Rotterdam: The Family Home

Rotterdam's "cubic apartments" are a must-see.

Tony and I arrived in Amsterdam around 8:30 PM local time, tired but with cheeks still flushed from the volcanic waters of Iceland's Blue Lagoon. After a much faster trip out of the terminal than usual- somehow we managed to completely bypass passport control- we startled to found ourselves suddenly in the arrivals hall. After standing momentarily bewildered in front of a pair of Stars Wars-esque sliding doors, we walked forward, and there was Dierdre!

For those of you who don't know, Dierdre became part of my extended family more than 10 years ago, when she was in her early twenties and working for a software company that made annual business trips to work with my Dad's employer. Dad took a liking to the spunky young Irish gal and invited her home to try my mom's cooking, and spend some time out of her lonely hotel room. Apart from the cat nibbling on one of Dierdre's toes during Grace, the meal went well, and we all got along splendidly. We were all together in Scotland the following year, when both Dad and Dierdre had business there, and have seen each other nearly every other year since. She brings tasty European chocolates or Irish jewelry and takes us out to dinner at our favorite Italian place; she stays with us instead of in a hotel and enjoys our American hospitality, especially my mom's yummy cooking. It's a nice arrangement for all involved!

After being transferred to The Netherlands, Dierdre met and married a delightful Dutchman, Cochise, who has been along with her to visit us twice. I was lucky enough to spend a long weekend with the happy couple in the autumn of 2008 with my friend Laura; we were studying abroad in England and Amsterdam was just an hour's flight away! Much to everyone's elation, D and Co welcomed twins, a boy and a girl, last October. Having missed their wedding in Ireland I was not about to miss out on the twins' babyhood, and essentially invited myself over for a summertime visit. Luckily, they were more than happy to welcome not just me, but also Tony, whom they had never met, into their home.

Dierdre and Co make their home in a cozy townhouse on the outskirts of the city of Rotterdam, about an hour's drive from Amsterdam. Despite being the home of Europe's largest seaport, Rotterdam does not see as much tourist traffic as other Dutch cities. This is largely because it is one of Holland's more modern cities. Hardly any buildings survived the vicious bombings of World War II, when Rotterdam was flattened by Nazi forces in the course of just one day.

Rotterdam was a great base for all of our travels. Apart from the city itself (which I'll detail in a post to come), Rotterdam's Centraal Station can take you all over The Netherlands and even to Belgium without stopping for customs or so much as a passport check. Our home station was Rotterdam Alexaander, a convenient walk and even more convenient bike pedal from Dierdre and Co's place. On the day we went to Delft and The Hague, we borrowed their bikes and got to the station that way instead of walking.

I was a bit nervous at first, considering A) It's been about two years since I've been on a bike, B) Dierdre is a few inches taller than me, with much longer legs, making the ride slightly uncomfortable, C) I was also wearing a dress, not having planned on this turn of events, and D) Neither one of us had ever pedaled around in another country before! Luckily Holland is probably the most bike-friendly country in the world. Every road short of the highways seems to have a bike path, and cars are expected to yield to cyclists. That didn't stop us from being a little nervous navigating the traffic circles at first, but we eventually became more confident once no one tried to run us over or even honk their horns at us.

Tony and I playing with Aiofe on our last day in Rotterdam.

If we had had more time in Rotterdam I would have loved to spend more time exploring the city by bike; but we were really only there either at the beginning or end of a very long and busy day. There wasn't much time or energy for bike rides!

Our final day in Holland was spent in Rotterdam, where we caught up on sleep and then spent the day with D and Co and the babies. It was a brutally hot day; we had planned to go to a nearby UNESCO World Heritage Site to see some windmills, but couldn't risk taking the babies out in that weather. So we sweated out the day in the shade of the house, windows and doors thrown open. Tony and I crawled around on the carpet with the "babas," playing with blocks and trains balls. When the men left for a shopping trip Dierdre and I got the babies and in out of their cribs for naps and fed them yogurt, bread, and cheese.


In the afternoon we slathered the babies in sunscreen and took them out to the back garden, where a paddling pool was waiting for them underneath the tarp. The cool water was a relief to all of us, even us adults, who merely got splashed by Ciaran and Aiofe. After toweling them off we all settled around the backyard table for a barbecue, complete with steak, salmon, chicken, cheese schnitzel, and other tasty goodies. Our orbits around the table as we followed the shade of the umbrella was highly amusing.

It's looking likely that the family will be moving to Ireland soon, so it's highly likely that I'll never be back to Rotterdam. Tony and I want to come back to Amsterdam and The Hague once all of the museum are open (more on that later), but as Dierdre drove us away from the city as we departed for the airport, I couldn't help thinking that I'd never see the place again. Still, one never knows where one will end up going on one's next adventure! Maybe next summer will be Ireland!