Netherlands Emails: (24/a zillion)
Fluffy Family Details
I'll continue on in a subsequent email about my Saturday trip to Utrecht, and my last week in Rotterdam, but for now I'll let you guys take a break. I will let you know that since the program ended on Thursday, I took the train to Amsterdam and checked in at the hotel that I booked for the weekend: Hotel Nadia. Despite the horrendously cheesy website, it's actually a pretty cool hotel. I'm on the 4th (read 5th) floor, but they deliver your bags to your room for you, so it's no big. Breakfast is included, there's free wifi, and I got my own bathroom at no extra charge. They even put a bouquet of fresh flowers in my room! It's in a good spot, too: there's an atm and an albert heijn close by, as well as the Anne Frank House, Royal Palace, and Westekerk within a block or so. I'm getting up early tomorrow so I can be at the Anne Frank house when it opens, otherwise there's always a huge line. Sunday I have to wake up early as well to go back to Rotterdam to the church I've been attending, which is a bit annoying, but the pastor's invited me to lunch at his house. By the time I get back I'll probably crash, and then it's to the airport Monday morning (my flight doesn't leave 'till three, but since I have to check out at eleven, I'll just make a late morning of it and give myself plenty of time to get to Schiphol, which is another train ride away. So tomorrow's my last chance for sightseeing - I'm planning to make it a good one. Also: any souvenirs you particularly want, ask now or forever hold your peace. I've got a bazillion postcards, a metric ton of good loose tea (the good stuff's reeeeaally cheap here), a tea dispenser made in the delft pottery style, hats and t-shirts, even a scarf, but if someone is really craving wooden shoes or a shot glass, there are a dozen souvenir shops within a block just begging for my business...
Anyways, I'll be seeing you soon (at least, William, and then Dad soon enough - everyone else will be in phone range again. Speaking of which, does it cost anything to receive international calls? I have a phone in my room that I can use for free (if I figure out how to use it), and I figured that might be a cool thing to do.). Love and miss you!
Maggie