My Home Among the Windmills

I am again stationed in Rotterdam for the month of March. This time I did a little more research into living accommodations, hoping to do a little better than the Hilton. The Hilton is the most luxurious place to stay, but it is hard to be happy in a little hotel room for an entire month. While searching on the internet machine, I located a small hotel, completely unique to this part of the world.

The B&B is the little house in the middle with "eyelashes" above the windows on the second floor.

Bed and Breakfast Delfshaven is located in the historic area of Rotterdam, one of the few areas of the city that escaped the Germany bombing and subsequent firestorm during WW2. It is a residential community of narrow canal houses, apartments, canals, windmills, and boats. The boats are all occupied as residences, which is very interesting. I can not imagine there are many other cities where a large number of residents can respond to global warming by pulling up anchor and sailing to somewhere warmer and less flooded.

The Bed and Breakfast is not quite a B&B as it does not serve breakfast and it is not located in an old victorian house like you would expect to see in the US. It is instead on the first floor of a very narrow canal house, the owner lives on the second and third floors. I love the fact that there is a full kitchen and space for up to five to sleep. I have already had one dinner party, though I managed to give myself food poisoning. The view from the front window is fantastic and could be from another century. It is also very convenient to the metro line that brings me to work. There is even a little back patio with some bikes for use.

Delfshaven is full of good restaurants and many ethnic grocery stores. I feel a bit more connected with the community here and certainly more happy and relaxed.