Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Our first stop on Adventure 2015 is to Rotterdam! Why Rotterdam, you may quite legitimately ask? It's not the top of most people's travel lists!

We had a week between my arrival in Hamburg and what shall be hereforeto referred to as "the big family wedding' which is Phil's cousin, Stefan's wedding on 6 March followed by a celebration of his 50th birthday the following day.

We wanted to spend a chilled week, pre-wedding, preferably somewhere we haven't been. The criteria was - not too far, easy to navigate, not too cold and not too pricey. Hello, Netherlands - tick, tick, tick, tick!!

I'm a fan of The Netherlands, having studied in Utrecht for a semester and been back to visit Amsterdam a few times. But I've never been to Rotterdam, or most of the South.

Rotterdam is The Netherlands second city (ie the Melbourne of the Netherlands). It's Europe's largest port and only about 30 minutes by train from Gouda, Delft and The Hague. So we thought, if Rotterdam's not awesome, we can easily day trip nearby. It was decided. We booked an apartment on airbnb, did zero research and arrived yesterday afternoon!!

Here is a pic of our "Charming loft apartment" as described in air bnb:







Tis pretty charming, huh??

It's actually a converted attic with a little balcony. We have a coffee machine, stove burners, fridge and microwave... So pretty much fully equipped for a chilled out week. Our host left us a fruit bowl and a bottle of red, instantly guaranteeing a sparkling review, despite the insane stair situation - there are three more flights like this!!







Here it is at sunset:





From the balcony






Tulips on the dining table

Despite it being perfect for us, it wasn't expensive (under $70 a night for the whole place). It's a 10 minute tram ride from the city centre, popular with new immigrants - the neighbourhood is filled with insanely delicious smelling bakeries! There are some cool stores here which I'll take some pics of later this week.

Today we walked into the centre of town across the soaring Erasmus bridge and got a bit of a feel for the city - which generally has a user-friendly, good vibe. Some pics from a day of aimless wandering:







































So what are we going to do for the rest of the week??

This is where we need your help... I'll be posting a poll asking for your input in getting the most out of our trip to Rotterdam... Check it out on the web version of the blog...


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I didn't think it was going to be a race...

So there are going to be two posts today... We arrived in Rotterdam yesterday and I'd love to post some pics. I also have some GOMP classics which some of you who read my last travel blog (Warung Ocha) will be familiar with, but first, I have something pressing to deal with...

So back when George W Bush got elected President in the States the first time (if you recall by the narrowest of margins and only after Supreme Court intervention) there was a reasonable contingent of appalled Americans - fair enough, not super unusual. But when he was voted back in for a second term, I remember reading about some Americans who mounted a genuine revolt. That is, some Americans decided that they no longer wanted to live in a country where the populace really wanted the 'Big W' as their President (as opposed to the "fluke" or as some people saw it "bullshit con" of the first term election).

Several years ago now, when we first realised that Tony Abbott was a viable option for Australian PM, I was inspired by those people and made a declaration - if the Australian people elect Tony as our PM, I'm following suit and leaving the country. It was a touch hyperbolic, I guess - but it was really my way of saying this:




I said it again on the eve of our last Federal election - if that misogynist halfwit ends up leading my country, I'm out...

Weelllllll, it only took 12 months from that dark election result, but when Phil and I decided to spend 2015 adventuring outside our beloved home, I thought, yes!! I can finally make good on my word. When I write my (inevitable) blog, I am going to dedicate our departure to the truly black hearted** leadership of Mr Abbott and his party.

Well, a lot can happen in 6 months in politics, as we all know. I NEARLY lost my opportunity mere days before my departure in the recent leadership challenge. And now, it's looking even more terminal for Tony. Just today, the Hezza's headlines include "Tony Abbott's leadership enters the death zone". The Hezza!!

Sooooo... in light of this, I dare not delay another minute. I hereby dedicate my absence from my otherwise beloved Australia to the truly appalling, inept and internationally cringeworthy "leadership" of Mr Tony Abbott. You sir, are a disgrace, you do not speak for me, and you are going down.

** Like smirking at pensioners forced to work on sex lines to make ends meet, piling debt onto students while his kid gets some non-existent scholarship, barring young people from welfare, children in detention etc etc...























Sent from my iPad


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Ich bin angekommen

I have arrived!!! At least, I think that's what the title of this post means... google translate is not super cooperative today, so it could be a bit off...

Not quite as poetic as the French version - J'arrive, but since I have arrived in Hamburg, German seemed more appropriate for the post.

I had a super easy trip over with one minor hiccup - nearly missing the connection from Dubai to Hamburg!! How did this happen?? I'll tell you...

So Qantas used to fly Australian to Europe via Singapore. You had one 7 hour flight to Sing and then a 14 hour monster to London (or whichever Euro city).

Now, Qantas codeshares with Emirates, so you have a flight to Dubai that stops in KL to refuel (7 hours to KL followed by 7 hours to Dubai). Then you take another flight to Europe, in this case Hamburg.

I take the time to explain this because in golden times of old, it was pretty hard to get lost/ lose track of time. Your stop in Singapore was pretty short and you were generally herded in the right direction. Plus you were checked in for the one flight the whole way so they'd be yelling your name on a loudspeaker if you weren't where you should be.

I haven't actually done the Dubai stopover before, but I had heard it was at least a couple of hours. I had also been told there were showers at the airport. And I thought, awesome - wouldn't it be nice after 14 hours of flying to freshen up??

So I had basically programmed my brain to expect (1) a 2-3 hour stopover in Dubai and (2) plenty of time to find a shower before my next flight.

This pre-programming might go some way to explaining my reaction when I arrived in Dubai at 2pm, saw on the giant screen that my flight was boarding at 2.20pm and thought "oh, that's probably not right". Yup, the board said "Sus, you'd better shift your ass to the gate because your plane boards in 20 minutes". My brain said, "Sus, you've got 2 hours at least - that board is mistaken". I was pretty tired, but when I say it out loud it really sounds like the musings of an imbecile!! But let's not interrupt the story.

So armed with the certainty that I had plenty of time to refresh, I found the showers. Good work Sus - all good so far. There are 2 taps in the shower - one for temperature and one for pressure. Still all good.

I turn the temperature to 36 degrees and then I turn the shower on... but the main shower head doesn't activate. Instead the second knob turns on a previously-invisible shower wand. A wand that is aimed directly at a fully clothed me. Aaaannnddd I'm drenched. Not good...

But I don't panic... No probs, these things happen. I spot a hairdryer on the wall - salvation!! This will be just fine. And it is... the worst hairdryer on god's green earth. I mean you move this thing too close to fabric and it cuts out - for like 5 whole minutes. Then, you start again...

By the time the clothes are acceptably dry, it's been 40 minutes. I'm still cool as though, finally shower, fix my hair, brush my teeth and feel a million times better. I head out to find the nearest departures board and my flight is... CLOSED. Yes, it reads, "Gate closed". Faaaaarrrkkkk.

So I run towards the gate, no longer a picture of zen, thinking yeah, probably should have trusted the first departure board. As I reach the gate, it's deserted. Not a single queuing passenger. I spot a staff member - she looks at me with mild disgust and says 'Palmer'?? So yup, I'm the last person on board, but the plane is still there!!!

It turns out the plane was waiting on some luggage as well as me, or I think I would have been toast. Or at least just really inconveniently stuck in Dubai!! Guess my luck is holding for now...

Hamburg has been such a lovely start to the trip. Hamburg airport is truly a dream to arrive in. No arrival forms, no queuing at immigration, no questions at customs. I was out of the airport in under 20 minutes!!

We're currently at Phil's grandmother's house and she is very welcoming... and feeding us 4 times a day!! The weather is cool (ok, 0 degrees this morning) but clear and great for walking around in.

Tomorrow morning we take a train to Rotterdam for what I hope will be the laziest week of my life!!





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Location:Hamburg, Germany

Countdown

It's finally time to go... I'm one hour away from heading off to the airport for a trip that has seemed so long in the planning. The bags are packed, the house is clean, the farewells made. I'm just one not-so-short flight away from Germany and then the 10 month adventure begins!!

I am pumped to see that you're (mostly) with me!! The very first poll question - "Am I crazy to swap Melbourne summer for German winter" has  70% vote for Germany. For those of you who think it's batshit crazy (and you know who you are), I say maybe. But despite the prospect of short days, rain and icy winds, I'm super excited to get out of my comfort zone and try out this whole go with the flow concept.

My biggest goal for this year is to try let go of setting goals. This is pretty hard for me. Working towards goals is a pretty big security blanket. If you're working towards a goal, you can't really be going wrong, right? Generally, the whole goal thing is a pretty good idea. But I think it can breed some tunnel vision and there's a lot out there to see and learn. 

A friend sent me an awesome letter written by Hunter S Thompson at age 22 to a friend who asked him for advice on the meaning of life. He said - and I'm paraphrasing here - that we set up goals which demand certain things of us, and we do these things. But as we work towards them, we change; yet we don't adjust the goal in response to these changes. This leads to a narrow, vertical rather than broad and horizontal life. I find it all kind of fascinating... I identify with the vertical life concept - but maybe it's time to try the other approach?? 

Phew, okay, it's time to stop channelling a hippie gonzo journalist and pack my passports!!

Welcome to Choose My Adventures!!

I created this blog to record my travels in 2015. In 4 days, I'll jump on a plane to Germany to meet my favourite travel companion and husband extraordinaire, Phil and we will spend the REST OF THE YEAR on the road. WOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, all those CAPS are for my benefit... I'm finding it really hard, sitting here on the couch at home in Melbourne, to get my head around the whole situation. No work. No responsibilities. No real plans. For the whole year.

When I say no plans, I mean it. We have one-way tickets to Germany. We have our first week booked in Rotterdam. That's it. Not a single other booking for a plane, train, automobile, hotel, hostel, apartment.... you get my drift.

We're lucky enough to have some awesome friends and family in Europe to hang with... but even that's still undercooked at this stage. This is not my usual style - I usually love researching my travel options to near-death, but this time, we've left it wide open.

We've come up with some pretty fun ideas - rent an apartment in Berlin for a couple of months, move to Yogjakarta and learn Indonesian, cruise through the Norwegian fjords, take the Trans-Siberian express from Moscow to Beijing, climb Mt Rinjani in Lombok, finally get Phil to the States...

But even with the WHOLE YEAR ahead of us, we can't do everything...  so to help us decide where to go and what to do, I'll be posting polls throughout our adventures. Choose our next drink, our next apartment or our next continent!

The first poll is a no-brainer for me - I'd take the coldest winter plus travelling anytime...