NCL Getaway Transatlantic, Day 15
May 14, 2017 - Rotterdam
We had a water bus to catch at 8:35 to go to Kinderdijk, which means we had to get up early and cross the bridge in time before that time. With the visit to Kinderdijk, we needed to watch our time closely so we can also spend some time in the city center before leaving this port later in the afternoon.
Woke up to a beautiful morning in Rotterdam.
Veerhaven where we were the night before.
The water bus stop near the bridge at the bottom left of this picture.
A glimpse of Getaway between buildings as we walked away from the terminal.
A much emptier bridge than the night before.
Across the other side of the bridge.
That must be the Willemsbrug.
That was where we needed to get to.
Back to the water bus stop.
A short line was already formed with some early risers.
This was the sign posted of the water bus schedule.
Unfortunately, we soon found out that we were there at the wrong time. There was no 8:35 bus on a Sunday and the captain gave us the wrong information yesterday. The next bus on the regular schedule would be 10:35, which means we had two whole hours to wait. We were all disappointed and confused by this uncertainty, some people were worried that the 10:35 bus would be more crowded but there was nothing else anyone can do by then. Everybody walked away to do their own things and we decided to just hang around and wait since it was too early to go into the city and we didn't really feel like walking back to the ship.
The other tour boats at the pier near us.
Back to the little souvenir shop for more shopping.
Admired the beautiful shoreline.
The waiting room at the water bus stop, but it was all locked up.
Might as well get in line, again!
For some reasons, some people were ignoring the line and just standing randomly at the stop. Maybe it wasn't necessary to get in line and these people knew what they were doing? The official line got longer as we waited wondering what these people were doing. By 10:20 the water bus came and it was full pretty quickly. Yes, these people got on without being in line and actually they were on the boat before those who were patiently standing in line.
Inside water bus #202. A clean restroom was available at the front of the boat.
It was 4-euro pp on the bus, one way. On our way back those 65+ got the ride for free so I am not sure if it was half price each way for seniors or it was actually free for both trips. The same woman collecting ticket money said she made the mistake on the first trip and somebody jokingly said that would be her tips. So ask first before paying if you are a senior.
The cube houses.
This woman was very funny.
Noah's Ark
Cars waiting to cross the river.
It was a very pleasant ride, scenic and relaxing.
Arrived at Kinderdijk.
Kinderdijk is a UNESCO World Heritage site with 19 windmills and 3 pump stations on site. It's a unique and picturesque place where working windmills can still be seen. There were a lot of visitors the day we were there, most of them were on land tours brought here by buses and coaches. Some even says that the Kinderdijk Windmills are the most famous tourist sight in Holland.
Wikipedia gave a simplified version of the story behind this Dutch fairy tale of "The Cat and the Cradle".
It says, the name Kinderdijk is Dutch for "Children dike". During the Saint Elizabeth flood of 1421, the Grote Hollandse Waard flooded, but the Alblasserwaard polder stayed unflooded. It is said that when the terrible storm had subsided someone went to the dike between these two areas to see what could be saved. In the distance he saw a wooden cradle floating on the water. As it came nearer, some movement was detected. A cat was seen in the cradle trying to keep it in balance by jumping back and forth so that no water could get into it. As the cradle eventually came close enough to the dike for a bystander to pick up the cradle, he saw that a baby was quietly sleeping inside it, nice and dry. The cat had kept the cradle balanced and afloat. Kinderdijk is said to be the place where the cradle came ashore.
Not the cradle, but our water bus came shore.
A short walk up lead us to the main attraction area.
The huge wooden clog outside the souvenir store.
We followed the crowd and walked toward the entrance. With only about an hour here, we did not have time for the guided tour, the movie and the museum for $8. We just went in, free, to see the outside of the windmills which was fine with us. The authentic Dutch landscaping made this a very pretty walk. With windmills lined on both sides of the walkway along Het Nieuwe Waterschalp, it just made for a great photo opportunity for all and that was exactly what we did.
This is the working windmill that also serves as the museum. You need to purchase ticket or be on the guided tour to go inside. I have read that it can be very crowded but it provides a fascinating insight into how the millers and their families lived.
A gentleman was selling these delicious little pancakes from his tiny stand.
$2 per order
Many were attracted to this sweet treat.
Was that the cradle? Actually this reminded me more of Baby Moses.
Back to the water bus stop. We took the 12:00 boat back and arrived Rotterdam at 12:33.
A Viking river cruise.
City of Rotterdam
After getting off the water bus back at Eramusbrug, we just walked toward the city center. It was an easy walk following the bridge and the main streets.
There are many interesting buildings in the city of Rotterdam.
Some kind of memorial ceremony was going on near the Maritime Museum right at the Destroyed City War memorial
We continued our walk to the Koopgoot area.
on one of the side streets Korte Hoogstraat
Lots of shops along these pedestrian streets.
Chicken Big Mac?!
We wanted to go to the Grote Market.
Saint Laurenskerk
The plaza right next to Grote Market.
Our goal was to check out the eateries at the Grote Market. Unfortunately, many of the stores and restaurants were closed for the day, probably because of the big soccer game.
Blaak, the subway station.
The famous cube houses.
We just waited while ChC went around looking for a place to eat. Unfortunately he couldn't find anything he liked that was opened.
Many streets were blocked off by these huge containers and there were a lot of police presence around the city. Not sure if it was a preventive measure because of the big game. As for us, we were very disappointed that the stores at the market were closed. At 2:30, we figured that it was time for us to head back to the ship. We found the free shuttle bus stop and took the shuttle back to the terminal. Below are some photos I took while on the bus.
The shuttle dropped us back near the parking lot of the terminal. We wanted to walk around the pier before getting back on the ship.
Then it started to rain so we headed back inside the terminal and on to the ship. There were handicraft displays and souvenir shopping stalls set up inside the terminal for last minute shopping.
At 6:00, the Getaway was ready to set sail from Rotterdam.
Another perfect sailing, this time away from Rotterdam. This is such a beautiful city!
A faraway glimpse of the working mill in town in the Delfshaven area which we did not have time to explore on this trip. We just have to come back!
Checked with Le Bistro again, but no luck. There was no cancellation so we went to Tropicana for our last meal there that evening. We will have one more dinner at Cagney's tomorrow, our last sea day before reaching Copenhagen.
To celebrate Mother's Day, we had another bottle of wine from the Platinum voucher.
Watermelon, shrimps, and mozzarella.
Italian Meatball soup
Cajun Shrimps and Short Ribs
The fun and happy wait staff.
Group picture with Nelson. Too bad it didn't turn out as clear as I wanted.
Nelson, such a great guy!
We bid farewell to Nelson with an envelop of appreciation and the wooden carved tulip that I got from Rotterdam. He said he wanted to get something for his wife from Rotterdam when he was off the ship last night. He couldn't find any souvenir shop so came back empty handed. It would be a little something that he could bring back to his wife.
One more sea day and we should be in Copenhagen on Tuesday.
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