We arrived in Rotterdam very early on May 28th from Dover (See Part 5). We had now completed our Transatlantic Cruise on Holland America's MS Zuiderdam that began in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on May 12, 2023.
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| View of Rotterdam from the ship |
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| The Maas River |
We went to our hotel (Bilderberg Parkhotel), got our new wheelchair and checked our luggage. Ron and Janti Marcar (friends from Amsterdam) were picking us up for a reunion lunch. We last saw them when we were in Amsterdam in 2018. Ron and Janti took us to a lovely lunch at Tante Kee in Kaag on the canal which we gladly hosted.
They then took us for a tour of the scenic countryside in The Hague and Delft areas. It was so pleasant and rewarding that we were able to re-unite.
We stayed at our hotel for two nights. It was centrally located with views of downtown.
Our first night there, we experienced a noisy celebration of Turkish citizens who were celebrating the run-off election win of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as President of Turkey. Hundreds of honking cars and flag waving Turkish people were just below our window on the street. Smoke bombs, loud drumming and the revving of engines and honking of horns continued for hours well past midnight. I am glad we had not gone out that night as we would never have been able to get home due to the cars that were stopped in all lanes of traffic.
The next morning, we walked the Witte de Withstraatt to the Markthal (Market Hall), enjoyed lunch at the Bazar and snacking at the Markthal.
Ron wanted to have Italian food for our last night in Rotterdam. Many restaurants are closed on Mondays and this was also a holiday (Pentecost). We found Messina's Pizzaria and took a cab there. The owner and waiter helped Ron to get in over the step at the door and seated. This place was an absolute gem. The owner, Gianni, is Sicilian. We ordered the Mussels in Sicilian Sauce. Then we had a wonderful Linguini with Truffle and Mushrooms prepared in melted Parmesan Reggiano cheese wheel at the table. I ordered the Prawns in a Cream Sauce. The food was wonderful and I gave it a great review on Trip Advisor.
The next day, we went to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. This was the worst part of our trip. We arrived three hours early to get through the check-in. Then we had an 8 hour+ flight on Delta in the space of a sardine can, landing in Atlanta for customs and a layover of 3 hours.
We connected to our last flight to Albuquerque and got home about 10PM (local time and 6am Amsterdam time). We got to bed finally after 25 hours of being awake.
The Last Voyage was indeed a big adventure. I don't believe it would be possible for us to repeat such an exhausting journey again. So, folks, do your adventures while you are young and able. Enjoy the world and Bon Voyage!
