The Netherlands - Rotterdam

For us in Flanders, a destiny like Rotterdam is not far away. By (ordinary, not Thalys) train it takes about two hours to reach this city. We left Dendermonde on Friday afternoon and arrived in Rotterdam around 4 pm.

We checked in at our hotel, conveniently situated at about 7 minutes' walk from the railway station (a pîece of modern art). Already on arriving we could see that Rotterdam has a lot of spectacular architecture. As it was raining, we decided to stay in the hotel for the rest of the afternoon and later on had dinner.

On Saturday we rose to a stormy wind (blew really hard) but the rain only came occasionally. So we put on our raincoats and went outside. We first walked to the site where the famous cubic houses are. One of them you can visit (3€ per person) and it's really interesting. So small, yet very comfy.  I could live in one of these houses. Perfect for a couple of for a single.

After this visit we went exploring into the Markthal. It's quite close to the cubic houses. Also this architecture is special. It's a great place to spend some time around. A lot of shops, enough to eat and drink... I love such places.

We continued our walk in the direction of the Erasmus bridge, which spans over the river Maas. Along the docks is Hotel New York, which used to be the old building of the Holland-America line in the 19th century. We lunched there abd afterwards watched a cruiser leave port - the cruise terminal is close to the hotel.

Later that afternoon we returned to our hotel via the museum quarter and some shopping streets. The rain began to fall heavier, so we thought it was better to go to the hotel.

The next day, Sunday, the weather was a lot better. The sun shone (every now and then a cloud passed by) and the temperature was a lot better. We walked to Delfshaven, a historic site dating back to the 14th century. The village with its fishing port originally belonged to the town of Delft, but later on they decided they wanted to become part of Rotterdam. We walked the distance (took like one hour and a half from our hotel) but you can also take a metro train or tram. When the weather is fine, this is a nice place to be. Lots of terraces and cafés, old houses and a windmill, old boats. We spend most of the day there before taking the tube back to our hotel.

All in all, we had a great time in Rotterdam - so close by, but so different from our town!