Today was Mo's birthday, so of course we stayed in Rotterdam instead of heading south as is our wont. What to do on such a day, though? We thought of taking the Vereeniging out for a spuddle about, but the weather looked so unsettled this morning, and it was pretty breezy anyway, so we decided against it.
After collecting Mo and Craig from the Marion Aagje (their own ship) in Diemen, Jodie and Baz came to join us and that was when I had a brainwave. Why not all of us go to Dordrecht on the Fast Ferry and have tea? Well, after thinking of how long that would take, it got scaled down to taking the water taxi across the river to the Hotel New York. This of course is even more fun, because these small boats toss around on the river like corks, and the ride, although short, is brilliant.
The Hotel New York is also quite special because it's where the big cruisers used to leave for America (the old Amerika Line), and it still retains much of its old world decor and charm. This, then, is what we did, and the river gave us a grand crossing. It was very choppy so the taxi plunged in and out of the waves and the bows got well sprayed. Fortunately, being inside, we didn't get wet, but it was quite exciting all the same. The tea was also good and after stuffing ourselves to the gills, we worked off the cream cakes by walking back over the bridge and home to the harbour.
The day finished with supper and a great game whose name I can't remember, but it involves firstly describing, then acting out and finally giving one word to sum up the names of famous people which are written on small pieces of paper. I'm not normally much of a one for games, but this was really good, and quite a challenge too. It was something Mo came up with, which didn't surprise me as she's always enjoyed puzzles and puns, and I remember when she was small, we used to do endless quizzes in the car on long journeys.
The photos here are just a couple I took in the Water Taxi, but this little movie really shows what fun it was, despite the oh so cool attitude of the 'driver'!
Oooh dear, I've just watched the video (which by the way, you can also find in my video bar), and I see the very last bit comes up twice. I must have pasted it in twice without realising it. You can stop watching the firest time it gets to the landing stage! It's about four and a half minutes long.
ReplyDeleteThat was a fun video. I sped it up to get a racing effect.
ReplyDeletexx
AM
What fun! That great video sure gives us an impression of what its like to ride one of those taxis and also view the riverscape. Toronto's water taxis (to get from the mainland to the islands just south of the city) are not so grand but neither are they as prominent in Toronto's culture. I look forward to riding in Rotterdam's water taxis one of these days ... sigh
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Mo. Never been on a water taxi, looks fun :)
ReplyDeleteOh looks like fun Val!
ReplyDeleteIs that you shouting "Yippeee..." about 54 seconds into the movie? :)
ReplyDeleteWow. You had a lot of waves. It looked like fun. I have to try it out sometime.
ReplyDeletep.s - I just saw your message on the previous comments. I was just trying to find your email address to email you. We're pretty busy at the moment but should have some more time next month.
ReplyDeleteAre you on Facebook by the way?
Val, that water taxi ride looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteChoppy waves with all that water over the bow. I heard you yahoo!
Your tea at the hotel was yummy for sure - what a great excuse to walk back over the bridge.
Great pics plus family together, to boot
Happy Birthday, Mo!
xx
lol
ReplyDeleteTrust AM to do the race across!
;)