We awoke to the sound of Bobby McFerrin's 'Don't worry, be happy' through the PA at 6.30 EU time, which, had I not been on holiday and disposed to positivity, would have annoyed the hell out of me.
We got ready, and went downstairs for breakfast. There was an all-you-can-eat buffet, which was quite expensive, so we opted for smaller items (which were still rather expensive). I had tea and a croissant. The boat began to dock, and Christian and I went out onto the deck to watch the world go by. And the shitehawks. It was pleasantly warm, and mostly sunny.
We went back inside, collected luggage, and left the ship. It was easy to make our way to the train station beside the dock. Hugh gave us our tickets (having booked them), and we got onto a train bound for Rotterdam. The journey was comfortable, and the scenery changed from docks, to open fields/dykes, to residential, to city. At Rotterdam Centraal, Christian bought us three-day metro tickets, and we got on the number 4 tram towards Delfshaven. And missed our stop. Maria hadn't called it the same thing as it was marked. The neighbourhood was a bit edgy and interesting. There were some interesting looking cafes.
In Delfshaven now, we walked back around the river to find Maria's flat, booked through Air BnB. It was a little way, but not difficulty to find. We rang the bell, and she came down to get us, leading us up on the impossibly steep and windy stairs. I felt sorry for poor Christian with the big bag. By now it was only 9.30.
We found our rooms (Maria had donated her own room to Hugh, and opted to sleep at her boyfriend's), which were huge, roomy, and very comfortable. In fact, the whole flat was impossibly enormous, given it was only the top half of the building. It was airy and light, and, as Maria is an architect and very conscious of design, minimal, with some really interesting features, such as hanging bulbs with loose wires, and a long, tensioned table. She made us a coffee, and we chatted about ourselves.
Despite being in a comfortable bed the night before, we were all tired from having been up early, so we opted for a little rest before we achieved anything, and so went upstairs and shut the curtains for some sleep. We got up again around 1, I think, and got ready to go exploring and festivalling for the rest of the day. We walked back into town rather than taking public transport, and saw a bit more of the world, though the road we took was fairly uninteresting. We ended up in a shopping mall, and passed a number of eating establishments that weren't quite right, and eventually settled for a noodle place next to some noisy earthmoving equipment, and a busking violinist doing his best to be heard over the racket.
We asked Hugh what he thought would be worth seeing, and he suggested walking in the direction of the main shopping district. Christian wanted to see what the 'eyebrows' on the tourist map were. We walked around the shops, with Hugh looking not totally seriously for some crocodile skin boots. We saw some dancing buskers. The 'eyebrows' turned out to be bit roof awnings around the sunken shopping streets.
We then headed in the direction of the festival, intending to walk the whole way. First, we stopped for some coffee and cake. We walked past the Maritime Museum and interesting looking tall ships until we reached the approach to the Erasmus bridge. We stopped on the bridge a few times to take photos. We walked around Rijnhaven before deciding to hope on a metro for the rest of the journey. We got off at Zuidplein, and followed the considerable crowd to the festival in a convention centre called Ahoy.
We queued for quite some time, and made our way through the well-organised gates into the festival complex. We bought some 'munten' - tokens with which you have to buy everything during the festival - and squeezed through the crowds to make our way to the Hudson room to see Terence Blanchard and his band. The room was enormous, and pretty full. We made our way to the back of the stand, which was right at the back of the room. The band was good, but Terence was using some effects to loop, and chorus, that I didn't much like. It was technically bebop, but not too inaccessible.
We wanted to see Medeski, Martin, and Wood, but the Congo tent was full, so we found a spot outside it, in the slightly chilly air, and listened to them. Hugh and Christian got a beer. We went inside Nile to catch the end of Seasick Steve. I couldn't see over the crowd, and so all the photos I took were rubbish because I was standing on tiptoe.
We got some dinner (Hugh and I got burgers, while Christian got meaty things from the carvery), and stood outside Nile to hear some of Santana. It was standard Santana repertoire, but it sounded good. While standing there, the tide of humanity pushing past me, and into, and close in front of me, upset me much more than it should have. I really hate crowds sometimes.
We decided to go onto the roof and hear the DJ and drink some Grolsch (which was cheaper per volume than the other beer). It was crowded too, and the music was loud and unpleasant. I think I had a cocktail. I wanted to see Anat Cohen, and because Christian is lovely, he decided to come with me. So we went off to find her (with difficulty).
We had to queue to get into the room, and only caught three or four songs, but she was very good as expected. I'd not heard her doing contemporary repertoire, or on the soprano, and she could switch to this from trad effortlessly. In the course of this gig, the wave of humanity managed to upset Christian almost as much as it had upset me, so I felt a little less stupid.
We met Hugh, and headed back to the flat on the metro at about 11.30. And crashed.
We got ready, and went downstairs for breakfast. There was an all-you-can-eat buffet, which was quite expensive, so we opted for smaller items (which were still rather expensive). I had tea and a croissant. The boat began to dock, and Christian and I went out onto the deck to watch the world go by. And the shitehawks. It was pleasantly warm, and mostly sunny.
We went back inside, collected luggage, and left the ship. It was easy to make our way to the train station beside the dock. Hugh gave us our tickets (having booked them), and we got onto a train bound for Rotterdam. The journey was comfortable, and the scenery changed from docks, to open fields/dykes, to residential, to city. At Rotterdam Centraal, Christian bought us three-day metro tickets, and we got on the number 4 tram towards Delfshaven. And missed our stop. Maria hadn't called it the same thing as it was marked. The neighbourhood was a bit edgy and interesting. There were some interesting looking cafes.
In Delfshaven now, we walked back around the river to find Maria's flat, booked through Air BnB. It was a little way, but not difficulty to find. We rang the bell, and she came down to get us, leading us up on the impossibly steep and windy stairs. I felt sorry for poor Christian with the big bag. By now it was only 9.30.
We found our rooms (Maria had donated her own room to Hugh, and opted to sleep at her boyfriend's), which were huge, roomy, and very comfortable. In fact, the whole flat was impossibly enormous, given it was only the top half of the building. It was airy and light, and, as Maria is an architect and very conscious of design, minimal, with some really interesting features, such as hanging bulbs with loose wires, and a long, tensioned table. She made us a coffee, and we chatted about ourselves.
Despite being in a comfortable bed the night before, we were all tired from having been up early, so we opted for a little rest before we achieved anything, and so went upstairs and shut the curtains for some sleep. We got up again around 1, I think, and got ready to go exploring and festivalling for the rest of the day. We walked back into town rather than taking public transport, and saw a bit more of the world, though the road we took was fairly uninteresting. We ended up in a shopping mall, and passed a number of eating establishments that weren't quite right, and eventually settled for a noodle place next to some noisy earthmoving equipment, and a busking violinist doing his best to be heard over the racket.
We asked Hugh what he thought would be worth seeing, and he suggested walking in the direction of the main shopping district. Christian wanted to see what the 'eyebrows' on the tourist map were. We walked around the shops, with Hugh looking not totally seriously for some crocodile skin boots. We saw some dancing buskers. The 'eyebrows' turned out to be bit roof awnings around the sunken shopping streets.
We then headed in the direction of the festival, intending to walk the whole way. First, we stopped for some coffee and cake. We walked past the Maritime Museum and interesting looking tall ships until we reached the approach to the Erasmus bridge. We stopped on the bridge a few times to take photos. We walked around Rijnhaven before deciding to hope on a metro for the rest of the journey. We got off at Zuidplein, and followed the considerable crowd to the festival in a convention centre called Ahoy.
We queued for quite some time, and made our way through the well-organised gates into the festival complex. We bought some 'munten' - tokens with which you have to buy everything during the festival - and squeezed through the crowds to make our way to the Hudson room to see Terence Blanchard and his band. The room was enormous, and pretty full. We made our way to the back of the stand, which was right at the back of the room. The band was good, but Terence was using some effects to loop, and chorus, that I didn't much like. It was technically bebop, but not too inaccessible.
We wanted to see Medeski, Martin, and Wood, but the Congo tent was full, so we found a spot outside it, in the slightly chilly air, and listened to them. Hugh and Christian got a beer. We went inside Nile to catch the end of Seasick Steve. I couldn't see over the crowd, and so all the photos I took were rubbish because I was standing on tiptoe.
We got some dinner (Hugh and I got burgers, while Christian got meaty things from the carvery), and stood outside Nile to hear some of Santana. It was standard Santana repertoire, but it sounded good. While standing there, the tide of humanity pushing past me, and into, and close in front of me, upset me much more than it should have. I really hate crowds sometimes.
We decided to go onto the roof and hear the DJ and drink some Grolsch (which was cheaper per volume than the other beer). It was crowded too, and the music was loud and unpleasant. I think I had a cocktail. I wanted to see Anat Cohen, and because Christian is lovely, he decided to come with me. So we went off to find her (with difficulty).
We had to queue to get into the room, and only caught three or four songs, but she was very good as expected. I'd not heard her doing contemporary repertoire, or on the soprano, and she could switch to this from trad effortlessly. In the course of this gig, the wave of humanity managed to upset Christian almost as much as it had upset me, so I felt a little less stupid.
We met Hugh, and headed back to the flat on the metro at about 11.30. And crashed.
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