Username: Slipdigit Postmark: 27 March, 2018 From: Mariniersmuseum, Rotterdam, Netherlands Slipdigits follows up his first card with a curt note from the Mariniersmuseum (Royal Dutch Marine Corps Museum). A gorgeous painting adorns this card. Remember to check the WW2 Forums/Forces Postal Service Map for a look at our growing list of all WW2F/FPS submissions.
This is the second of this card I bought, addressed and stamped. I lost the first one in London, after I took it out of my backpack to protect it after failing to mail it before leaving Rotterdam. We went back to Rotterdam after 3 days in London. After we got home, my wife found it in her day planner. We have no idea how it got there. On the back, I had written, "I found this little museum for the Royal Dutch Marines in Rotterdam. I ended up getting a solo guided tour by one of the workers there." I may send it back with a friend of my daughter when she goes to visit in May and ask her to mail it, since it has Dutch postage on it already. The museum was about 2-3 blocks from our apartment, which was on Wijnbrugstraat in Rotterdam, near the Maas River. I stumbled upon it looking for something else and not being proficient with the Dutch language, thought it to be a museum on ships because it had some variation of "maritime" on the sign. I was pleasantly surprised. The town I live nearest to is about 5000 people-rather small. I actually found a Dutchman who knew where it was. He visits the US every year to see his daughter in Arkansas and spends about a month or so then, driving around the country staying in various cities for several days and visiting the sights in the area. He had been to the nearby large city several years ago and remembered seeing the name of our little town. He worked at the Maritime Museum just off the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam and I ended up getting another solo tour of several of the boats and barges, including a 50 year old fire boat, which please me greatly. I was walking the Firelline in Rotterdam, where the fires started by the German bombing in May 1940 were stopped. They have the line marked with lighted emblems in the sidewalks. As I was trolling around, I found a fire station. I went in and introduced myself, offering that I had been a firefighter, but was retired. Two hours later, I was able to leave after getting the grand tour. Quite exciting, for me anyway. BOO HISS to the French air traffic controllers who went out on strike the day we were to fly to Paris. Really $hit on our plans. My youngest was particularly pissed.