Rotterdam and Hamburg

Rotterdam was unfortunately a very short stop. We were staying in a really great hostel there. On our first night we went out for a big dinner at a restaurant that was recommended to us and it was fantastic. It was called Bazar and served mediterranean/north african food. We shared this giant meaty rice platter. On our one full day there we did a self-guided walk around the city, stopping at the Boijmans van Beuningen museum (conveniently free on Wednesdays) where there was an exhibition of the artist Charley Toorop, who I'd never heard of before we got there but I really enjoyed the art! Rotterdam was a really cool city - because most of it was destroyed in 1940 it didn't feel old and quaint like Amsterdam or Paris. It has a lot of really crazy modern art and architecture and it felt like a really buzzing city. We checked out both the new and old harbours, and there was an amazing park that was full of cool modern art and a big long windy duckpond, which of course I enjoyed. We ended up having a really quiet night back at the hostel, they had a lounge with tv and board games, so we watched a few movies with the other tired travellers. After a quick breakfast with the ducks the next morning we headed to the train station. We split in Hannover where Tom got a train to Barsinghausen and I caught the ICE to Hamburg. My train was delayed 15 minutes, which scared me a lot because trains kept arriving at the platform that weren't mine and they weren't making any announcements about mine. I arrived at my hostel here JUST as the receptionist was leaving so I managed to check in. Phew! My hostel is clean and friendly, but nothing special. The only common room has just a table and chairs in it, they don't offer internet or tv or other services. Except laundry and they charge a whopping 10 euros for it, so I think I'll be going elsewhere. I did have a nice long hot shower this morning though, which I really needed. It´s a disgusting day here so I think I´ll do a self guided city tour on the public transport. My travel guidebook tells you a scenic ferry line to take. Tomorrow morning I'm off to Lübeck which is where my flight leaves from and hopefully when I post again I'll be in Dublin!

Much love always
Amanda