Year 3 Day 343- “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 4/09/2024. Day 8 of 28-day European Vacation – day 6 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. Hello Rotterdam, Netherlands.
We are eating breakfast with no cameras with us as we cruise up a Canal to pull into port. This is a gorgeous gorgeous city. We are facing away from the dock looking at the Eramus bridge which takes you into town. All the tables around us are mostly families enjoying their breakfast and I don’t hear anyone speaking English except for the cruise staff. Although everyone gives us a big smile. Rotterdam is a major port city in the Dutch province of South Holland. There are twelve provinces in the Netherlands. The most populous province is South Holland, with just over 3.8 million inhabitants We are surrounded with bold, modern architecture along with old 17th century buildings. It is awesome. Rotterdam was the first city in Europe to have a completely car-free shopping street. This so far is the nicest cruise port we have docked on this European vacation. Today we are headed to Amsterdam on an 8-hour tour.
Interesting news about this area is that Air Products will build, manage and operate a CO2 capture facility at its existing hydrogen factory in Rotterdam. The plant is expected to be operational in 2026 and will be the largest blue hydrogen plant in Europe. Hydrogen is called ‘blue’ when CO2 is captured during the production of hydrogen for storage. After breakfast we head back to our room. The view from our balcony is of the port side and we are right in the city. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Can’t wait to get off the ship.
MSC is strange compared to Royal Caribbean. Cruise passengers get on and off at every port. We are in the Delphi theatre at 9:30am. Meet up time is 9:45am. We have learned to get there early. The last excursion left the ship and we had to run to catch up and get on the tour bus. Although, we were so excited and had no idea where everyone went to that we were the first ones on the tour bus. Lol Another cool windy day today. High of 53 with 25 mph wind. Should have packed a coat. We are headed to Amsterdam. The cruise terminal in Rotterdam has been a passenger port since 1870. In 1873 Holland American Cruise line was founded here. As we set off on the motor coach to Amsterdam the capital of Netherlands, we are stuck in heavy traffic. One observation I have is on this cruise most people are more on the slender side and I have only seen one handicapped mobility scooter since we have been on the ship. Once we started to drive through Rotterdam, I realized that the city is not as new as it appeared from the ship.
We passed lots of river boats that are being used to house Ukranian immigrants.
40 percent of the Netherlands is below sea level. Electronic pumping systems pump water out of the Netherlands 24 hours a day to the North Sea. On the drive we see a few casinos. Then we pass The Hague which is the seat of government of the Netherlands. The old windmills we picture when we think of holland are no longer used for pumping. They have been out of use for over 60 years. They are under government protection. People live in them but must keep them historic looking. In order to purchase a windmill, you must be a licensed miller. The famous Dutch tulips are blooming, and we pass many blooming fields on our trip. There are also fields and fields of green houses.
We passed Schiphol, the only international Airport in the country. This is not the country’s only civil airport – the Netherlands is home to five civil airports. As we neared Amsterdam we drove along the Amstel River. This is the only river in Amsterdam and the city is named after this river. The financial district in Amsterdam is the only area with skyscrapers. You can’t get away from grafitti. Everywhere we have ever been you find it defacing our buildings, bridges, etc. Lots and lots of bikes with huge bike lanes. Nobody wears helmets while riding their bicycle. The city is not particularly clean. Actually, there is a lot of paper stuff littering the sidewalks. Amsterdam is a global city. You will find every nationality here. Here you will find 110,000 students, 70 museums, 22 cinemas, 45 theaters, around 1000 cafés and more than 1,100 restaurants. We drove through city park and then the museum area. Drove past the red-light district. Window brothels, sex clubs and escort agencies can operate legally with permits from the city of Amsterdam.
We then took a Canal Cruise on the Tulip.
We passed the house where Anne Frank was hidden. Then we passed the church from which she heard the church bells that she wrote about in her diary. The railing along the canal was paid for by insurance companies because of the number of cars that over parked and ended up parking in the canal. The canals all revolve around the central train station. We did a complete circle. During that time, we clipped another boat going the other way. After the canal cruise we were provided free time of about two hours in city center. We walked around, had some lunch, and visited a few shops.
It was cold, windy and rainy. The area is fairly dirty with lots of litter and gum on the sidewalks. What I will always remember about The Netherlands is that every building and structure is a work of art. The thought that went into designing in this country is amazing. As I am posting, an announcement is made that the pilot will be disembarking the ship this evening at 11pm if need be, by helicopter due to inclement weather.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, other invites, drink package pricing, and the dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Packing Cubes – Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/49Z48ax These are the best packing cubes. I have had other less expensive ones. These are worth the little extra cost. Traveled to Europe for a month and used these. They are strong, the sizes are perfect for my needs, and they keep your items organized. I rolled my clothes and packed them tight. They seem really durable. I expect to have and use these for a long time. Also, the burgundy color is nice and rich looking.
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To view the complete daily diary, click here – This starts at Year 1 Day 1: Living the Dream – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count