By Christine Swan

During the half term break, I had planned another trip to the Netherlands for a break, but also to visit Delft, where the Blanchet family lived four hundred years ago.

I set off on Friday morning, with a plan to complete the entire journey in one day. I arrived at London St Pancras International in good time as I knew that I also needed to complete the additional, new EES checks. However, the machines were lying idle and I was told that I would not need to do it this time. As I had arrived three hours before my train was due to leave, I now had time to kill. I decided to have lunch and relax, which is always a good option. It was an unseasonably warm day, and I felt quite optimistic as the sun beat down on the stone pavements of Kings Cross.

I returned to find a large throng of people who were all waiting for the same train as me. A gentleman in blue was chatting to the public waving a card nonchalantly which I spied had my train number and “Amsterdam” on it. The starting pistol had obviously not yet been fired so the throng were milling about waiting, as was I. The gentleman in blue had received a message and held his card high above his head. He proceeded to walk to wards the rear of the station, towards the domestic, Kent-bound services. Further and further we walked. Eventually, we joined the end of a long, snaking line of people, organised by tape barriers, into the Mother of all Half-Term Holiday Queues. I quickly glanced at my phone. Although I had arrived ninety minutes before my train’s departure time, this was a long queue, with check-in to complete at the end of it.

The queue moved quite slowly at first but the closer we got to the zig-zag barriers near the ticket scanners, the queue-jumpers became more bold. Feeling rather petty, I maintained my spot by holding my suitcase out on one side of my body, rather like a dandy’s cane, and placing my left hand on my hip and pushing my elbow out, thus widening my body to fill the entire queue width, foiling any would be pushers-in. I checked the time on the departure board – about forty five minutes left.

I felt more relieved once I had scanned my ticket as the system would know that I was somewhere in it. When I arrived in the departure lounge, I had barely put away my passport when the platform was announced, and the masses were on the move again. Having still been on my feet kept me agile so I was soon boarding the train.

My journey went smoothly apart from three factors. One was a screaming child which I couldn’t quite block out with any of my ear-blocking-out-noise devices, and the second was the fact that I was facing a very nice gentleman with very long legs, although we did reach a non-verbal agreement of which side to stretch our legs, so an entente cordiale was achieved with ease. The third item was a complete lack of refreshments after Lille. I could have found the buffet car but I laboured under the assumption that they would be back any minute with a strong coffee, or even a bottle of water. Do better please Eurostar. You used to be much more attentive and for solo travellers, we either have to lug our stuff around with us or take a chance and leave it at our seat.

The first rainbow of my trip – as seen from the Eurostar train in Northern France

I arrived at Rotterdam in the dark and battled the gusty rain to find my hotel. Rotterdam is a modern city with many tall buildings. An unfortunate effect of this is that they create wind tunnels, and turning a corner can place you in the middle of one. When I finally arrived, if not a little windswept, I was ready for m,y bed, and I slept soundly for about eight hours.

Second rainbow over Rotterdam Centraal station

The following day I explored Delft, reasoning that it might be better to explore Rotterdam on Sunday when perhaps fewer trains would be running. I will save my account of Delft for a future post.

On Sunday morning I set off to enjoy Rotterdam’s interesting architecture. Buildings are wobbly, tilted, and holey. It is a very interesting city to walk in. My hotel was close to the town hall, but rounding the corner onto the main road, the wind tunnel effect was in full force. It was a day of blustery showers and although I was determined to see everything, when I reached the Erasmus Bridge over the Nieuwe Maas river, the wind was relentless, making it challenging to remain standing, let alone taking photographs. Accompanying the wind, was heavy rain, of the kind that resembles a bucket of water being thrown in your face repeatedly. I was determined to see the Kijk-kubus houses, which are close to the Markt Hal and other interesting buildings. After snapping a few pictures I headed towards Delfshaven of the most historic areas, that survived untouched after World War II.

Final rainbow between tall buildings close to the station

Unusual architecture close to the station

Nothing is ordinary

The town hall is one of the few historic buildings in the city centre. A poor photo as I was sheltering from the rain

The Kijk-Kubus houses. I was sheltering from the rain in this photo too!

The Markt Hall is a market, office and commercial complex, and residences, in one unique building

The closest I got to the Erasmus Bridge . This photo does not show the rain and wind accurately

Delfshaven doesn’t disappoint. It’s a lovely little reminder of Old Rotterdam and its commercial past. On the either side of two wharfs are two windmills: one with sails and the other without. The sailed windmill doubles as a museum, cafe, shop, and language centre. I shared a table with some other English tourists from Birmingham. To add to the coincidences, the windmill owner was also of Huguenot extract. I road tested my spoken Dutch a little and he corrected my pronunciation a little, as might be expected of a language teacher. I promised to return and take a language lesson.

Hooray! The skies cleared when I reached Delfshaven

This is a very historic port area

The port buildings are very pretty. I’m unsure of the significance of the stork

The windmill that is a museum, a cafe, and a language centre! The clouds were gathering again

Beautiful Delfshaven

I returned and walked towards the Euro Mast landmark and found the World War II museum on the way. Although the rain had stopped, there was still a threat. This small museum, at the side of a bridge, is easy to miss, but please do seek it out. It is packed to the gills with personal memorabilia and effects charting the terror of intense bombing and occupation, the horror and despair of starvation, and the joy of liberation. The video presentation was very powerful. We learned of personal stories behind local residents and their fate during the initial bombardment in 1940. One guide was English and had studied in Rotterdam and never got away! However, I must admit that everyone that I spoke to knew English perfectly well, so it is not a stressful country to visit as an English-speaker. In fact, I felt rather guilty speaking English, but, the windmill owner explained that everybody learns it and appreciates that fewer visitors speak Dutch. I always do like to try though as I enjoy learning languages, and I don’t mind sounding foolish while trying to be courteous.

Lots of personal memorabilia in the 40-45 Museum

The joy of liberation

In a video presentation, we learned that this pot survived the horrendous bombardment of Rotterdam , but the glaze melted away in the ensuing fire

My final stopping point was a retailer that sells intricately patterned shirts and homewares of classic and modern art. I had found the Wollf Blitz shop earlier in the day, but it wasn’t yet open as I had set off quite early. I intended to purchase a shirt for my son but tried on one myself featuring Rotterdam architecture, including the Kijk-Kubus houses that I had visited a few hours earlier – a perfect souvenir. The owner was happy to chat, made me a coffee and offered me a slice of delicious cheesecake – sold! In days when customer service seems to be an afterthought, I felt like a valued member of a club where I mattered. After talking about the London retail landscape, AI, cybersecurity and coding, it was time to head off again.

I saw a vintage tram on my walk back to the hotel

Finally, blue skies on my walk back

Kinetic street lamps -only in Rotterdam

Rotterdam has so much to offer visitors. I missed many museums and other sights but still managed to fill my day and had walked several miles. I decided to treat myself to pasta for my dinner. I found a small Italian restaurant which was quite quiet. Two young girls were serving and, as the restaurant filled, their service sped up and yet they still remained cheerful and attentive. As I stood by the cash desk a French tourist entered, but his English was limited and he could not speak Dutch. I was happy to act as a bizarre three way translator, which surprisingly, worked rather well. I tipped the girls who were working so hard and went back to my hotel having had a brilliant day, despite the less than sparkling weather. My verdict on Rotterdam – interesting, friendly, and well worth a visit.

More information

Rotterdam Tourist Information – https://www.rotterdam.info/en/visit

Kijk-Kubus houses and museum – https://www.kubuswoning.nl/en/

Distilleerketel Windmolen – https://molendedistilleerketel.nl/

40-45 Museum Rotterdam – https://museumrotterdam.nl/en/tentoonstellingen/museum-rotterdam-40-45-nu/

Wolff Blitz – patterned shirts and furniture – https://wolffblitz.com