Bucket List – Spido Tour

Today I can mark another item off my 101 List!  It was a beautifully sunny day in Rotterdam today and even though my husband is quite sick with a throat infection, that still couldn’t keep him down.  Both of us were really keen to get out and do something to enjoy the nice weather so we hopped in the car and headed into town to see where it would lead us.  I expected that we’d just have a walk around, stop and have a drink on a terrace and head home but when we realized there weren’t a lot of things open we looked for other ideas.  That’s when we thought of Spido.

The Spido harbour tour is something I’ve been meaning to do for years but just never got around to it.  They offer a number of excursions, some of which are quite long (up to 7-8 hours) but visiting some really interesting parts of the Delta Works.  They don’t run until July and August so we did the one hour long Rotterdam Harbour Tour instead.  It was really cool to see the harbours from a different angle.  It was also lovely to sit out in the sun and just enjoy the lovely spring weather.   Thankfully I had thought to throw my Exilim in my bag before we left the house, or I would have been very unhappy to not be able to take some photos while we were out there.

We arrived at the terminal only 10 minutes before our boat was leaving, so we didn’t have to wait in line very long… but boy was there a line!  It’s nice of them to put up the tarps to stop people from frying in the sun while they wait.

By the time we got on, all the seats were taken, so we had to sit on the stairs.  Once my ass stopped burning from the scorching green paint I realized that we had great seats as we could see over everyone’s heads and nobody could walk in front of us.

I also realized that the Spido tours are a very touristy thing to do.  I heard every language on the map while on that boat and I sort of wanted to walk up to people and go “Yo, I live here.  I’m ingeburgerd, ok?  Silly tourists!”.  It would seem I’m not as ‘ingeburgerd’ as I thought because I just had to check Google on how to spell it and I had stuck an extra E in there.  OH well, I know what the word means, that’s what counts.  That’s the rules.

If there was one thing I had to complain about with our seats, it was this…

Mother of all that is good and holy, what is going on here?!!!   Now – Disclaimer, you all know how I feel about taking photos of people and making fun of them but I am following my own rules here, her face is not showing so she could be any ol’ red bra wearing, mole having, half naked lady in the Netherlands.  Her privacy is protected.  Also, I am a big girl too so I’m not saying anything about her size, just… well, LOOK!

Holy crap was it distracting.  She was sitting directly between me and whatever I happened to be looking at and this was the least offensive and off-putting of her poses.  Many of which included raising her arms, which for someone like me who hates armpits with the fire of a thousand suns, is not a happy situation.

I just don’t get it.  Why?  Whyyyyyy???

On the one hand I was really put off by her. but on the other hand I have to give her credit for doing what she wants and what is comfortable for her regardless of what anyone else thinks.  Is it self-confidence or a lack of self awareness? I don’t know… whatever it is though, I don’t think I want it.  I prefer the whole self-conscious thing I have had going on the last few years.   It works for me.

Once I was able to look up and see something else, I managed to get some photos.

The SS Rotterdam, a retired cruise ship that has been completely renovated into a hotel / restaurant / events umm, place.  It is stationary now and I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about it from people who have visited.

There are tours of the SS Rotterdam through Spido as well, including a Way Down Below tour which takes you down through the engine room.  I’m quite keen to check this out sometime after seeing some really freaky HDR photos from in there.

The Euromast, one of the most well known landmarks of Rotterdam.

Not as impressive after living in Toronto and having experienced the CN Tower, but still quite fun to visit if you want to see Rotterdam from above.  It was nice to see it from a different perspective and I really must try that Chinese restaurant sometime, if it is still a Chinese restaurant. I really have no idea.  When it looks like that, what else can it be?

We saw a lot of the ship yards along the harbour, which was a lot more interesting than I had expected. We saw men working on the ships, using their mega machines to load the big shipping containers onto the ships and all sorts of stuff I thought would be boring like watching grass grow, but wasn’t.

I quite enjoyed getting photos of things I’ve already photographed loads but from a different vantage point.  Like the waterfront and the Erasmus Bridge.

I also loved seeing Hotel New York from the water side.

There were a lot of people out enjoying the sun and having lunch at the restaurant.  I can only imagine what it is like there at the dead of summer.  Some day soon I’m going to bike there and have a lay in the grass myself.  When in Ro…tterdam!

One thing did baffle me, and I almost missed it!

See where all the people are on the sloped area next to the VHF 60 sign?  Well, forget them, they aren’t important.

Now, look to the right… lower… see that speck? In the water?  That’s a GIRL… IN THE WATER.

IN THE WATER PEOPLE!!  In Rotterdam Harbour, in MAY.  ROTTERDAM HARBOUR.  *Faint*

I’m not freaking out about the temperatures, I mean… I am still Canadian.  It’s ROTTERDAM HARBOUR!  It’s where all the stuff you don’t want to know about goes like dog poo and men in cement shoes.  No swim zone!

At least that’s what I’ve always thought…

Anyway, we had a great day.  I came home with one more thing scratched off my 101 list, an enjoyable day with my darling hubby, some photos and a sunburn.  What more could a girl ask for?

Other than to not have big armpit waving half naked mole lady sitting in front of me… and maybe an ice cream.