Sigma Kappa European Alumnae Chapter

18th Annual Weekend ~ Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Weekend and Hotel Registration Info

July 2015

Hello ladies!

I am so excited to be organizing our 18th annual weekend in Rotterdam! Its been a lot of fun digging into

everything this city has to offer! Rotterdam is truly a fascinating place with such a rich history and I

really think you will all enjoy it very much. I certainly cant wait to welcome everyone here

The plans for the weekend are now starting to shape up nicely and Im pretty excited to share the

tentative plans with you all. Please be advised that anything and everything is still subject to change but

for the most part, the itinerary will be as follows:

Friday ~ 6 November

03.00 pm Check in Bilderberg Parkhotel

06.30 pm Welcome aperitif at hotel bar

07.40 pm Depart collectively by foot for dinner (10 minute walk)

08.00 pm Dinner at Biblio at the Westelijk Handelsterrein (tentative) http://www.jazzclubbiblio.nl/restaurant/

10.00 pm After dinner drinks in the neighborhood of the hotel

Grandcaf Restaurant Biblio is located in an old warehouse at the Westelijk Handelsterrein. This area is

located in the Rotterdams Maritime Quarter and dates back to 1894, when it was built as a warehouse

complex for use by a group of Rotterdams leading trading merchants (as you probably know, the

Netherlands has quite a history of success in maritime trade, especially coffee, tea and spices; the VOC

Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or the Dutch East India Company is a great example of this). In

2001, the warehouse complex was carefully restored for a new purpose and Restaurant Biblio is now

one of various restaurants located there. The restaurant has a warm library-like setting, hence the name

Biblio, which is an abbreviation for the word library in Dutch, and also doubles as a jazz club on some

evenings and weekends.

Saturday ~ 7 November

10.00 am Formal meeting in the Magnolia room of the Bilderberg Park Hotel

01.00 pm Culinary lunch tour of Rotterdam* (departs from hotel) http://rotterdamdiscoverytours.nl/stadswandeling-rotterdam/

04.00 pm Free time

07.15 pm Meet at hotel lobby to depart collectively for dinner (water taxi/public transport)

08.00 pm Dinner at Hotel New York (tentative) http://www.hotelnewyork.com/restaurant/diner/

The company that will most likely organize the tour Rotterdam

Discovery Tours has in depth knowledge of the American roots

in Rotterdam. The guide who will be giving our tour is an expert

on the subject and is responsible for the placing of an American

monument called Footsteps in Rotterdams Delfshaven. The

tour will show some of the citys highlights, as well as stop at

one or two restaurants along the way for lunch and drinks.

Hotel New York is located on a peninsula called the Wilhelminapier (named after one of the former

Dutch queens). This area has a rich history, where hundreds of thousands of Europeans migrated from

this pier to America and Canada at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century by Holland

America Line (HAL) passenger ships. Today the pier is home to many of Rotterdams skyscrapers,

clustered closely together to somewhat represent Manhattan. Everything at this modern pier reminds of

its illustrious past: many docks and streets are named after American cities or HAL ships and this area is

still packed with all kinds of maritime objects. The restaurant at Hotel New York has an old-worldy feel

with somewhat of a nautical vibe. If weather permits it would be great if we could take a water-taxi

(http://www.watertaxirotterdam.nl/plan_uw_reis/) over to the restaurant to get a good impression of

what Rotterdam looks like at night from the water!

Sunday ~ 8 November

11.00 am Check out Bilderberg Parkhotel

12.00 pm Goodbyes for those with early departure

12.30 pm Depart collectively by foot/public transport for high tea (5 minute walk + 5 minute tram)

01.00 pm High tea at Fellini in the Markthal (tentative)* http://fellini-rotterdam.nl/over-ons/

03.00 pm Final goodbyes *Its possible that the tour may take place on Sunday instead of the high tea allowing for more exploration time

on Saturday. Jenna Ross has also kindly offered to do a morning slow flow yoga session on one day of the weekend

for those interested.

Fellini is located in Rotterdams De Markthal where a plethora of food stands, restaurants and shops

come together under one gigantic arched roof in the heart of the citys Financial District. This first-ever

covered market in the country was opened in October 2014 by Queen Mxima of the Netherlands, and

rivals any of the markets in many major European cities. The roof of the market is the largest piece of

artwork in Holland, titled Horn of Plenty and created by Arno Coenen; with its impressive size of

11.000m2 and explosion of vibrant colors, the buildings ceiling is often referred to as the Sistine

Chapel of Rotterdam. The market was built near where the original foundations of the city were laid in

1270; as such, during its construction, many medieval objects were excavated such as vases, tools and

cannonballs. Fellini is one of the 96 stalls and 20 restaurants and shops located in the Markthal. The

restaurant has a living room kind of atmosphere where youll feel at home right away great for

relaxing with a cup of tea after a SK night on the town!

I would like to emphasize again that all of the above venues are subject to change. I am still in

negotiations with them and it could be that a final decision is made to dine elsewhere.

Furthermore, I can only provide an approximate budget for the restaurants and tour at this time:

Dinner at Biblio = 35

Lunch Tour = 40

Dinner at Hotel New York = 45

High Tea at The Markthal = 25

The total should be around 150 (excluding wine and/or other beverages).

At Biblio they will offer us a half bottle of wine and a half bottle of water for 11.00 per person. Hotel

New York has no wine deals, a bottle of house white or red will cost approx. 20.00 per bottle.

The websites for the restaurants (except Hotel New York) and the lunch tour are in Dutch, my apologies

for this. If you have any questions on any of these venues or dietary restrictions, please let me know by

sending me an email at: tessavisser73@hotmail.com

Hotel Reservations

The hotel that weve chosen for our weekend is the Bilderberg Parkhotel, located in the heart of the

museum district and across from the trendy and lively Witte de Withstraat (literally packed with cafs,

restaurants, galleries and shops).

https://www.bilderberg.nl/en/rotterdam/parkhotel-rotterdam/

All of the hotels rooms are being renovated this summer so the photos on the site may be different to

what you will actually get when you are in town for the weekend. Our rates* for the hotel are as follows:

Thursday November 5** 179.50 (double occupancy) and 169.50 (single)

Friday November 6 109.50 (double occupancy) and 99.00 (single)

Saturday November 7 109.50 (double occupancy) and 99.00 (single)

Sunday November 8 109.50 (double occupancy) and 99.00 (single) *All rates include service charges, VAT, and breakfast but exclude 4.5% City Tax. **There is a convention in Rotterdam on Thursday, November 5

th as such room rates are significantly higher for

this night.

We have two single rooms and ten double rooms blocked for our weekend.

In order to reserve your room, please fill in the registration form and email it back to me by

September 25, 2015 at: tessavisser73@hotmail.com

If you already know who your roommate will be, please indicate this on your form. Please note: both

you and your roommate need to fill in the form and return it to me! I will then deliver all of the forms

at one time to the hotel.

I have already received a number of emails or Facebook messages from various sisters indicating that

they will be (tentatively) attending (all or part of) the annual weekend. If you have previously sent me a

message, please do so again and include the hotel registration form. Only once I have received your

form, will your reservation be considered to have a confirmed status.

You do not need to send anything to the hotel yourself. I will collect all of the forms and provide them

to the hotel when our group is complete. Again, all rooms must be reserved by September 25th, so

please send me your reservation form asap to ensure your spot! After this date, I will provide the hotel

with a list of roommates. Those who have not previously indicated a roommate will be allocated one by

me, I will go about this carefully.

Bilderberg Parkhotel Rotterdam Cancellation Policy: All reservations can be cancelled free of charge up

to 24 hours before the arrival date. To cancel, contact Tessa Visser at tessavisser73@hotmail.com asap.

For those coming into Rotterdam on Thursday or earlier, or those staying Sunday evening and later,

please let me know if youre interested in me booking a restaurant for you. I will hopefully be available

both Thursday and Sunday evening to join in on the pre- and post-weekend fun!

Public Transport

There are two main airport options for travelling to and from Rotterdam (Central Station):

Rotterdam/The Hague Airport is a small airport that services cities all over Europe, primarily through

low cost carriers. Public transport is available from the airport to Rotterdam Central Train Station.

Every ten minutes (:01, :11, :21, etc. past the hour) Bus 33 gets you to the city in about 25 minutes.

The bus departs to Rotterdam Centraal directly outside of the airport entrance/exit (its a small

airport) and costs 1.70 for a one-way trip.

If flying into Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, you can take the intercity train leaving every 30 minutes

(:09 and :39 past the hour) which will get you to Rotterdam Central Station in about 25 minutes. The

airport train station can be found near the arrivals hall and exit of the airport. The cost for a one-way

trip to Rotterdam Centraal will cost 11.90.

From Rotterdam Central Station you can take one of two different trams (4 and 7), that will get you to

the hotel in about 8 minutes without any transfers (please note that both trams stop at different places

and are about a 1-2 minute walk from the hotel). The fare is approximately 1.00 for a one-way trip.

To plan your travel on public transport to and from Rotterdam Centraal (Dutch for Central) Station

more specifically, you can use this site: http://9292.nl/en/#

To look up travel options to and from the Bilderberg Parkhotel, use the following address:

Westersingel 70, Rotterdam

For public transport in the Netherlands, you need to purchase a travel card, known as an OV-Chipkaart.

OV stands for openbaarvervoer or public transport. You can buy disposable cards for a single use/short

period. This card is pre-loaded with a travel product valid for a limited period, such as one week of

travel. Alternatively, you can purchase an anonymous travel card for 7.50 (as opposed to a personal

travel permit) that must be loaded with a credit at various locations/kiosks before you can travel with it.

A disposable card usually works out more expensive, depending on your travel needs.

Either card can be purchased at a counter or device, at airports, stations and newsagents

or supermarkets. The payment options may differ at different places. Sales points are

indicated by the pink OV-Chipkaart logo.

A disposable card can also be purchased on the tram and/or bus.

An anonymous card must have a minimum credit (or boarding fare) for travel with public transport:

4.00 for trams, buses and metro, and 20.00 for trains. The card is valid for up to five years so you can

keep the card to use it again. The credit will also remain valid. You can also receive the left-over credit

back at a public transport company counter; please be aware that you will pay 2.50 in administration

costs for this.

Every time you travel with public transport, you must check in and out with

your OV travel card (can be done on board trams or buses, or at the station

for trains). When you travel on this type of credit, the boarding fare will be

debited from your card when you check in. When you check out, the boarding

fare will be refunded and you will be charged for the number of kilometers

you travelled. If you do not check out, you will pay the full boarding fare.

For more information on OV travel cards:

https://www.ov-chipkaart.nl/aanvragen/welkekaartpastbiju/toeristen/?taal=en

General Info

For more information on Rotterdam, please check out these great online resources:

https://en.rotterdam.info/visitors/

http://www.cityguiderotterdam.com/aktivitaten/shoppen/beste-laden/fachgeschafte/rotterdam-info/

http://wikitravel.org/en/Rotterdam

http://citizenmag.com/city/rotterdam/

With this mail, I have also included the Rotterdam info that was sent out a few months ago to give you

an impression of all that this amazing city has to offer!

See you all in November! Until then, if you have any questions or comments at all, please contact me by

phone +316 5490 4813 or by email tessavisser73@hotmai.com or send me a message on Facebook.

LISK,

Tessa

Appendix: Overview of Important Weekend Locations

Centraal Station Rotterdam, Stationsplein 1, 3013 AJ Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Bilderberg Parkhotel, Westersingel 70, 3015 LB Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Grandcaf Restaurant Biblio, van Vollenhovenstraat 15 C, 3016 BE Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Hotel New York, Koninginnenhoofd 1, 3072 AD Rotterdam, the Netherlands

De Markthal, Dominee Jan Scharpstraat, 3011 GZ Rotterdam, the Netherlands