Literally the SECOND I entered Dutch territory I saw someone wearing clogs, its was incredible! I decided to stay away from Amsterdam`s red lights and smoke and focus on the real dutch society, which involves lots and lots of mayonnaise. Rotterdam dubs its self the city of architecture, but I have to say it doesn`t hold a torch to Dusseldorf. In fact, there really isn`t all that much to see in Rotterdam except a huge bridge. I was in the hostel bar having a beer when I met a strange British chap. He looked like the bald shy character in the Cusack film high fidelity, and as it seems to be my curse, had a speech impediment. (4 people on trip). His was of a unique nature however. He would state a complete sentence fine, usually with a supreme look of consternation on his face, but them follow it up with the EXACT same sentence. He was like a broken record! Above and beyond that, he was just a strange cat. He had spent a couple months trying to get a English teaching gig in Berlin without success, I WONDER WHY? He had spent two years in Osaka teaching English before being let go. He couldn`t fathom why. I asked him if he learned any Japanese and he said no, none! While we were discussing this a woman from Australia chimed in that she had been to Japan as well. Her name was Terese and she had recently turned 50. She had been traveling for about 3 years and had just completed 10 weeks of walking the pilgrimage tour from France to Spain. It sounded amazing. She was really an incredible lady, she was divorced and her daughter was now 26 and working, so she figured why not? She had traveled through SE Asia, USA and Canada, India, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, and Iran. Now she was going through Europe and would take the Trans-Siberian train back to China and head to India again via Tibet and Nepal before going home. I was inspired on so many levels. We had a great couple nights chatting about our common experiences and where we would like to go, all the while with the broken record player sitting by and offering comments like, "Well, you two are just WORLD travelers, just WORLD travelers." I had been thinking about the end of my trip. I had always considered this kind of thing to be a once in a lifetime deal, and thus had been cramming a lot in while wishing to take it slower. Now I had new resolve to continue to travel if I wanted to, and to always remember, there is always another trip to be had, even if this one was nearing its end. I think Teresa was my favorite person I met in Europe, and for sure the best thing about Rotterdam. I also took a day trip to Den Haag and Delft. Den Haag was nicer than Rotterdam, but still just a big city. The MC Esher museum was great, and I some good fish at a road side stand. Delft was great, one of my favorite European towns. A lot like Ghent but smaller. I got there too late to hit the Vermeer museum but had a nice walk through town as the church bells rang for an hour straight, then had a nice cheap pasta and beer next to one of the picturesque canals that criss cross the town. I could have spent another day or two in Delft, but I was feeling that urge again, that urge to head back to Deautchland!
