302

That is currently the number of photos I have taken in the Netherlands.  Tomorrow, I will have some more to add from the train stations and the airports, and hopefully the views from the planes after takeoff and before landing.

Today, I didn't leave the hostel until the "walking tour" started around eight p.m.  One of the hostel staff showed us the river and one of the bridges, and we walked over the "Walk of Fame."  I took a few pictures of the Walk, including Ray Charles's panel, as well as Johnny Cash's and someone else's--I can't remember whose though.

Around ten, I went back to the hostel and tried to call the states using Euro coins in the pay phone, but it wouldn't let me.  So I went and got my computer and called Anna via Skype before uploading the pictures from the "tour" onto Facebook.  I'll put them on my portable harddrive later--I didn't feel like bringing that downstairs again too.

Tomorrow after breakfast, I will pack up and check out of the hostel.  They store luggage for you if you ask, so before I head to the train station, I will have them store my luggage long enough for me to get some treats for everyone back home at the market on the corner.  Then, I will put that in whichever bag it will fit before heading to Rotterdam Centraal.

From there, it'll be about an hour's train ride to Shiphol, where I will check in, check my suitcase, and go.  Though I think I'll have at least a couple of hours before the flight even boards, so I will take a better look around the airport than I had on the way in.  I'll also have a better look at the Keflavik airport too.  I wonder if they take Euros, or some other form of currency?

. . . Nope, not Euros, Krona.  If I want food or something in the airport, I'll have to go somewhere that takes American Express then.  No big deal.

From there, it's just another six-hour flight back to Dulles, where I will have to go through Customs before I can get out of there.  I anticipate getting home around 10 p.m.

Thank goodness I have Friday off work too.

Well, I'm here.

. . . I'm absolutely exhausted, mostly confused by the Netherlands train/tram/metro system, and somewhat dehydrated, but I'm here.

Yesterday, I got off work and changed clothes.  Then I went to the employee parking lot and got my luggage out of the Bug before going back to the terminal.  I was hoping to check in right away, but no one was at the IcelandAir ticket counter, so I watched an episode of Stargate: Atlantis on NetFlix before trying again.  Still no one.  By that time, it was about 2:30 or 3 p.m, and I was starving.

So, I got some "lunch" which was really dinner for me, and went back to the counter.  There were two girls there, but they were from Lufthansa (a German-based airline).  They told me that IcelandAir doesn't usually get to the ticket counters until about 5 p.m, so I was kind of bummed.

I went and changed my money over to Euros, and then just sat up in the lobby area for a while.  Around 20 minutes until 5, I went back, and there they were!  So I got my boarding pass, handed off my extremely heavy luggage (after all, I had packed food in it since I can't afford to eat out for eight days in a country where I don't know the fair prices for anything) and went to the Employee Checkpoint.

I was so concentrated on making sure my laptop got out of the bag that I forgot that I still had my cell phone and iPod in my pockets!  I should know better, since I'm constantly telling people that they should take those items out of their pockets myself.  Bit of a blonde moment there.  Of course, a couple of the p.m. guys laughed at me for it, and we had a good chuckle.

After going to my gate (A19) and changing from heels to socks and sneakers, I walked down to the opposite end of B gates and got a massage.  I soooo needed that!  After the massage, I took the train to the terminal, then the shuttle to D gates, where I got a manicure.  Never really got one of those before.  It was interesting.  Finally, I walked over to the C gates and took the train back to A.

The weather was bad.  They couldn't finish fuelling on time, because of lightning, and they couldn't board us until after the fuelling was complete.  We didn't start boarding until about 10 minutes before the plane was originally supposed to take off (8:40 p.m).  Then, some people decided they didn't want to go after all, and the baggage handlers had to take their luggage off, so we sat there even longer.

Finally, we took off--at 10 p.m!  I was extremely worried that I was going to miss my connection, since I technically only had about an hour and a half of lay-over in Rekyavik.  But we got there just in the nick of time, and took off for Schiphol on schedule.

I didn't think to take my camera out of my carry-on until after we took off, and the seat belt light was still on.  Also, a pregnant lady asked me to switch seats with her (so she could get up to pee whenever she needed--living with Anna, how could I refuse?), so I was at the window instead of the aisle and couldn't get out without asking two other people and their baby son (the husband used to teach Spanish and French at FCC--small world!) to move out of the way first.  Plus, my carry-on was stowed across the aisle anyway.  The same happened from Rekyavik to Amsterdam, only this time, it was a lady not wanting to be separated from her son by a row, and the bag was a couple of rows behind me as well as across the aisle this time.  I'll try to remember to take pictures on the way back instead, though the views last night and this morning were awesome!  Plus, the configurations of the two foreign airports are so interesting!

I think the food I'd bought at Dulles for my "second dinner" on the flight went bad or something because I didn't eat it right away, because about an hour before we landed at Rekyavik, I was feeling extremely oogy.  That, combined with my allergies attacking me with a vengeance and my inability to find a comfortable seated position after more than 5 hours in economy class made me extremely light-headed when I went to the bathroom before landing.  I got in there, and puked, yuck!  (Though you probably don't need to know that, but who cares?)

Anyway, got to Schiphol just fine, and found my way around.  I had to exchange Euro bills for Euro coins--the train ticket machines don't take bills--and then find which platform and which train to go to.  I can understand some Dutch, but not when there's not really a key for the different symbols on the train schedule and I have no idea how to read them (format and structure-wise, not the actual letters and words) in the first place.

A nice middle-aged lady helped me find the right train, and a girl sitting in the same car as I was helped me get off at the right stop.  Then came the chaos.

I desperately needed to pee, but I also had to find out how to get to the hostel I'm staying at (ROOM Rotterdam, Van Vollenhovenstraat 62).  I decided to at least get directions first, and found a machine which prints a map out for you if you type in the street name.  I had to get the information desk lady to help me interpret it--she was kind of curt about it, as though I should know what all those symbols are when it's my first day in the country.

Then, I went in search of the W.C.  It was upstairs, but thankfully, there was an escalator--though those are treacherous unless I get the luggage balanced just right.  It costs half-a-Euro to use the restroom at Rotterdam Central!  So, I had to use the vending machine and get a coke (which was 1.5 Euro) so that I could go to the bathroom, which I did.

Then I had to get more bills changed to coins, because I needed to purchase an OV-chipkaart for the tram to get near the street I wanted.  It took three or four tries, but I eventually got two chipkaarts, each with 10 Euro, and got on the tram which took me to Vasteland.

I got all turned around looking for Van Vollenhovenstraat, and asked a lady with a baby where it was.  She kindly pointed it out to me, and I walked along it a while, but ran out of street before I found the right number.  I asked an older gentleman where I could find the right building, and he pointed to the opposite side of the street from where I'd been walking!  *facepalm*

I almost walked past the hostel again, but then I saw the sign on the corner of the building.  Then I had to get my exhausted self--and my extremely heavy luggage--up the stairs and down the hall to the reception desk.  Got that taken care of, got my room key, another guy was kind enough to tote my luggage up to the third floor (which, in America, we'd probably call the fourth floor).  From there, I got organized, used the ladies again, and brought my computer downstairs so I could text Anna through Skype and get a glass of absolutely necessary water.

I think I'll at least wait until my computer's recharged (I used it without an outlet in the ticketing area yesterday because I couldn't find a working outlet) and get some more water before I go upstairs for a shower and a nice, long nap.  Then I'll think about toting all the food I brought down to the guest kitchen.

If anyone needs to contact me, get in touch with Anna (emergencies only, please).  The only people who should be doing this will know how to get a hold of her, so I'm not going to tell that here.  I'll be calling her via Skype either every evening or every other evening, and will be able to get back to you then.  I don't know where any other free wi-fi spots besides the hostel's lounge are, so I'll be keeping my computer here while I go sightseeing.

I do not have an international calling plan, so calling my cell phone will get you nowhere until I'm back in the States.

Tomorrow, I think I'll go see Amsterdam--gotta rent a bike first though, those trains and trams are expensive, so I'm going to keep them to minimum use.  I plan on seeing at least the Anne Frank house, the Dam and the Rembrandt Museum.  Maybe I'll take a canal tour too, but I'll have to see how much time the rest of it takes up.  I also have to find out when the peak times are, so I don't bring the bicycle on the trains then.

Maybe I'll just stay in Rotterdam tomorrow, and visit Amsterdam later.  After all, Grandma told me about this row of houses that were built on their corners, and that sounds interesting.  Then there's Futureland, and Arboretum Trompenburg.

I'm going to call Grandma's friend, Suzanne, in a couple of days and see if she'd mind me coming by to say "hi."  Maybe I'll go to church with them on Sunday, if I can figure out what public transportation will take me to her house before their ward meets.

Anyway, that's it for now.  Until tomorrow, tot ziens!