Got up painfully early to get to the train on time. Said goodbye to Richie. The train took us to Harwich Town to get to our boat, the Stena Line (http://www.stenaline.co.uk/). It's a huge boat that has restaurants, shopping, bars - like a mini-cruise ship. It takes about 3 and 1/2 hours to get across the English Channel and into Hoek van Holland, but we actually ended up getting one of the last to ever run; fuel costs were high so they're making it into a longer, overnight trip. We slept (uncomfortably) for almost the entire time and I was feeling a little seasick. It was a really good deal though because for $50 you get a train ticket to Harwich, the boat ride, and a train ticket out of Hoek van Holland to any stop in Holland. Damn good deal. (Cost more to Tube-it around London for two and a half days)
In Hoek van Holland we met up with Sam's grandparents because they just happen to live there! They had an adorable little house and were very kind, fed us and warmed us up with some tea. Then we got on the train to Utrecht, where we met up with Sam's two aunts and her uncle. They brought us straight to an amazing Tapas restaurant right on the Old Canal in the middle of the city of Utrecht. It was inside of one of the old cellars right off of the canal - really authentic, original architecture - loved it. We had a fantastic meal and then went back to her aunt and uncle's apartment to settle in.
They have a really nice apartment overlooking the New Canal and the surrounding park. Very big and full of art and literature. They pretty much epitomize the word "cultured" - made me feel horribly American! We also met the three cats: Darwin, Santiago, and Floreana (named after Galapagos Islands). We played with them for a while and then went straight to bed where we slept very well after such a long day of traveling.
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