PJ Trader

I told you yesterday about the people-watching, and along with that comes some observations on European (or at least, Rotterdamians (??)) fashion.

Scarves are the in thing here and I’m woefully out of step with that.  Looped around the neck with long trailing ends, it seems all the women here wear one, even though I think the 55 degree temperature is a bit too balmy to be breaking out the heavy coats and scarves and gloves.  Still, I’ve started knitting my scarf, but I don’t think it will be done before I go home, so I might have to buy one to fit in properly.

Boots are the other fashion statement I’ve observed.  Nearly every woman I’ve seen (I can only think of two that didn’t conform to the unwritten fashion rules) has worn boots.  Uggs are popular, and most have flat heels although a few brave souls have clipped along with two inch spikes.  They wear leggings or dark tights or jeans tucked into the boots, for the most part.

And, since boots are the in thing here, there are a lot of shoe stores with a lot of boots.  I popped my head into one last night when a window display caught my eye, but the 180 Euro price tag had me putting those puppies down pretty quick.  I paused by the display of Uggs, trying to understand their bulky appeal (I still don’t get it) and saw a new model – a trim, over the calf boot with black sheepskin lining, zipped up the back and had a nice rubber, sneaker like sole.   It was quilted and pretty and displayed with a matching pair of earmuffs.  I thought them rather practical for this place and wondered if they’d survive a St. Louis slush/snow/ice storm.

But at 270 Euros (about $350) we’ll never know.

After all that hype, I’m here in Rotterdam where I’ll be for the next two weeks.  The flight was uneventful, except for the fact that a about 150 passengers didn’t make the flight due to weather in Atlanta.  With the plane only half full, we got to spread out which made my nightmares about being squeezed in coach class non-existent.  I had a very edible pasta dinner and watched the movie “Get Smart” on the entertaininment system, then tuned in some soothing Carribbean beach “spa sounds” and took a nap.  The sun was shining in Amsterdam when we landed and even the car rental went smoothly – we got the car we needed to haul the computer equipment to Germany in.

Our hotel in Rotterdam is on the Erasmus river and I’ve got some shots from my hotel room for you in a minute.  It’s taken me some time to get used to a European hotel room.  You have to leave your key card in a slot by the door if you want to turn the lights on, for example.  I wanted some ice last night, but they don’t have ice buckets – you just get a large plastic cup.  And for some reason I don’t have any dresser drawers, although my coworker does.

I still haven’t quite decoded European eating habits yet, either.  The restaurants don’t open until 2 or 3 pm, and we haven’t found a place to get breakfast yet.  Tomorrow we’re going to find a bakery and stock up!

We did find a gigantic shopping center that started at one end with a huge flea market and as we walked to the other end of the street (about six blocks) we ended up in an outdoor mall complete with a Pearle Vision Center and Timberland store.

At the moment I must be suffering some sort of jet lag – I went to bed early since I was falling asleep in my knitting and woke up three hours later wide awake.

By the way, the Diet Coke formulation over here is really sweet.  Makes me wish I’d packed a couple of 12 packs in my luggage.  OK, here’s some pics

View from my hotel room - a canal next to the river

Looking out over the Erasmus River and Bridge

Another shot looking down the street and river

And a night time shot. The blue line in the pic is where the elevator shaft in the apartment building is. Two building next door each have red and yellow lit shafts. Very pretty!