Arriving in Rotterdam! / Netherlands 2022

After a very eventful morning, I made it to Rotterdam and then explored a little! 

Click here to watch the vlog or see below. 

I slept so poorly before my flight that the morning was a bit of a disaster. I ended up finally falling asleep at gone 1am, with an alarm set for 3am. I somehow slept through it, which meant I woke up 40 minutes late, when I was already meant to be nearly at the airport. I got ready super fast, loaded the car and headed off, only to get stuck at the gate. I tried to open in for over 10 minutes before finally calling mum and waking her up. It finally gave way just as she answered, but almost snapped off in the lock. I locked back up and then got stuck at almost every single red light. I got to the airport with 2 hours to go, but couldn't find a parking space and then the bus was also late. It was just a disaster. In the end, I stood in the security line for almost 1.5 hours, before being pulled out to the front of the priority queue and running to the gate, with minutes to spare! 

Once landed at the airport, I then had to walk, get the train and then get a metro to get to the hotel in Rotterdam. Luke was still at his work conference as he had been for the last few days, so I had the majority of the day to myself. I wasn't planning on having a nap but I was shattered, so unpacked and went to sleep. It was defintely worth it! I felt so much better when I woke up, got showered and redressed, even doing my makeup. 

I decided to go for a little bit of walk, also for a search for food as all I'd eaten since I'd missed breakfast and lunch was a few snacks. I walked down to the big park called Zuiderpark, past many canals and lots of animals, including deer! Unfortunately, I didn't find any food sadly as the two cafes that were open didn't have a great selection. 

After wondering around for a few hours, Luke text to say his conference had finished a little early. He went back to the hotel to get changed, before coming to meet me. We then explored a little more, past the conference location, which is where Eurovision was held last year and it still has the massive microphone standing out front. 

By the time we got back I was starving. Luke as usual was being indecisive and refused to eat downstairs where I wanted. In the end, he looked for an hour before I said I was eating downstairs and he could go wherever he wanted with his colleague. They both ended up joining me and we enjoyed a delicious pizza at the local Italian. 

The weather had been a little miserable for most of the afternoon. It had a chilly breeze and was drizzling for the majority of the walk. It ended up brightening up the evening, so I convinced the boys to go out for a drink at a bar, whilst I headed upstairs to wash my hair, enjoy dessert and get an early night. They didn't stay out too long in the end, so I was still awake when Luke got back, but I productively did quite a few admin tasks, including applying for student finance for my September Master's course!