So I am back in Weimar. Glad to be home—even if it is my new home.
Unfortunately I made a mistake Saturday—not that I could have predicted it, but I had lunch at a café/restaurant that I’d never been to, and if I am not mistaken, I got food poisoning from it. I should have been more cognizant of the issue in the afternoon when my stomach felt slightly off, but it wasn’t until I was at a friend’s house about three or four forks into a lovely dinner when my stomach announced that it wasn’t interested in additions from above.
Fortunately I heeded the warnings and nothing embarrassing happened, other than me having to explain that suddenly my stomach was doing somersaults and that perhaps I wouldn’t finish my meal. It was too bad because it was really tasty cooking and I really wanted to eat it.
From there I returned, relatively early, to my hotel, where had it been a normal Saturday night in Rotterdam I would have prepared to go out dancing. Instead I lay down to let my stomach chill—and then it was 3am. I don’t think I really started feeling completely better until sometime this morning.
Yes, I had a quiet Sunday—eating only simple foods and taking naps.
I did get out for a long walk around town—ear buds plugged in. The weather, although not warm enough for the beach, was spectacularly perfect for a March Sunday in The Netherlands. Although I ended up spending a large proportion of the day asleep—I did enjoy seeing town—especially the protective duck. I noticed the children and I was walking slowly around the park, but a jogger had to speed up and run in fear after being attacked by the parent duck.
Later I stopped by an attraction I had never before seen—Railz—Rotterdam is home to a rather large, and still growing, miniature railroad display. It’s actually located quite close to the city’s main train station and on Sunday afternoon it was packed with lots of children—whiter traditionally aged, or of the balding middle-aged variety. The exhibit is very well done, even down to have a “24 minute” day so that you can see the train operating at night, complete with appropriate nighttime street lighting.
It’s been open for about a year (I believe), and the enthusiasts are already expanding the display to include Rotterdam’s Erasmus Bridge.
Railz sounds cool, I’ll have to remember that next time we’re in the Netherlands.
If you’re into that kind of thing, you probably already know about the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, which claims to be largest model train exhibit in the world. We visit about twice a year, and they always have something new. We recommend it highly.
Hmmm… I did not know about the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg… perhaps this is alone a good reason to head north!