The Nightwatch

This morning I slept in almost a full hour later than usual, after completing my first nightwatch! Once I'd completed the paperwork last night, I went to sleep at around 12.30 only to be woken by the bar alarm going off 5 times. This was not someone jumping over the bar trying to break into the cash register, but only Tara going back to get something she'd forgotten after she set the alarms. After that I was woken only once more in the night, by a group of men making a lot of noise on the patio of the bar across the street, however this is for the owner of the bar to sort out and not us, so I was able to stay in bed and sleep the rest of the night! As far as jobs go, sleeping is probably the easiest, so I'm happy with my position and can only hope that all nights are as quiet as the first.

Today was the first day of making beds on my own, and although it made for slightly harder work we managed to clean almost as many beds in much less time. Still tired from yesterdays bike ride, an early finish was very welcome! We had another, even more delicious, lunch break accompanied by ice coffees with soy milk from the machine.

Once the work was done, it was quiet on the ground floor of the hostel, so I was able to take some photos of the layout without feeling like I was weirdly taking pictures of the guests doing their thing.

downstairs pantry with laundry shoot

hallway from nightwatch room to main entrance

indoor seating and reception leading to kitchen

Hello I'm local reception

Hello notice board and games

Hello patio

Hello sunshine

my chair of choice

time to write today's post

Suddenly realising it was (somehow already) 4.30pm on a Sunday, we dropped everything to run to the supermarket for quick dinner supplies. Happy to have made it just in time before the shops closed we returned to lazy afternoon activities, and I was pleased to have time for 2 of my favourite activities; leafing through supermarket magazines and vanilla sock knitting, while watching a film.

Bad Neighbours & socks

It was a peaceful evening in the hostel, being almost totally quiet, so we cooked our small amount of pasta and sauce in comically large pots in the restaurant kitchen.

2 portions of pasta in a 30 portion pan

dinner and wine time!

The evenings paperwork showed that after 2 nights of fully booked private rooms, there would be no one staying tonight - so easy nightwatch ahead. I was able to use the evening to make a list of what I want to do and see while I am here in Haarlem, to be uploaded soon! Tot dan!

very official paperwork