I hate bricks

Today I learned to love concrete. Slabs of smooth, untextured concrete. Sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, streets, all of lovely, even concrete.

This happened after dragging my (admittedly enormous, so I do take some responsibility) suitcases a half mile from my hotel in Amsterdam to the central train station, entirely on surfaces of brick, pavers and cobblestones. Each little piece with a gap between it and its neighbor, a gap just wide enough to catch the tiny wheels of a rolling suitcase. Then, arriving in Rotterdam I got lost. The station is under renovation, and apparently the first step in the renovation was to take down every single sign in every language. I have no innate sense of direction, so of course I left the station via a service entrance and walked 20 minutes in the wrong direction, dragging the above mentioned suitcases across a delightful assortment of small, irregular paving materials. I got to the hotel, which is 2 blocks from the station, an hour after getting off the train. By wich time I was deeply in love with concrete.

I'm in Rotterdam, typing this on the hotel "Internet on TV" set up. I can't add any pictures using this system. so no views of lovely bricks, or pavers or anything else. Now I just have to figure out how to get to the ship tomorrow without dragging the suitcases across any uneven surfaces........