Today, August 1, our cruise ended with our return to Rotterdam. The sea was very rough again as we left Kristiaansand, and again, many people were sea sick, but again, we proved our sea legs and stayed well! Perhaps champagne helps!

On our last sea day we relaxed and planned our next few days which we will spend in Rotterdam and Bruges before flying home on 4 August. We have really enjoyed the cruising experience, and found it a very satisfying way to travel. It is very relaxing; more so than a coach tour I think.

Today we disembarked by 8.30am and went directly to our hotel in Rotterdam where we left our luggage and then headed out to explore the city. It is a lovely city. It is pretty clean, modern and the architecture is stunning. Much of the city was bombed during WW2 so had to be rebuilt, and they have done a great job! We did a tour on the ‘hop on, hop off’ bus to get our bearings, and found a great little place for a late lunch before coming back to our hotel.

Our hotel is called H2Otel – and it is a floating hotel, on one of the canals. And it is excellent. A boutique hotel that serves great food on a pontoon on the canal. The weather was perfect, so we had a lovely evening sitting on the deck and watching the world go by. Perfect relaxation!

Every day I pinch myself to make sure that this is not a dream! I feel so blessed to be able to explore this part of the world. Just about everything has lived up to expectations, and generally exceeded them.