Freak's EurOpex+ 2005 log.

May 31st 2005
 Flew to Anchorage for my Condor airlines connection. Condor is a much posher airline than Alaska or even those “real” airlines down south, they've got a nose cam, gps tracking on overhead monitors, speed/time/temp display, and fairly decent in-flight movies (mixed with cheesy ones). We followed the Arctic coast along northern Canada and Greenland, I believe 70* was the highest north we got. Along with the German music on our armrest receivers, we got an occasional zoom from the belly cam as we flew over Greenland. It almost made up for the lack of a window seat.

June 1st
 Frankfurt security seems pretty lax, It looks like you could just wander into Germany with no passport check, and once you're in the waiting area (separated from the public terminal by a short fence) there's no ticket check before you get on the plane. You can also buy knives and stuff at the gift shops.

 Downtown London seems to be a big ghetto. No working phones, only a few that have all their bits. Expensive and nasty public restrooms (you'd think people would aim better if they're paying 20p to use it, and who the hell thought black lights in the stalls was a good idea?)
 Met up with Wooble after sitting in line at the wrong bus station for a while. Stashed my crap in a luggage storage place, and took public transit out to Millennium Mills. Explored the multiple mill buildings and got a few good pictures, the overgrown rooftop garden was awesome. When we were ready to leave (had to climb a terrible metal pipe and scary nylon rope to get in), we spotted a security truck outside. I looked out and saw a German Shepard and two things that looked like foxes. Not sure if they were stray dogs, actual foxes, or guard dogs that looked like foxes. We waited a bit and then somehow climbed down quietly and snuck out a back way.
 Got on the discount bus to Glasgow. The upper deck is a huge sauna with no ventilation, too many people breathing and sweating. Finally wake up at some rest stop, get out for fresh air. Get back on and pass out.

June 2nd
  Wake up in Glasgow, hike to Hostel. I can't check in until 3pm (arrived at 8:30am), so I wander along the river looking at drains, then head up the the free transportation museum to kill some time.
 Meet up with Slim Jim, Shaun, Turbozutek (briefly) and Maze at the hostel bar. We get bored and head out to scout for stuff. Supposedly there's a tunnel under some rotunda things I spotted earlier, so we go to the abandoned one on the south side of the river. After getting into the rotunda and not finding a tunnel, we pop manholes outside until we locate it. Need to return with climbing gear, it's rappel-accessible only :(. Wandered around some more and got Pizza.

June 3rd.
 1st official day of Europex! Slept in and then did Botanic Gardens on my own since Maze didn't think it was on the official agenda. Walked through the station to the end of the first tunnel, then back to the exit and found the station from above. Followed the old track to a 2nd tunnel that's locked up, then followed that on the surface to the active LRT line.
 Met the group at the hostel bar, introductions and promptly forgot most people's names. We all jumped on Chris' rented short bus to Broom Hill asylum, which was cool and photogenic. The group then went to a fancy oriental restaurant in the active north rotunda, where an insider gave us a hint about accessing the north end of the tunnel. After dinner Jim, Anymouse, and I looked for the entrance while Melody and Ardi the documentary people filmed us. The fire alarm went off at one point, which may or may not have been related to us, so we skedaddled on out of there as the restaurant patrons exited and the fire trucks arrived.
 On the way back to the hostel we spotted a mid-size abandoned building that looked interesting. After a lot of work we gained entrance involving the roof, an inside courtyard, an air vent, some broken multi tool screwdrivers, and a lot of squeezing. Once inside it appeared to be some kind of hotel, there was some active power and a (sort of) working phone. Jim ran off to let the rest of the group know where we were, they showed up while we were on the roof.
 It turned out the locals had already been in, and that it was a Junkie rehab hostel. We jumped in the short bus again and drove to the next location. After some warnings to be stealthy, and the camera crew being blatantly obvious and non-stealthy, we all filed into a secret entrance and found ourselves in a large abandoned hotel. This one also had active power and a security camera in the front lobby, we had fun watching each other on the monitor in the back room. After a lot of wandering around, climbing on roofs, finding some fancy bathrooms, and general exploring, we went home for the night.

June 4th
 Went on a tour of the Glasgow Necropolis with a famous local historian. Participated in a BBC spot focusing on his tours, and gave some dumb answers to interview questions. Bussed out to Lennox Castle, a medieval-style asylum complete with half-mast pirate flag and collapsing interior floors. Apparently while some of us were inside the caretaker showed up, called Chris an arsehole, and kicked most of the group off the grounds. We still got to explore a bit, although the site was seriously unsafe and Del brought a huge first aid kit just for this trip!
 Drove back towards town, stopping for food and drink at a supermarket. No cold beer to be found, I purchased ice and some bags to provide American-style alcoholic refreshment. We ended up at a large post-modernist style abandoned seminary, where a barbecue was set up on the altar and a bonfire eventually started in the large empty central hall. Nivelo broke out some Cave Clan stickers and lots of stuff (including people) was soon advertising the cave clan. I got mildly drunk and others got completely smashed (such as Jim). Tried some haggis (less processed hot dog meat!) and random barbecue stuff.
 After the barbecue we drove out to the Raven's Park asylum, a large and somewhat well guarded site outside of town. As we snuck towards the site we heard dogs and shouting, probably an illegal rabbit hunt. The cops rocked up and parked towards us with their lights off, but were probably just after the rabbiters. We made it in and wandered around, Jim drunkenly speaking bad French and being a noisy American. Played with a shortwave bone heater that was pretty nutty, and got lots of bad photos.
 Everyone got out and got dropped off at various hostels without being arrested. My room was full of drunk British football hooligans, with a naked one in my bed. Grabbed another bed for the night, should have traded Maze since she got lesbians in her bed.

June 5th
 Went to the Barras, supposedly the largest black market in Europe. I was kind of disappointed, it was smaller than I expected and the only illegal stuff was people selling DVDs on blankets and then running from the cops. Didn't compare to Tijuana or even Quartzite Arizona. Saw two military helicopters doing acrobatics over the Barras, then an Irish pride parade of some kind. The market may have been less active due to this, apparently it's often a violent event. Got yelled at by neds/footy hooligans, then we went to Botanic again.
 Botanic was good the 2nd time with a big group, spent a lot of time babbling in front of the camera crew. Tagged up an electrical box and found Panic's old sticker, got some more photos and left.
 Had lunch at one of the locals' flat, and watched part of Melody's video preview. A big discussion on the future/past/present/deep spiritual meaning of UE ensued, with about the same results as a forum discussion (less flaming though). Dicky Hart did a haunting tour which culminated in a very well done skit involving a creepy bible killer guy. Wrapped up the convention at a nearby pub.
 After the end, I went scouting with Jim, Nivelo, Anymouse, and the camera crew. We failed to find any evidence of the northern rotunda tunnel access, then popped random manholes and got yelled at and chased by some guy in a car. Found a chimney leading to an abandoned apartment's fireplace, coned and popped a manhole that turned out to be sewer, saw the cops and de-coned, de-popped and exited fast. Found the missing Shaun, who had lost track of the schedule and ended up drunk all weekend in another hostel.

Overall there was more internal organization and teamwork for this event than was seen at Opex 94, but less communication and public dissemination of plans. The trips and times were mostly secret up until departure and sometimes until arrival, and there were no seminars or organized discussions.

June 6th
 Checked out of the hostel, bought some mini-speakers at a local shop, met up with Jim, Nivelo, Shaun, and Mouse to get a bus to Manchester. Long ride with Jim being a noisy American and all of us cussing probably too much for the little kids sitting behind us. Had a hard time finding a hotel in Manchester but found some cool canal tunnels and two neds who wanted their picture taken. Finally got a hotel room for two, with the other three sneaking in later. Got beer and ice, fridged out the sink and proceeded to get drunk. Most of us went up on the roof to drink some more and look around, but no one remembered to bring a camera. I mentioned the 10-100 (taking a leak) police code, which immediately became Jim's new nickname. That guy is a walking water processor. No one fell off the roof, although several people went 10-100 off the side. Went down from the highest point to find the roof door locked, which was pretty freakin scary when we were all smashed. We quickly checked the other roof door and found it to be pryable, so we were able to escape back to the room. Mouse reported that the manager had been by asking if everything was ok, not sure if we were being loud (likely) or if he had connected the open roof door, drunk people, etc. I crashed out under a desk and woke up under a towel with Nivelo's shoes for a pillow in a completely different part of the room, and “Cave Clan” tagged all over me.
June 7th.
 Slept in past the checkout date, so got a second night. Went out to “The Works” drain after checking interweb at a cafe. A couple neds tried to sell Shaun a bike as they tore through the train station, it was probably very freshly stolen. Found a scooter at the outlet of the Works, but there wasn't much scooterable drain. Lots of flooded section, stinky sewer canal thingy at the top of a cool stairwell. Jim went out the sewer tunnel while the rest of us went back to the entrance, met up with him after he went through a short abandoned rail tunnel. Found an abandoned building (actually about 3 or 4 connected ones with a nice light well in the middle). We figured there was no way in, then as Jim contemplated unscrewing a board, it fell off in his hand! Climbed around inside, got into a recently abandoned architecture office, found an asbestos abatement project, looked for basements, and finally left via the unlocked front door on a busy street. Went to the market and got foodage. Mouse left for his flight back to Cowgary.

June 8th.
 Took the train to Abergele, a little redneck Welsh town with a big castle. Got a cheap B&B that was pretty cool, plus we spotted an interesting ship on the way to town. Hiked up to the castle and spent a while checking it out, saw a few locals but no one really cared that we were inside. Most of the place is gutted by rot and overgrown, but it was big and had a great atmosphere. Very photogenic as well.
 After the castle we hiked up the hill to look at some mines Jim saw on his topo map. There was supposed to be a mine connecting with the castle, but we never found it. Looked at an observation tower related to the castle. We then found a disappointing cave, and were about to head back when we found a series of much better caves. Crawled around in cave mud and bat guano for a while, Shaun went hardcore up a tiny crawl tunnel, but none of the caves really went anywhere we could access without climbing gear and more time. Jim chased some sheep around on the way down to the beach, which in Wales probably constitutes a legal marriage.
 Went back along the beach and I became the marine biology guy, pointing out various critters for the others. Pretty much the same tidal life as Alaska, although the clams are narrower and some of the rock crabs are tiny. We found some kid's abandoned sand castle and fully explored it, leaving Cave Clan seaweed tags behind. We were pretty hungry by the time we got back to town, so we stopped for Fish and Chips despite having groceries back at the B&B. As we were sitting outside the shop, some neds drove by and yelled at us, then came back and egged Jim! We moved and kept a lookout for them, hoping to score a greasy basket of chips and gravy through an open car window. Headed back to the B&B and saw some fireworks across town.

June 9th.
 Caught a bus in rush hour traffic towards the ship, got off and stashed our luggage in a bush. Jim's gigantic heavy wheelie bag didn't do too well off-road. Walked over to the ship and jumped a fence, I was wearing long pants which sucked for heat but were good for all the nettles everywhere. We circled the ship a few times and couldn't find any good ways in, then the owner showed up from inside and told us to leave. Got back on the bus and went to Liverpool, through a confusing and expensive change to inner-city buses, then to the airport. Flew over to Paris on EasyJet with Jim talking loudly about sewers and telephone tunnels, I think nearby passengers were trying to find better seats :-)
 Got to CDG airport, breezed through customs, and wandered onto an LRT train without paying. Got into the city center and into the fare-paid zone of the metro without ever seeing a ticket inspector, we were even kind of legit since someone at the station told Jim to buy tickets on the train. Got to the Formula 1 hotel, tiny room with double and bunk bed, bathrooms and showers are pods off the hallway, all modular. Crashed out.

June 10th / 11th
 Maintenance day. Slept in, did laundry, checked email, got food, etc. Set up the cheap speakers on my backpack so we could play music in the catacombs. Bought some beer on the way out.
 Met up with Ben and Roberta from Holland (a bit later than planned), then found an open manhole someone had tipped Jim to. Popped the “Plaque”and started descending despite several people watching from balconies. A do-gooder ran up and told us to stop, then phoned the police on his mobile. Everyone got in and closed the lid, then we moved fairly quickly out of the area through the catacomb tunnels (actually inspection galleries). The part we started in had some PTT (telephone) cable racks, and a few decaying cables.
 We took several twists and turns following Jim's map, then he told us to crawl through a small hole (Chatierre, or “Cat-hole” dug around a blockage by Cataphiles). We ended up with all our gear in a tiny space between the roof of the tunnel and a pile of moldy bones, in one of the “Ossuaries” of the real catacombs. It was pretty uncomfortable and kind of gross, so naturally we had to have a few cold ones and play some songs about skulls that kill people.
 We crawled through some more Chatierres and spent some time wandering around somewhere looking for something, then hiked through more twisty long tunnels to the German bunker. Jim smashed his camera crawling through a Chatierre. We went quickly through the bunker Chatierre and into the fountain room behind the bunker, apparently this was a brewery or wine cellar of Capuchin monks (I need to get a history book on the Catacombs and related underground stuff in Paris). While here, we met a Scottish Cataphile who put out backpack sound system to shame with his car amp and subwoofer setup. While talking with him, Maze and her guide appeared, she was on a different schedule than us but happened to be in the area that night. Some of the Cataphiles were having a party elsewhere in the bunker, and their smoke bombs made visibility and air quality pretty bad. We hung out there for a while, then went to another part of the bunker with a few locals and had glowstick goo splashed all over everything. Sat around listening to people speaking French, then we did a fast walk out, popped a different manhole, and left the underground.

June 11th/12th
 Slept in again. Went to the world's oldest flea market, just around the corner from the hotel. Seemed to be mostly the world's oldest computer and stereo equipment, kind of a massive garage sale. Lots of t-shirts, drug paraphernalia, and military surplus as well.
 Tonight's entrance was in the “Petite Centiure”, an abandoned light rail line circling Paris in tunnels and open cuttings. There are frequently entrances from the PC tunnels into the catacombs, new ones being opened as fast as the IGC and police can close them. We hopped a wall and got yelled at (again) by concerned citizens, then hung around for a bit debating if the lights in the tunnel were from cops or cataphiles. I thought they looked like acetylene flames, and that the cops probably wouldn't use carbide lanterns. It turned out to be some stoned cataphiles preparing to enter, and we followed them in. We took a different route towards the 15th district while the stoners went to the 14th. After wading through some fairly deep (but not too cold) water, we passed over the metro in a short section of PTT tunnel (all telephone lines and even the cable hangers were removed both from the catacombs and the overpass). We were hoping to find a bunker that Jim had heard was recently opened, and we managed to locate the Chatierre after some wandering through twisty side tunnels in an old quarry. The hole was pretty small and hard to get through at the end, with a twist and a drop onto a former exit stairway and old equipment cabinet. There were people inside, and once we all got in we met others who warned us they were setting off a bomb of some kind.
 The bunker turned out to be a 1960s nuclear shelter, with generators, water well, sewer connection and sump pit, telephone switchboard and comms gear, barracks rooms, and a room full of bikes hooked to air pumps and power generators. I tried to hook a bike generator to an intact lightbulb with some wires scavenged from a gutted phone switchpanel, but we couldn't get the bulb to light up or even get sparks from the generator.
 We then went to the “Crypt” and “Bomb Reserve” rooms (really just names for more large quarry areas), and L Plague. Walked back through the water and Nivelo left early to grab a cab back to the hotel. The rest of us continued on to the 14th, up through some crazy blue water, past lots of side tunnels and through several confusing junctions, into an area with several interesting features. First was the castle, made from limestone bits cemented together, then the gardens of plastic flowers. Jim ran ahead and came back with a giant stuffed Rabbit which he had found in “Le Salle de Sexe”, we had to explain what plushies and furries were and why he probably didn't want to play with the rabbit.
 Next we went to “The Cellar”, apparently a former business basement built inside a quarry (gotta look up the history on this one too). There were old insulators and wiring on the ceiling, some destroyed spiral stairways, and lots of excellent graffiti. This is where the reproductions of famous paintings are done, with some looking almost indistinguishable from the actual museum pieces. We had finished all our beer and were really sleep deprived and spacing, but we hiked a long way back though varying depths of water, some stoopy tunnels, and random turns until we came out in the PC again.
 
June 12th/13th
 Looked for something that's supposed to stay secret, but couldn't find a way in. Went back to find some telephone tunnels. Wandered down an alley and popped a grating in the sidewalk, then got everyone (including a friend of Ben and Roberta) down without being seen. Went a ways following a handmade map Jim had created during his last visit. Found some interesting side tunnels that weren't on the map, but that Jim vaguely remembered. Broke my duo and had to jury-rig it. Did some more magical happy tunnels that were all pretty much the same, except for a mystery building basement and some flooded sections that I ferried girls across. Shaun started talking about leaving, so Jim grabbed an emergency exit manhole and accidentally popped it. After a lot of swearing and failure to close it from within, I climbed up and managed to get it shut and re-locked with my super exploring powers (and my broken multitool). Jim still owes me a beer for that one. After finding a dead end and not feeling like going through the only other tunnel (flooded almost up to the roof), we popped out somewhere. Two Arabic guys on the sidewalk thought we were hilarious, one saying “You are all crazy people under the street! I like to meet the crazy people under the street!”. We wandered dirtily back to the metro and went back to the hotel.
 Also that night, got into the sewers, walked around playing “Down in the Sewers” and making jokes about “Le Poop”. I wanted to find big boat tunnels, but we left due to excessive squishiness and smell.

June 13th
 Went out to a suburban quarry and met up with some cataphiles and even more of Ben and Roberta's friends. All crammed into small French cars and drove to the quarry entrance. Wandered around some semi-touristy quarries, with photo-nerd cataphiles stopping for pictures all the time. Went through some connecting tunnels into adjacent quarries, then stopped for sausage and sake. Nivelo, Ben, Roberta, and some of their friends left, leaving Jim, Shaun, Igor, and I along with the Cataphiles. The French folks left due to job requirements, after expressing a lot of concern over leaving us there overnight. After making sure we had a compass and mapping supplies, and were OK hanging out until the trains started again, they gave us the rest of the Sake and left. Jim gave me the compass and map, and drank most of the Sake right away. We explored and mapped a lot of confusing passages in about 5 or 6 interconnected quarries, finding such things as an underground squat, storage tunnels from local residents, and a playground setup with the happytime funslide and some bikes. Found several more Chatierres into adjacent quarries, some interesting mushroom farms, air fans, sealed exits, caved in sections, cool pillars, pools of water, and some kind of awesome square tunnel that isn't on the map since we were trying to keep drunk Jim from getting lost. Got lost briefly on the way back, but found our way back to the main passages and exited at the storage tunnel. Some dogs came up to check us out, then barked and woke up the locals. Jumped a barbed wire fence and ran away as canal boats shined spotlights towards us.

June 14th
 Did laundry and Internet. Rented a car at the airport and drove up to Metz. Stopped at a kebab place in some weird little town, where some drunk transvestites kept trying to talk to us in French. Got to the Formula 1 hotel in Metz, where the door codelock fell apart and the room smelled awful. Stayed up too late talking, and got some great Fly-on-the-wall quotes from Jim:

“I'm really quiet and shy” (he was noisy and outspoken the whole time, we had to make him shut up when he started going off on sewers and catacombs in public!)

“I almost got locked in a pod!” (shower pods at one of the F1 hotels)

“I think that's a guy!” with the restaurant trannie sitting right behind him.

June 15th.
 Looked for a way into several Maginot line forts, but found them well sealed by the military. Dirt cover over metal fences and cinderblock walls inside. Tried digging a Chatierre through thorns and nettles, to find that it didn't go anywhere. Found what looked like an awesome deep bunker, but it didn't connect to the large systems. On the plus side it had motorcycles and a bazooka rocket stored in it. Found a small drain /  escape tunnel from there, full of millions of bugs which were very annoying. One of the few privately owned blockhouse shelters, with a really shitty lock chain.
 Looked around a German fort (same era as the WWI Metz outer ring) up near Thionville. Couldn't find a way in, wandered around in the woods looking at random surface blockhouses. I finally found a way into one, then we all ran downstairs to find the tunnel flooded. Tried breaking into an emergency exit door, but failed.

June 16th.
 Went to a dirty truck stop down the road from the hotel. Ordered what we thought was Spaghetti, but turned out to be gross Swiss steak and mashed potatoes.
 Explored two old forts in the middle Metz ring, one with a big Courtyard (Plappeville?) and one with some culties or Wiccans or something doing a ceremony inside. Probably pissed off the Wiccans with our loud music and headlamps. Ran around in underground tunnels and found one going under the moat, climbed a short tower and looked at the ammo cart rails.
 Went to Groupe Fortifee Lorraine, one of the German 3rd ring forts. Hopped one antique spiky fence that stole Jim's shoe, then balked at the second fence that looked much newer and more hardcore (electrified at some point, although the wires were a bit overgrown now). Should have stolen some insulators from that one. Went around the side on an overgrown road and found an open blockhouse, with a tunnel going under the hardcore fence to the main fort. Half of this one is used as an active transmitter site, and was cinderblocked off from the hallways. Followed other tunnels through the back to various observation turrets and gun blocks, then left. Did something that got scrambled in my notes, it was probably awesome. Jim broke the light in the hotel room.
 
June 17th.
 Checked more Maginot line forts, found a way into a small Overage, but most of the large ones were sealed. The small one had deep tunnels and a small power plant, air filters, etc. Also a drain with a corpse hatch (tiny coffin-size chamber off the side, not sure what else it would be), but no exit. Climbed out some turret holes where someone had stolen the metal for scrap.
 Went to the Mad Monkey Maze Mine, and crawled around in crazy little tunnels full of bugs. Didn't bring a camera and I think Jim's had been crushed earlier. Tried to go down some unexplored tunnels, but there were just too many bugs that wanted to fly up noses and into mouths. When we left we covered the entrance with sticks and then buried it with leaves and dirt to try and eliminate the bug problem.
 Stopped at another Maginot line fortress on the way back, and looked for ways in. Found one block that was enterable, but the builders had given up on tunneling between it and the rest of the fort. There was some kind of interesting cavity below the unfinished shaft, water was definitely flowing into something below it. Looked for ways into another block and scared a deer.
 Stopped back in Metz at another 3rd ring German fort. This one went on forever, with many gun blocks, a hidden underground ammo bunker, an exit in the middle of nowhere, and two main forts connected by a long narrow tunnel. There was a power plant with 1915 generators still in place halfway along the tunnel, and diesel fuel still in some of the tanks. We found some side passages that had collapsed or been bombed, and had to crawl through a Chatierre in a cave-in. Jim grabbed a toad which may have been poisonous. Got to the 2nd main fort and found some blueprints of it lying on the ground. Followed more tunnels (some not on the maps), but the only ones we couldn't follow were flooded. Left and wandered back along the road, carrying our unnecessary digging/entry tools and ready to ditch them in case a military patrol showed up. Considered getting into an abandoned army base town, but later saw it was guarded.
 Went back to Metz, grabbed some food at the vend-o-matic store, then went to check out some inner ring ammo tunnels. Explored these looking for foxes, but finding mostly trash and some hobo chow. Got Jim guessing what “KLP” meant, with some hilarious tries.

June 18th.. or something.
 Drove up to a small town on my suggestion, after reading that it had two Maginot line forts, a German bunker, an abandoned base, and an antique fort. We finally got into one of the forts, through a small hole that I crawled through painfully (and unnecessarily, as I later found). This one was huge and awesome, we pushed train cars around, climbed up stairs to gun turrets, and found the underground Usine (power plant) with generators that looked like they would still work. Also found the personnel barracks, machine shop, and some secret tunnels (mostly remote utility cable drop points). Followed the main passage all the way to the end, where it was uncompleted and an additional barracks had been started but not finished. Found that we could crank a lot of the cannon domes around and elevate the guns, some still had breech blocks and were in firing condition, but there was no ammo around. I climbed up one observation turret to find a lot of spent flashbang grenades, then looked down to see a live grenade lying in the dirt. I picked it up and then noticed that the pin seemed to be gone, and the spoon was being held down by trash and rust. I got a picture of it, got persuaded not to drop it down the elevator shaft, and we left.
 Drove back to Metz and Jim dropped Nivelo and I off near the train station. Found out that we'd missed the last train towards Holland, so we got a hotel nearby. Went out wandering around while Nivelo took night shots.
 
June 19th.
 Took the train through Luxembourg and Belgium to Holland. Lots of noisy Germans quoting South Park. Switched trains a few times. Got to Rotterdamn and took the “free” metro to Ben and Roberta's address. Got lost and then ended up in front of an apparently abandoned building that seemed to be right. Found out they were squatting and had pimped out the old row house very nicely.
 Met up with Petr Kazil and drove around the industrial area of Rotterdam. Stopped to climb on a giant container stack, and found an office container with stickers and keys. Went to an active grain loading silo, with no workers visible. Ran in an open door and climbed up a corn-covered stairway, chasing rats off several landings. Got to the top and took some photos, then got on the roof and took more.
 Went to an unfinished freight rail tunnel under the river. A train engineer saw us and hit his horn as we ran in, but we bypassed the barrier and went in anyway. Walked through, 3km? And checked out one emergency exit that came out in a freeway median. Finished at the other end expecting to be met by rail cops, but none appeared. Petr said several police drove by him while he was waiting.
 
June 20th
 Walked downtown and got separated from Nivelo. Wandered around looking for ATMs, Rotterdam seems to have about two in the whole city. Got water and looked for Nivelo, got some free film that the photo clerk thought she'd forgotten. Looked at boats and bridges and stuff. Went back and hung out on a grassy dike hill waiting for people to get back to the house, the cops rolled up and yelled something at me, then kept telling me to leave in dutch after I said I didn't understand and that I was waiting for people. I went to the ice cream shop across the street and then met Nivelo and went to the Internet place.  Got Turkish pizza (more like a really good burrito) and made fun of the horrible world map in the restaurant (Australian cities all in the wrong places, Hawaii stuck to Alaska, etc). Hung out on the roof back at the house.

June 21st
 Went to the beach looking for bunkers. The bunker museum was closed, so we walked the sand and I swam in the north sea. Chased sand rabbits on bike paths, and found the bunkers back where we started on land. Followed some confusing shallow tunnels and covered trenches, nothing really large or extensive. Tried to get under some kind of US cold war station, which probably wasn't still US owned since there are no signs offering to shoot trespassers. Got confused in the trein stations on the way out and back, but found a neat street market at some point.
 Went scouting downtown with Ben, Roberta came for a while and then went home. Got under a bridge found by Gilligan of the Cave Clan, saw a Heavy Product sticker. Almost got into a metro tunnel but the stations have better security than Ben thought. Got onto “De Hef”, a huge raising train bridge that was supposed to be inaccessible. Very high and awesome, steep dangerous stairways, creaky metal, narrow catwalk between towers, giant harbor radar, lots of photo ops. Lost my keys somewhere crawling onto it, but they weren't any important ones. Had a long walk back after the metro shut down for the night.

June 22nd
 Internet and food. Helped out at a community garden project planting flowers. Took some trains to the “Ship Hole” airport and flew back to London (some rural commuter airport). Long bus ride to the real airport, then crashed out overnight.

June 23rd
 Flight to Frankfurt, then back to Fairbanks. Airport security doesn't care if you have weapons or drugs, but they check your ticket every few hundred feet to make sure you actually know where you're going and don't get there on time. Additional x-ray and feel-up for America-bound folks, but still no actual gate or aircraft security.