Day 73 (12/8) - Follow the dots + another ship!

Headed off towards Bruges with a hastily printed list of the waypoints the Dutch use to navigate their enormous complex bicycle network. Each waypoint has arrows to the next possible waypoints. The map looked like a black and white,  blurry, Where's Wally. It lasted all of three km before a closed road with no obvious alternative threw us through a loop. Google maps, some lucky guesses and a lot of backtracking to find overgrown, hidden, or straight out missing waypoint markers. We made it the 80km through a steady but manageable headwind to Rotterdam in a lazy six hours. Due to our last minute decision to go to Bruges we missed the chance to catch up with an old friend Wendy in Rotterdam. Next time for sure!
As Anne-Marie was still keen to spend another night on a boat Reuben couldn't say no when she found ssRotterdam, an old cruise ship turned into a hotel berthed in the harbour. They had renovated the interior 50s style, removed walls and combined two cabins into one. The rooms were lovely and the restaurant amazing. There was a pool with deckchairs and a bar. They were slowly renovating sections of the boat but as the furniture and fittings were old and expensive most parts could only be seen with a tour guide. Arriving at 7pm we missed that opportunity but we still enjoyed the experience.

Lots of horses and ponies along the way

Working windmills

Some awesome sculptures

Paddle boats shaped like swans

And we stayed on the SS Rotterdam a retired cruise ship, now 50's styled four star hotel

I'm on a boat