6th July 2014
Today we all packed our five suitcases again, and headed to the train station for Amsterdam!
We ate breakfast and morning tea in the apartment, then packed ourselves lunch. We were out the door by about 11, and at the train station 10 minutes later. Harri wanted to go to The Hague on the way to Amsterdam, which is the royal residence in Holland as well as The Court of Justice for EU. However, when we asked the train ticket salesman whether we could stop there, he notified us that the train was not working through The Hague, and that we should get a fast train straight to Amsterdam. I was secretely happy, because I was tired :1
We then went to the station number, but found that the train had been delayed by half an hour. Then, half an hour later it was delayed again :) So, in the mean time I went to Starbucks to buy myself some Orange Jasmine tea. That made the wait worthwhile :)
Finally, when the train eventually came, we were told ten minutes later to get off and wait for another train. Humphh... It worked out well in the end anyway, because we got to sit in first class without having to pay any extra. It was really nice and roomy, and it only took us 20 minutes to get from Rotterdam to Amsterdam by this nonstop fast train! It was super duper cool:) You couldn't even feel it moving that fast:)
We got off the bus at Schiphol Airport, which is a 30 minute bus ride to Amsterdam city, and took a shuttle from there to our hotel. We literally just put our bags down in the hotel room, and got straight back onto the next shuttle to the airport from the hotel. We wanted to look around the airport, cause our flight left early in the morning two days later and we wouldn't have time then. By that time we were all pretty tired, and after a quick shop browse, and a quick dinner (I had sushi!!) I found in Australia that I love sushi, and it is super expensive in Finland)), we headed back on the shuttle to the hotel.
The hotel was really comfortable, and we thought it was such a central place to be so close to the airport. However, I found it difficult to get to bed, because my book Christmas at Tiffanys is just far too interesting!!
Now you are uptodate,
Laura
Xoxo
Showing posts with label Rotterdam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rotterdam. Show all posts
July 10, 2014
Day Four: Rotterdam
5th July 2014
Today started slow. I woke up late at around nine am in the morning, and Mum was doing the washing untill around lunch time. That is the advantage of having an apartment over a hotel, that a washing machine is free for you to use :D
I also went through my pictures, and deleted the duplicates;) There were quite a few.
Harri lazily reading on the coach.
Dad then finished work at 1:00pm, so we met him at the apartment, and went for a walk.
These birds were creating a houseboat for themselves out of rubbish. It was very economical, as they were cleaning the water, and very clever :D
The only medieval church left in Rotterdam. It was partly burnt down by bombings from WWII, but was restored. We wanted to go up the top of the church, as we heard the view was awesome, but missed the time... I would still love to go up, so maybe on another trip:D
The girl dressed in silver was moving like a robot, and it was truly amazing! We payed her, and I hope she goes on to become a dancer :)
The posh men in our family;) I really have no idea why this statue was in the middle of the street...
We then went shopping in department stores, and Harri and Dad bought a shirt each. It seems that Rotterdam does not accept Finnish visa electron cards, wierd... That night I could not believe it, but we watched two episodes of The Mentalist!! The Mentalist is my favourite TV series, and we haven't been able to watch it in Finland. That truly made my day :D Harri stayed up watching soccer: Holland vs Coast Rica till 2am, and he said that "it was epic". All throughtout the night there was celebratory noises outside, and when Holland won Harri said there were even fireworks. That must have been awesome, but I wouldn't know cause I was fast asleep ;)
Now you are uptodate,
Laura
Xoxo
Today started slow. I woke up late at around nine am in the morning, and Mum was doing the washing untill around lunch time. That is the advantage of having an apartment over a hotel, that a washing machine is free for you to use :D
I also went through my pictures, and deleted the duplicates;) There were quite a few.Harri lazily reading on the coach. Dad then finished work at 1:00pm, so we met him at the apartment, and went for a walk.
These birds were creating a houseboat for themselves out of rubbish. It was very economical, as they were cleaning the water, and very clever :DThe only medieval church left in Rotterdam. It was partly burnt down by bombings from WWII, but was restored. We wanted to go up the top of the church, as we heard the view was awesome, but missed the time... I would still love to go up, so maybe on another trip:D The girl dressed in silver was moving like a robot, and it was truly amazing! We payed her, and I hope she goes on to become a dancer :)The posh men in our family;) I really have no idea why this statue was in the middle of the street...We then went shopping in department stores, and Harri and Dad bought a shirt each. It seems that Rotterdam does not accept Finnish visa electron cards, wierd... That night I could not believe it, but we watched two episodes of The Mentalist!! The Mentalist is my favourite TV series, and we haven't been able to watch it in Finland. That truly made my day :D Harri stayed up watching soccer: Holland vs Coast Rica till 2am, and he said that "it was epic". All throughtout the night there was celebratory noises outside, and when Holland won Harri said there were even fireworks. That must have been awesome, but I wouldn't know cause I was fast asleep ;)
Now you are uptodate,
Laura
Xoxo
July 5, 2014
Day Three: Rotterdam
4th July 2014
Well, today did not start too well. To begin with, I woke up late:( In addition, I thought I lost my glasses:( It wasn't until I had notice how tired I was, that I noticed a pair of dusty glasses under my bed... Anyway, that cost us at least an hour out of our day...
Dad went again to the conference, and so Mum, Harri and I decided to go towards the Old Town of Rotterdam.
China Town Street. Haha, CHINA Town (notice the tea cup of the building). That is funny :D
We quickly stopped at KFC, cause we don't have it in Finland, and had two kids meals for just savouring the taste of the chicken :)
End of China Town. The Manhattan Hotel in the background.
The railway station in the centre, and a trusty tram coming towards us:) For us the trams were the best transport to use, as they came every couple of minutes. We did try the metro, but it is nicer for us to be above ground:)
Today we decided to take the tram to the old town of Rotterdam. It was the only remaining old area in Rotterdam after the bombings.
We always had our trusty map in our hands, and checked it every couple of minutes to make sure we were on the right track:) Literally, every couple of minutes...
The old town!! Well, actually it was just one road, and you have to kind of stumble upon it, as it is not noticeable from the tram stop...
The old town. I love this bridge! It is sooo cute :))
All along the road there were canopies of greenery. It was very pleasant.
A vintage camera shop!! We went in on the way back down the road, as smaller shopowners usually don't open till after 10:00, and it was amazing! There was a really old video camera that just looked so picturesque ;D
There are many orange decorations everywhere for the Fifa world cup, which just added to the mood. This bike was cute, I wouldn't mind riding it around these streets:)
Harri got his haircut in one of the old town shops, so Mum and I walked abit further and sat here while waiting.
There were many boats that passed thorugh the waters, and we noticed one really long boat. We think that it might be used to transport cargo to the port, which is the largest port in Europe. The tall building in the right is the Euromast, which is a nice observatory tower to enjoy a panorama of the city. We are still deciding whether we should go there or not...
Walking back along one of the main roads heading to the railway station.
This is a really cool church, and we saw a table tennis table set up inside. It really suits the scenery here :D
Heading back to the apartment along China Town.
After afternoon tea at the apartment we went to the shopping street to see whether clothes would be cheaper here. We met Dad there, from his second day at the conference, and had a KFC dinner:) We all agreed, however, that the chips just aren't the same to what they used to be... I bought a nice shirt on the shopping street, however the price was the same as Finland, and then we walked back to the apartment. We are hoping that tomorrow we can go back to look at some department stores:)
Now you are uptodate,
Laura
xoxo
Well, today did not start too well. To begin with, I woke up late:( In addition, I thought I lost my glasses:( It wasn't until I had notice how tired I was, that I noticed a pair of dusty glasses under my bed... Anyway, that cost us at least an hour out of our day...
Dad went again to the conference, and so Mum, Harri and I decided to go towards the Old Town of Rotterdam.
China Town Street. Haha, CHINA Town (notice the tea cup of the building). That is funny :D We quickly stopped at KFC, cause we don't have it in Finland, and had two kids meals for just savouring the taste of the chicken :)End of China Town. The Manhattan Hotel in the background.The railway station in the centre, and a trusty tram coming towards us:) For us the trams were the best transport to use, as they came every couple of minutes. We did try the metro, but it is nicer for us to be above ground:)Today we decided to take the tram to the old town of Rotterdam. It was the only remaining old area in Rotterdam after the bombings.We always had our trusty map in our hands, and checked it every couple of minutes to make sure we were on the right track:) Literally, every couple of minutes...The old town!! Well, actually it was just one road, and you have to kind of stumble upon it, as it is not noticeable from the tram stop... The old town. I love this bridge! It is sooo cute :))All along the road there were canopies of greenery. It was very pleasant.A vintage camera shop!! We went in on the way back down the road, as smaller shopowners usually don't open till after 10:00, and it was amazing! There was a really old video camera that just looked so picturesque ;DThere are many orange decorations everywhere for the Fifa world cup, which just added to the mood. This bike was cute, I wouldn't mind riding it around these streets:)Harri got his haircut in one of the old town shops, so Mum and I walked abit further and sat here while waiting. There were many boats that passed thorugh the waters, and we noticed one really long boat. We think that it might be used to transport cargo to the port, which is the largest port in Europe. The tall building in the right is the Euromast, which is a nice observatory tower to enjoy a panorama of the city. We are still deciding whether we should go there or not...
Walking back along one of the main roads heading to the railway station. This is a really cool church, and we saw a table tennis table set up inside. It really suits the scenery here :DHeading back to the apartment along China Town. After afternoon tea at the apartment we went to the shopping street to see whether clothes would be cheaper here. We met Dad there, from his second day at the conference, and had a KFC dinner:) We all agreed, however, that the chips just aren't the same to what they used to be... I bought a nice shirt on the shopping street, however the price was the same as Finland, and then we walked back to the apartment. We are hoping that tomorrow we can go back to look at some department stores:)
Now you are uptodate,
Laura
xoxo
July 4, 2014
Day Two: Rotterdam
3rd July 2014
Day Two, and we all woke up tired, as if we had no sleep:) Not a great start to the day... Dad started his first day at the conference in the Erasmus university at 10:00, so Mum took him there via tram. She also bought us all three-day travel tickets at the railway station, which we found later to be completely essential :D Harri and I then met Mum at the railway station, and had some lovely morning tea in a lounge area. We are still amazed at how much cheaper food is here than Finland...
It was nice at the Railway station. I had fresh mint tea, where there was actually a fresh sprig of mint in boiling water:) I enjoyed it, but I burnt my tongue so my taste was a tad spoilt after that...
A shopping street in the center. There were many many shopping streets, so i can't wait to go back and browse :D
The city hall. We didn't want to stay there too long, cause this security guard kept following us around... 
The back of the only remaining medieval church in Rotterdam. It really was huge standing next to it, although it looked small next to all the modern buildings:)
The famed cube buildings. They really looked queer there, and Mum said they made her feel dizzy. I don't think that I would be able to stay in one of them, but maybe it would be nice just for one day :D
In one of the cube houses. It was nice, but it was a bit claustrophobic. There was three-storeys, and only the first storey was air-conditioned, so we found it quite warm. But it was cozy, and the space was used well.
Oustide the cube houses there were these cafes that over looked this magnificent view! We were going to eat there, but it was quite expensive...
<br />
Erasmus Bridge, or 'The Swan'
The largest building in Rotterdam, as the four buildings are all joined together:)
We went to a peninsular, where we were reccommended to go to for the modern buildings and architecture. It was very hot, and our feet were hurting like anything due to the long walk from the cube houses! Instead of walking back to a tram, we decided to take a water taxi. It was not expensive, and nice and cool :)
We then went back home, and cooked dinner. I was extremely tired, so it was easy to get back to sleep :D
View of the courtyard from the block of apartments we are staying in. I really love that tree in the center, it is very cute x)
Now you are uptodate,
Laura
xoxox
Day Two, and we all woke up tired, as if we had no sleep:) Not a great start to the day... Dad started his first day at the conference in the Erasmus university at 10:00, so Mum took him there via tram. She also bought us all three-day travel tickets at the railway station, which we found later to be completely essential :D Harri and I then met Mum at the railway station, and had some lovely morning tea in a lounge area. We are still amazed at how much cheaper food is here than Finland...
It was nice at the Railway station. I had fresh mint tea, where there was actually a fresh sprig of mint in boiling water:) I enjoyed it, but I burnt my tongue so my taste was a tad spoilt after that...A shopping street in the center. There were many many shopping streets, so i can't wait to go back and browse :DThe city hall. We didn't want to stay there too long, cause this security guard kept following us around... The back of the only remaining medieval church in Rotterdam. It really was huge standing next to it, although it looked small next to all the modern buildings:)The famed cube buildings. They really looked queer there, and Mum said they made her feel dizzy. I don't think that I would be able to stay in one of them, but maybe it would be nice just for one day :DIn one of the cube houses. It was nice, but it was a bit claustrophobic. There was three-storeys, and only the first storey was air-conditioned, so we found it quite warm. But it was cozy, and the space was used well. Oustide the cube houses there were these cafes that over looked this magnificent view! We were going to eat there, but it was quite expensive... <br />
Erasmus Bridge, or 'The Swan'The largest building in Rotterdam, as the four buildings are all joined together:)We went to a peninsular, where we were reccommended to go to for the modern buildings and architecture. It was very hot, and our feet were hurting like anything due to the long walk from the cube houses! Instead of walking back to a tram, we decided to take a water taxi. It was not expensive, and nice and cool :)
We then went back home, and cooked dinner. I was extremely tired, so it was easy to get back to sleep :D
View of the courtyard from the block of apartments we are staying in. I really love that tree in the center, it is very cute x)Now you are uptodate,
Laura
xoxox
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