Rotterdam - Netherlands

Grab a Starbuck in Rotterdam (or a bf)

After a valid reason to leave my City of lights and a covid test done, I climb into the Thalys towards Rotterdam.

Almost 3 days off to enjoy the city… lol. Let me explain one thing first: I was excited to spend my Saturday night in this modern city, to visit a bit before the curfew etc, but no way my train stayed blocked for 7 hours (instead of 2h30) with no clue of what the train will do. Knowing that I’m a drama queen who has no patience, I let you imagine the result.

Anyway, I'm done complaining and ready to give you a virtual tour of the city.

My private tourist guide bring me to the Erasmus bridge which I absolutely wanted to see. It’s a bit a cliché of Rotterdam but really nice. Little Caramel macchiato + one double chocolate muffin at Starbucks I’m sure you want one now, and we walked in the different streets of Coolsingle and other central districts like Kop van zuid without mask (thanks to the Dutch government, cus having a mask every time in Paris is a bit annoying).

The architecture of the city is really divided between old renovated buildings that look a bit like the images we have in mind when we think of the city of Amsterdam and on the other hand, glazed buildings replaced the buildings bombed during the Second World War. The streets are also much wider.

Lucky me, I enjoyed my tourist life without any rain.

Obviously Rotterdam is known to also be the most important European dock so the city has a long-standing history of maritime activities. There’s even an open and free-for-all part of the Maritime Museum where you can go into old boats and explore how it looks from the inside. All these boats are docked at the Oude Haven. I didn’t have enough time to visit it, but according to all the touristic websites it worth it.

And last things to know, Rotterdam counts more than 170 nationalities with different districts related to that, like one called Chinatown, so everyone speaks English, which is pretty useful when you have few travel issues like me 😅.

End of this incredible weeknd! Rotterdam I love u see you soon!

J.