Rotterdam!

Nothing bad about my hosts. They have been nothing but generous and fun. I really treasure the time we had together. But to be in a hostel, to be left to my own devices after having been social with friends almost every day since the 20th of November was starting to get socially exhausting. Being left to my own devices for a while have been awesome.

I started with a quite early morning with nice, free breakfast downstairs. Then got up, gathered my gear: my newly bought Nintendo 3DS (since when you bring it around with you, you exchange your information with people automatically and unlock stuff. Also, it got a step counter). I went out for a short stroll, snapped two pictures and the camera battery died. I kept walking for a while, returned to base camp while the battery recharged.

During the day I had been in mail and sms contact with a guy called Samer, who is a photographer, writer and part-time teacher of philosophy. We met up at the train station and he showed me around the city for many hours, meanwhile talking and exchanging life stories. A truly nice guy and an awesome guide who pointed out all sorts of things I should do and see.

The whole city got architecture like this

 And, to be honest, thus far the city core of Rotterdam is the most awesome I've ever encountered. The architecture is very creative and absolutely stunning. The city is very clean and a total melting pot of cultures. But, most of all the architecture appeals to me. And then some. I'm really glad I went here despite it not being in the original plan!

City beautification

I was really going to go out for some night photography. But the step counter shows 20603 steps (which would be... what... 15.6 kilometers or something?). But as I got back to the hostel room I sort of crashed. So I'll take an early-ish night.