I’m writing this at 0537am in the cafe which isn’t open yet, somewhere in the middle of the unforgiving North Sea between North Shields and IJmuiden.
The gentle carpets, endless narrow corridors of tiny cabins and soft warm lighting of the DFDS Princess Seaways is my ultimate liminal space.
The wifi is not very good, the instrumental elevator music competes with the drone of the ship as we cruise along at about 10 knots. This is just the right speed to connect Newcastle to Amsterdam on an overnight ferry and still be able to sell 400 passengers a buffet dinner (it’s very good) and breakfast.
For me this ferry has a personal meaning. I was born in a hospital about 3 miles from the ferry terminal and spent the first 18 years of my life within an 45 minute drive of it. Now I live in Utrecht, which is about 45 minutes away from the Amsterdam side of this ferry.
This ferry is therefore a strange gift to me, making it so convenient to drive home for Christmas or visit Northumberland in the summer. And even bring Ziggy along for the journey.
One of my favourite things this ferry does, mainly through its wall art, is promote its own lore about Amsterdam and Newcastle being these North Sea siblings. This is like a sweet dessert to my soul.
It is in fact two extremely similar ships, the ‘Princess Seaways’ and ‘King Seaways’, they cross each other at about 1am in the mid-point of the journey each night.
Hao, Ziggy and I have now spent two New Years Eve’s on the ferry, making it also a liminal touchpoint point between years.
This time I’m travelling alone at the end of September, compelled by the deal (it can be very cheap if you just go to Newcastle for 1 day), a desire to do a bit of shopping at the Metrocentre, and, if I’m honest a sentimental longing to sit and reflect on my life, especially as we plan to leave Europe and move to Texas in the next few months.
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