It was all a bad dream??!!

Up at 8, out the door at 8:30, having fed Danny some of the baked goods we picked up yesterday at an Algerian Bakery we wandered past on our never ending ramble! And we ramble again. Poor Jerry, we are set to take the metro, and the stop we go to doesn't have a ticket machine. Up to the street we climb and start walking to the next stop. Yes, to answer your question, it is sunny and about 8 degrees this morning! And 2 inches of snow on the ground. Rotterdam is not big into shoveling it seems :)
Catch the metro, then walk and walk and walk, looking for street signs, and finding many streets without them. My feet freeze up much faster this time. When we arrive at our destination, Marrxinstraat, there is no number 19. We circle,  recheck, find every number up and down to 21...then nothing! Danny and I take shelter in an Arab market where I buy him a cheery hazelnut drinkable yogurt(note for future, nuts clog up the spout!) some wasa with cream cheese, a candy bar, and an apple. Provisions for the next leg of this epic hike. Jerry meanwhile has texted the agent and gotten no response. At 10:30 we finally give up and head out again. Thats it--we're done! We wait about 15 neverending minutes for the tram and ride it and the metro back to the hotel. Danny is too cold to stop to eat, so still no coffee for me. We return to our room and warm up again and we decide we need to instantly do something fun and close by. Museums are looked at and we decide to go to the NAI Museum(Netherlands Architecture Institute). Rotterdam is famous for its modern architecture because the city was virtually destroyed in WWII. Jerry's coworker Nico told Danny "the Germans took care of the demolition and the Dutch did the building!" The whole of the Netherlands is quite known for its architecture though, and this museum is a tribute to it.
First things first, a visit to the sunny cafe for my coffee! Danny tries the orange cake and a coffee as well. Now we are ready for action. The museum is fantastic. There are four museum wings, each with its own exhibit, and all are interactive and thought provoking. One was especially cool. It had an English audio which you waved in front of models of buildings and developments from all over Holland, and heard 1 or 2 of six different people talk about the building, if they liked it or not, and it was so interesting. Danny listened to every word on every building!  It was a great choice and we all loved it.

outside of the museum

a really cool reading table in the cafe

i never get tired of these coffee shots!

checking out an exhibit

this house cantilevers over the ocean in Spain

peeking into the exhibit on famous buildings in the Netherlands..want to take a look?

here you go

peek inside!

overlooking the bookstore

people can build their own houses!

a sculpture on the ceiling of the cafe

you can draw and design and build on this table

We walked back to the center , with plans to go to eat at a restaurant we had spotted on the way to the museum. As we were walking we came upon a beautiful street with a canal down the center and people skating on it. Well, I've read Hans Brinker, and there was no way we could pass up the chance to say we skated on a canal in Holland, even if it was only in shoes! So we all got out there and did a few laps, what fun and what a memory. 

a taxi and a row house

walking along the canal

skating! on a canal in Holland!

After that I told the boys "lets pretend we got up at 11:30 this morning(the time we got back from our ordeal) and we had had a bad dream that we had gone walking again and gotten frozen again, but it was only a dream" They readily agreed, so remember, the description above of this morning? It was only a dream!
Bazaar was a fantastic lively middle eastern restaurant with the best falafel I have ever eaten! Danny had baked feta and Jerry had veal and I had sweet pepper soup, and we all split a big falafel salad. So warm, so good!

the ceiling above our table at Bazaar

food shot! Falafel salad

eat your heart out Progresso!

baked feta dinner

veal meal

 Then off to get more Euros(this country is a bit pricey!) and back to the hotel for more swimming, sauna and steam room.

 Did I mention already that no one wears clothes in the sauna? Okay then!  We are ready to head home tomorrow, flight leaves at 8:30am from Amsterdam, so we're being picked up at 5:30am. No definite house yet, but some good leads from Wednesday, and lots of knowledge to help us choose on line, or when we get here.

Friday in Rotterdam--SNOW!

Well, we were in for a bit of a crazy day today. Our contact from Jerry's company completely stood us up, and the agents I had gotten in touch with were not available on such short notice. Oh well! We worked out and went swimming, and then set off to find coffee! Thing I can't wait to get home to most(other than my darling daughters of course)?? My coffee pot! I can hear it burbling now! Anyway, I digress. We head outside into15 degrees and a good stiff wind but a bright sunshine. As we are heading to the coffee shop we notice a housing agency and stop in. A great guy named Egbert welcomes us and searches for properties..aaah we think, here we go. He tells us he has two he can show us today, and he will meet us at the first one at 4pm. Hooray! Off we go to Hopper, where our waitress from yesterday waves and greets us as we stroll in. Jerry is impressed that we have already made a friend in a coffee place! Does it smell even better and feel even warmer than yesterday??? or is it just the extra chill in the air today.  Whatever the reason we happily order soups,sandwiches and hot drinks and park ourselves upstairs with a great view of the street. No sooner are we settled than the snow begins to fly! It sure is pretty to look at from inside!

we found a new favourite store!

LUNCH!

I can't spell prociuto but it was tasty

my soup and hummus/tomato sandwich on just baked bread

farmers cheese pannini!

if you need to find me when you come to visit me in Rotterdam--this is where I'll be!

the view as the storm rolls in

street view from "my " table

We reluctantly head out into the storm and start to walk to our appointment. At first it's okay, and Danny and I enjoy pointing out the shops and places we visited on Wednesday, but the snow is coming down hard and we soon just put our heads down and walk. Then Jerry's phone rings and Egbert says that because of the snow the appointments are cancelled. Now you know that wouldn't fly in Michigan! We decide to walk to the house anyway and view it from the outside. It is a bit farther than we estimated but we make it. It is on an extremely busy street, and many of the houses are vacant and for sale. Many look rehabbed, but still, we decide it would not be a good neighborhood for us and we are glad we trudged over. Now the trudge back....it takes an hour!! By the end I am walking like a chinese woman who had her feet bound at age 6..every step is painful. It is full dark and our faces are chapped and raw. Even good sport Danny is feeling the pain. Good Heavens!
We finally reach the hotel and immediately get under all the covers on the bed with all our clothes on to warm up(not Jerry, he wasn't that cold, Mr. Tough!)and thaw out. The next bit of bad news is that everything closes at 6 or seven in our immediate area, and if we plan to feed Danny, we better get out and do so! So back out we go, 2 blocks to an Italian deli where the boys get a tasty meal...I'm too cold to eat! Then home again and Danny is ready for swimming and Jerry for work-US time he has calls to be on. I end up at the pool fully dressed with my coat on, and finally my toes start making themselves known again. I spend more time on the ipad, this time communicating with another agent that says he has 2 places we can see tomorrow. Yay! We make plans, map things out, set our alarms, etc. Jerry comes up to the pool at 9:30 to say we can have the room and he will make his last call in the lobby. What a nice guy. Danny is settled in bed and I am reading when he returns, with a little cup of coffee and a cookie for me! The perfect ending to a challenging day!

photos-Rotterdam trip Day Two

its work time in the US!

crazy cool statue in front of our coffee shop

coffee! Now Mom is happy!

scrambled eggs on homemade toast and real Dutch cocoa with whipped creeeeem!

we found a great comic book shop with loads of TinTin stuff

Museum Rotterdam

interactive exhibit on family rituals

we wrote notes and put them in the wall. Next New Years eve they will be tied to balloons and released into the air!

we made profiles of each other!

the set up to do the drawing

a dollhouse replica of the house that the museum is in. Napolean slept here!

Danny is tying his wish on the Chinese New Year Dragon. Since he is a Dragon year kid, it is sure to come true!

Danny and the Dragon

Having a fancy water at our dinner with some of Jerry's co-workers, Jer and Nico in the background

it may look like guiness but it is a Dutch beir!

Jerry, Mahiel,Uroon,Pauol,Danny,me,Nico and Jacques

The restauran was called The Book room and so it was perfect for me!

off to Rotterdam! Photos

jet setter takes off for the Netherlands!

our first look at windmills

the boat tour we are going on

shot of the cityscape from aboard the Spido

The Erasmus Bridge, famous Rotterdam landmark

the one building

Danny on board

our Captain

the height and length of the freighters is amazing!

a viewing spot in the sun

the Dutch Flag

another shot of the bridge, also called the Swan

this sign is very excited!

this room is on the top of our hotel, used for meetings and parties

Danny in bed with his kindle on Wednesday night

Exploring Rotterdam!

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!