Thursday 7th May 2026

Alarm at 0530. Got up and made tea. Packed our bags and headed for a No.91 bus to KX to catch the 0816 Eurostar train to Rotterdam. Long queues at St Pancras but got through border control in good time…had a coffee in the waiting area before boarding. Rolled into Rotterdam Centraal at 1230 local time and walked to the Hilton hotel. 

Our room was ready so we left our luggage there then headed out to find lunch at the very modern Markthal, taking a couple of Metro trains to get there. Enjoyed a piri piri chicken sandwich at a little Portuguese food stall. Wandered over to the kube housing development and paid €4 to look inside one, which had been turned into an art exhibit. 

Very pokey accommodation and we were horrified by the steep and narrow stair casing…wondered how many residents had met their end falling down the stairs! Took a couple of trams down to Wilhelmina Platz, crossing the Erasmus Bridge. Wandered along the dockside to take a look at the floating houses, and then took seats at the New York Hotel for an early dinner. Built in 1901 to put up those wishing to emigrate to the Americas. Food was OK, the service excellent. Got a ride in an Uber…a Tesla driven by a charming young man from Cape Verde…to the New Instituut of Architecture for a guided tour of the current exhibition extolling the virtues of fungi…there were about eight of us, and the guide was excellent, encouraging much participation…he was particularly impressed with my reading out some of the exhibition text, offering me a permanent role! Got a couple of trams back to the hotel, showered, and crashed out…!!!