the Rotterdam Zuid station (hey, it is way nicer in that neighborhood than you might expect — NL is prosperous these days) and getting a taxi. I am still unclear how all our bags and selves were wedged into that one taxi. Really nice driver, super awesome getting to look at Rotterdam port, albeit from the highway. I mean, my grandfather and his brother came through there over a hundred years ago, but honestly, my interest was even more in just the sheer size of the place and the amount of stuff that moves through there.
We got to P&O Ferry Port right at 3 pm, the earliest they would allow boarding. I did the check in in Dutch, and startled the woman there when I summarized in English (which was as much for my daughter as it was to be sure I understood what I had just been handed). She really thought I was Dutch. I am terrible at understanding spoken Dutch even after all these years, but apparently my accent is impeccable at this point, and obviously I look the part.
We got right on the boat, and A. and I rested for a bit in our cabin. T. found someone to unlock the connecting door, which was fun. Later, A. and I explored the boat. R., A. and I ate dinner in the sit down restaurant, and then watched one of the kid shows in the live theatre, and she got a balloon animal that promptly unraveled halfway, traumatizing her. Oh well! Tons of vegan options on the menu. This is really the theme of the trip. I got the vegan pizza, complete with Italian vegan cheese (grated and sprinkled lightly).