Getting to The Netherlands

Finally made it to The Netherlands, and have so far just loved the trip. Coming into London was really special. Were in a holding pattern for a few minutes, but we were near enough to Heathrow Airport itself that I had a good chance to orient myself. So when we were finally cleared to land I knew we were going downwind to the east over south London, turning north, then flying westward back to Heathrow. Both times, I got a wonderful view of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (yes, Wimbledon). Caught a glimpse of the London Eye on the banks of the Thames. 

England is so neat and orderly looking from the air. Funny how much it looks in real life like it does on Google Earth.

I flew into Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport (and learned that Schipol rhymes with “ski pole” ). As we left (on KLM, hands down the best looking flight attendants on the trip), the skies above London were filled with the broken up cotton balls of spent thunderstorms, but we made it pretty easily. It’s a very short trip, perhaps an hour. Oh, but did I mention that I disconnected with my bag again? Yeah, go figure. Of course, when that happens it’s a little bit of a blessing in disguise, because it meant I could catch the train to Rotterdam without having to lug my wheelies around, and that the airline would deliver the bag later directly to my hotel. Okay! 

Arriving in Rotterdam

So after a very smooth hour through very flat, rural landscape, I arrived in Rotterdam in the mid afternoon. I’ve studied central Rotterdam and the path to my hotel on maps and even Google Earth, so I set out on foot straight out of the Station Centraal. Naturally, I was soon completely lost. But not to worry, the city is not that big, and I had plenty of time, so I stopped at Wok To Go, got some nice hot noodles, and continued walking from there with new directions from the Wok To Go staff. 

I did discover Rotterdam’s own Red Light district, on the same street as my hotel just a few blocks from my hotel more or less. Not much to it, fortunately, with one of the most prominent features being the “Massage Salon #93.”

Fortunately, the Hotel Milano was very comfortable, and very friendly. Also, the breakfasts were incredible. Especially after hardly eating at all after traveling the entire day and night before, I was so ready to see the spread of breads and rolls, meats and cheeses, and bowls of cereal. Mmmmm: Cocoa Krispies!

Rotterdam is a nice city. Easy to get around in the Trams. It was completely flattened by the Nazis in 1940, a terrible demonstration of the efficiency of the Luftwaffe during the scant five days it took for Germany to overtake the whole of the Netherlands. This means that Central Rotterdam is completely new as of the postwar period. 

The people of Rotterdam seem to be very, very friendly. Everyone is pleasantly cordial, absolutely everyone speaks English, and all are willing to help when one has questions or needs. Of course, I have had the chance now to get to know some Netherlanders in depth, thanks to the conference, and they are such truly wonderful people. Proud, intelligent, impressive. I suppose I can write more of these more personal reactions in my journal, or later when I touch on the Seminar itself. Suffice it to say that I have been so touched by their intimacy and acceptance of myself and others not completely like them. 

Oh, and one observation: Dutch women are so tall! 5’10”, 5’11”. The men are tall also, but not overly so. But the women! Perhaps “going Dutch” became a phenomenon simply because the men and women look at each other eye to eye here, literally. 

Bicycles

I have become enamoured of the culture of the bicycle, and hope to rent one for a day when I plan to return to Rotterdam at the end of the trip. Here, the bicyclist has his own red brick-coloured lanes, separated from car traffic by curbs virtually everywhere. Bikes have the right of way, and then pedestrians have the right of way over cars (in designated walkways, of course). It’s hard to get used to being able to simply waltz out in front of an automobile, yet still having to be very careful not to disturb a bicyclist. 

Next (or soon): The Jensen Seminar in Transformational Leadership. 
Then: Amsterdam
• Water
• Red Light, not so much
• Going to Church
• Extreme Bikes
• Anne Frank House