June 18, Harwich, East Anglia, England (maria)

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We enjoy a nice hotel breakfast and then I buy a new camera this morning (Friday) at a nearby shop. We check out of the hotel, but "camp" in the hotel's pub/lounge where we watch World Cup soccer most of the day. I was able to do a little work and the boys taxied into old town to play soccer. In general, we all tried to get our internal clocks back to normal. Over the course of the day, the hotel lounge fills up with boisterous English fans who are very entertaining but end up being sorely disappointed with their team's showing. After the last game (9:30ish pm) we taxi to the ferry terminal to catch the overnight Stena Line ferry to Hoek van Holland (Hook of Holland), The Netherlands.

Wow! The ferry is a pretty large and impressive boat! The sleeping cabin is really neat and includes berths for 5 and a bathroom. On ship, there are several lounges, restaurants, cafes, and shops. The boys immediately find the PS2 area-- Michael did not leave it until well past midnight. Around 3 am, I wake up and find I cannot get back to sleep due to the rough North Sea swells; my family snores on peacefully. I CAN NOT WAIT TO GET OFF THIS SHIP! **Tonight's observation: the ship is full of very tall, blond dutch people going back home (from London area, perhaps?).

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