Train Ride

There are some things that I find hard to describe.  For instance, we had Starbucks (yummy) and sitting there in the food court type setting, I could see the doors to go outside.  I wanted to much to go out and breathe the air.  I wanted to jump and shout because it was such a phenomenal and insane and amazing thing that I was sitting in an entirely different country.  It was easy to forget where I was, in some aspects, because one airport is like another.  Sure the signs were in a different language, but there was enough English signs that I could give into the disbelief that I was anywhere but home.

We finished our drinks and hauled my bags down the escalator to the train platforms. We waited for our train to arrive and the feeling I had when a train went whooshing through the station...feeling the wind off of it and the thunder of it...I just had this surge of emotion run through me and that damn big grin spread across my face again.

Once our train arrived and we had to haul my jumbo bags on board I wasn't so excited anymore.  There was this woman in the back of the train, sitting right next to the door, that I had to squeeze my bag passed. She was giving me a dirty look and Lars asked me at that minute if I needed help.  I responded in a short way, simply because I was irritated with the woman and completely overwhelmed by the whole issue...it had been such a long day already and here it was the beginning of a new day. It was 10:30 (or around there) and I hadn't slept more than 30 minutes in 26 hours and I was looking at a full day of being awake.  I was NOT in the mood for Miss Cranky Pants in the back of the train. Poor Lars :(.

We got seated and the ride began and I got to see my first part of Holland.  I saw water, and green, and trains speeding by us at less than an arms length away. I saw a windmill and beautiful old-world buildings and boats....lots of boats.  As tired and cranky as I felt, I was amazed, thrilled and excited...and scared as hell.  I felt so completely out of my element.

* * * 

We arrived at Rotterdam and the station there was amazing.  It was a partially open-aired place and I experienced more escalators.  I learned how to scan my travel card so I could board the subway that would take us to the part of Rotterdam that was closer to home.  I had never ridden a subway before so, weird me, I was excited about this also.  We boarded in a tunnel-like environment and soon the doors closed and we were moving again.  Gradually the tunnel fell away and the city surrounded us and inside my mind I was clapping my hands like an excited seal. I have never felt such feelings of awe. I was seeing things that I'd only seen on Google Earth or in photos and I was reeling.

The subway arrived at our destination and he led me out of the subway and into the Rotterdam air in our 3rd leg of the trip home - walking..... :(.  Its not far from the station to the apartment but when you are as tired as I was...well, it seemed like forever.  I crossed in crosswalks and avoided pedestrians and other cars until finally we turned a corner and I said "Oh! I know where we are now!"  I recognized his street and the store at the corner of his building...we were nearly home.

So he says that he can see how tired I am and that he will carry the bags upstairs. I was relieved but when I saw the stairs to get to his door I just wanted to turn around and start walking again...they terrified me.  Shallow steps, which is good, but so steep that when you are on one you have the higher steps right in front of your face.  We got to the front door, breathless (well, I was) and I giggled...I had never seen his front door before and for some reason this just made me happy.

THEN HE OPENED THE DOOR and what do I see? More steep f'ing stairs, lol.