Hotel Juliana Delft

in Den Haag or the Hague, whichever you prefer.

I was going to join some other couchsurfers in Rotterdam, a half hour train ride away, but I'd much rather just have a half relax day and update my internet stuff, search for some couches, etc.

I'll head back into Rotterdam in a ...

... right away! Lots of them all over and sometimes 6 lanes across with excellent signage for turn-offs. Once in Rotterdam we looked for a McD's to see if they had wi-fi. No luck here. There is wi-fi in Rotterdam, but you still have to pay a provider to get on.

I tried a career agency, the man there was very earger to help, but said if we telephoned Nokia we would get a call centre ...

... and accidentally walked through a crimescene...ooops!

Well, no one stopped me! I did notice police etc, but I didn't know what was going on, and I walked past some people who were looking up at this doorway...naturally I looked up too, and there was a toy doll up there - it was really weird, and still I sauntered on as normal. I actually thought they were making a film, and was going to stop and take some photos, but something ...

... is locked. I ran up the three flights of stairs again, got the keys and hoped that in the meantime the postman wouldn't magically disappear into thin air. When I finally unlocked the door and to my relief the postman was still standing there with my package I almost flew at his neck and hugged him. But he looked like a man who wouldn't appreciate it, so I held back. But I am leaving after all! HURRAY

... caterer decided to act in a professional capacity for the day. At Ad's house, we tasted the local delicacy of Heemstones with our tea and coffee. From there, we reloaded the boat (including with mini Heineken kegs for the boys) and with Ad's similarly classic wooden motor boat, travelled further up the river. There was a division between the two ...

... and plates that we have because we weren't sure if the bottle of mystery cleaner we got was for dishes or for cleaning the floor (and it would not be good to mix up the two!!). We think it's for dishes...but we will figure out the Dutch later! We struggled to stay awake at least until 9 PM. We made it by forcing ourselves out in the dark and in a drizzling rain to find dinner at some restaurants that ...

... to the Monica Lewinsky scandal that somehow eluded my limited storage of pop culture references. His sister told us that evening that it was simply the type of poffertje Bill Clinton ordered when he ate at that very restaurant a few years ago. Apparently anyone who goes to visit Delft goes to that particualr restaurant to have the "Bill Clinton poffertje" as a significant tourist event. Weird (but also kinda cool).

... and the fakey stuff was pretty useless for the most part. There were some nice decorative items though. We visited a tiny shop/factory called "The Blue Tulip," self-described as the smallest factory in town. Watched an artisan painting various ornaments; the pottery is painted in a black pigment that when fired in a kiln turns the Delft Blue. There were some nice shops on the side streets, but things were more spread out than I had anticipated, and the good shops were not clustered ...

... night and I had a whole hgistory explanation and saw really everything. The city was simply wonderful a real university city, calm with old building and lots of water. The cathedral was impressive especially when you get to know that the part built which is huge was suppose to be only the transversal part. Then back it has been some net and a good sleep.

... behavior for a sitting Queen. In the end, I think the Dutch liked Juliana. They seem to be a bit fonder of her then her daughter and current queen, Queen Beatrix. Juliana was a fun woman and seemed to be in touch with the people. She was often seen riding her bike...so Dutch! She donated much of her time and money to children's charities. She was one of the people. She had been suffering from Alzheimer's since the mid-90's. ============================== Well, that's ...