Easter Sunday

We said farewell to Nieuw Statendam at about nine o'clock this morning. We had arranged for a hotel transfer, but it turned out that that would only get us to the airport, not the hotel.

I misunderstood the logistics of all this. So I decided we should find our own way to the hotel since we didn't need to be to the airport until Tuesday.

Well, not so easy! It would be prohibitively expensive to hire a taxi or Uber to the hotel, and we're advised to take the train. So we started by walking from the cruise terminal a few blocks away to the subway, which would take us to a train. A helpful terminal employee suggested that we would see more by taking the tram to Rotterdam Central Station, where we would find the train to the airport. 

Then we would be on our own to find our way from the airport to the hotel. So off we went on the tram for a nice ride around the city, but in the wrong direction! So we had to get off, cross over and go back the way we came ending up at Central Station.

From there, it was about a 45 minute train ride to the airport. The train was very fast and very smooth. For future reference, if you are carrying lots of travel luggage, don't take the train, it was very cumbersome, but we made it.

We waited about a half hour for the van from Courtyard Marriott to take us to the hotel where we finally arrived.

In retrospect, what could have been a disaster turned out to be an educational experience. It was our first ever experience in taking trains around a European city.

The hotel is an interesting place. Its part of a complex including casino, bowling alley, etc. Very nice restaurant. Huge state park adjoining. However, its in the middle of nowhere! About 20 minute van ride back to the airport.

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