Utrecht, The Hague, Rotterdam #1: Utrecht (-ish)
After a horrible night's sleep (harassment by an invisible mosquito), I left for the Netherlands in the morning. Destination: Utrecht. Quite a hassle getting there. The different legs being: bus to Sint-Truiden (on time... shock), train to Leuven, train to Antwerp, train to Rotterdam, and finally a train to... not Utrecht, but Hilversum. As I said before, the hotel probably wouldn't be in Utrecht itself. On the way here I found out it wasn’t anywhere near Utrecht at all. It is about as close to Utrecht as it is to Amsterdam (which we passed by train). Hilversum doesn't even fall under the Utrecht province (see map). Simply shambolic. I should have read the fine print. Total travel time: about 5 hours and 30 minutes. They were paid hours and minutes, so I didn't mind.
'Twas a smooth and actually quite pleasant train journey. I managed to avoid torrential downpour, which stopped right as I left home. Train to Leuven: sat next to a group trying to convince the train conductor they didn't know they needed tickets before getting on. Classic. Train to Antwerp: sat next to a man, thoroughly enjoying reels of AI slop without headphones. I recall a video of a man watching TV whilst floating on the Congo river. Vibes. Train to Rotterdam: the NMBS invited 5 train aficionados on board. You may say cringe and I would have agreed, but the smiles on their faces when talking to the train personnel and doing the announcements were heart warming. The final leg: train stopped in Schiphol airport, a boy got off with a big smile and an even bigger bouquet of flowers. Again, sweet. Good for them... must be nice.
Depressed, then, I arrived at the Van der Valk hotel in Hilversum. Not a looker, but nicer than the other one in Utrecht - de Bilt (also not really in Utrecht). I'm not complaining. It has all the facilities one would require, namely a restaurant and a casino. A sign from above to take up gambling perhaps? Can't win if one doesn't play. No gym nor pool, but who needs those.
There is something especially lonely about being a man alone in a hotel room on a work outing. I know what you're thinking. But no. I won't be switching to the porn channel on the TV. I am not that sad and lonely, nor am I 50 years old, nor would I want Entertainment 1: €15 on my receipt. Anyway, I don't have to. It turns out there are cockchafers present on the heath. Definitely code for something.
Tonight I met up with my colleague for dinner, standard practice before working together. Apparently it was her birthday today, so her husband joined us as well. On a birthday, I would rather have eaten alone. I don't understand why they didn't. I must be good conversation. Had steak, no surprise.