Jerry and I started the day with a workout together which was nice. Then our friend Nico picked picked him up and he headed to the office in Capelle for a day of work. They office had welcomes cakes waiting for him and they all gathered around and shared the treats and visited with him. Between that warm welcome and the in-house espresso machine the day was off to a great start! He made alot of good contacts and is very excited to return in a few weeks. We met up with Nico and Jerry at 5pm and we were taken out to dinner! more on that later..
Danny slept til 9am and woke up completely refreshed. We turned on the TV and on popped Fraggle Rock in Dutch--Go Muppets! It was fun to watch! We headed out to find some breakfast at 9:30, with plans to visit the Maritime Museum after that.
Now who has been to Chicago or New York in the winter? Raise your hand if you can feel the icy winter wind blowing you along through the skyscrapers as your ears slowly turn to popsicles! That is the weather report today in Rotterdam! By the time we blew into an awesome coffee shop called Hopper, our first question was "where is an inexpensive place to by a winter hat for Danny?"!
The shop had an ope kitchen where they were making fresh bread and rolls so the whole place smelled like freshly baked bread--so nice! Danny got a big plate of scrambled eggs, tomatoes and toast, and a hot chocolate made with fresh steamed milk that was like a mousse. Needless to say he was a happy camper! I tried 2 different coffees, one an espresso and one a filter coffee from Ethiopia that tasted of fruit. Interesting!
suitably warmed and fed, we set off to find Hema, the discount shop. Aren't you proud of me? 1 day in a new country and I'm already in the know with the bargains! We wandered a bit trying to find the store, but it was up and down little shopping streets filled with cool things and big sales. My feet were ice blocks yesterday and this morning and I scored a cute fur lined pair of boots on super clearance for 8 euro 10, about $10 bucks-whoot! Danny got some cool crocs jibitz at the Croc store-the Muppets-and he is excited to put them on his bracelet at home. Sadly, when we arrived at Hema, the men's hats were all sold out, and in spite of good sport Danny offering to wear a women's knit earband with the flower on the inside, I asked after another store. We ended up at a more Macy's like place but he did get a great striped hat that I'm sure you will now see in every photo. On our way to the museum we got distracted by a coll comic book store with a big TinTin display in the window. They had alot of cool stuff inside and after visitng my first Dutch cash machine Danny decided on an Asterix and Obelix comic book. As I type this he is in bed chuckling away!
We finally dragged ourselves off the streets and into the Museum Rotterdam, which we passed by on our way to the other museum, and decided to visit. We spent about 2 hours in this beautiful old house that Napoleon once stayed in when France owned Holland and saw many neat things. Their special exhibit was about family rituals and we talked alot about our family rituals as we viewed it. They had hands on activities and interactive parts which made it a great place to go. On the front portico they had a large dragon to celebrate Chinese New Year, and when we left Danny was given a ribbon to write a wish on and tie onto the dragon. When we got outside and up close to the dragon we could see that the whole thing was made out of ribbons and they all had wishes on them. I hope they all come true!
Back at the hotel we saw that Jerry was coming to pick us up in 30 minutes, so we went up to the pool area and read our books on the cool lounge chairs. Jerry and Nico grabbed us and we headed north of the city, past where Jerry will be working, to a neat restaurant call "The Book Shop" Inside there were piles of old books everywhere along with paintings and pianos. It was lively and loud. We were 8 all together, us three along with Nico, Juroon,Pau, Jacque,Mahiel. I got a chance to talk to them all about wives,kids,hobbies etc. Danny had an awesome steak with peppercorn sauce(I know Dad is proud) along with ceaser salad and chocolate creme brulee. I had mustard soup,risotto ball and tomato, and 2 coffees! Jerry had unpronounceable Dutch fish! It was a fun evening and I forgot to say that Mahiel, when he arrived, presented me with the largest bouquet of flowers I have ever had! Tulips of course, at least 25! I will take a photo tomorrow when they open a bit more. I am feeling very happy right now!
Danny slept til 9am and woke up completely refreshed. We turned on the TV and on popped Fraggle Rock in Dutch--Go Muppets! It was fun to watch! We headed out to find some breakfast at 9:30, with plans to visit the Maritime Museum after that.
Now who has been to Chicago or New York in the winter? Raise your hand if you can feel the icy winter wind blowing you along through the skyscrapers as your ears slowly turn to popsicles! That is the weather report today in Rotterdam! By the time we blew into an awesome coffee shop called Hopper, our first question was "where is an inexpensive place to by a winter hat for Danny?"!
The shop had an ope kitchen where they were making fresh bread and rolls so the whole place smelled like freshly baked bread--so nice! Danny got a big plate of scrambled eggs, tomatoes and toast, and a hot chocolate made with fresh steamed milk that was like a mousse. Needless to say he was a happy camper! I tried 2 different coffees, one an espresso and one a filter coffee from Ethiopia that tasted of fruit. Interesting!
suitably warmed and fed, we set off to find Hema, the discount shop. Aren't you proud of me? 1 day in a new country and I'm already in the know with the bargains! We wandered a bit trying to find the store, but it was up and down little shopping streets filled with cool things and big sales. My feet were ice blocks yesterday and this morning and I scored a cute fur lined pair of boots on super clearance for 8 euro 10, about $10 bucks-whoot! Danny got some cool crocs jibitz at the Croc store-the Muppets-and he is excited to put them on his bracelet at home. Sadly, when we arrived at Hema, the men's hats were all sold out, and in spite of good sport Danny offering to wear a women's knit earband with the flower on the inside, I asked after another store. We ended up at a more Macy's like place but he did get a great striped hat that I'm sure you will now see in every photo. On our way to the museum we got distracted by a coll comic book store with a big TinTin display in the window. They had alot of cool stuff inside and after visitng my first Dutch cash machine Danny decided on an Asterix and Obelix comic book. As I type this he is in bed chuckling away!
We finally dragged ourselves off the streets and into the Museum Rotterdam, which we passed by on our way to the other museum, and decided to visit. We spent about 2 hours in this beautiful old house that Napoleon once stayed in when France owned Holland and saw many neat things. Their special exhibit was about family rituals and we talked alot about our family rituals as we viewed it. They had hands on activities and interactive parts which made it a great place to go. On the front portico they had a large dragon to celebrate Chinese New Year, and when we left Danny was given a ribbon to write a wish on and tie onto the dragon. When we got outside and up close to the dragon we could see that the whole thing was made out of ribbons and they all had wishes on them. I hope they all come true!
Back at the hotel we saw that Jerry was coming to pick us up in 30 minutes, so we went up to the pool area and read our books on the cool lounge chairs. Jerry and Nico grabbed us and we headed north of the city, past where Jerry will be working, to a neat restaurant call "The Book Shop" Inside there were piles of old books everywhere along with paintings and pianos. It was lively and loud. We were 8 all together, us three along with Nico, Juroon,Pau, Jacque,Mahiel. I got a chance to talk to them all about wives,kids,hobbies etc. Danny had an awesome steak with peppercorn sauce(I know Dad is proud) along with ceaser salad and chocolate creme brulee. I had mustard soup,risotto ball and tomato, and 2 coffees! Jerry had unpronounceable Dutch fish! It was a fun evening and I forgot to say that Mahiel, when he arrived, presented me with the largest bouquet of flowers I have ever had! Tulips of course, at least 25! I will take a photo tomorrow when they open a bit more. I am feeling very happy right now!
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