Here is the promised other part of my trip to the Netherlands. As I said before, the week was pretty busy and we spent most of the time exploring around the city. I also had to teach and write during the day, so that limited some of our time as well.

Despite this race against the clock, Esperanza and I managed to see quite a bit. After I finished teaching for the day, we raced to the central station and caught a train to Rotterdam. I was pretty curious to see the city since it’s the second largest in the Netherlands and was nearly all destroyed in World War II.

From the damage sprouted new architectural designs, including the funky cubic houses you see here. If you are as curious as I was to how people live in them, google their interiors!

To be honest, our time in Rotterdam was mostly spent eating. We took full advantage of the market and investigated every different vendor before settling on an Italian restaurant. You can’t go wrong with Italian food. We had some delicious raviolis, gnocchi, and fried calamari at Fellini (one of the corner restaurants).

Since last summer I’ve developed a thing for markets. Let’s call it an obsession. From La Boqueria in Barcelona to Mercado Central in Valencia, I love getting my food from these fresh markets, especially the fresh juices and watermelon.

This market was huge. The top floor held different food vendors and restaurants, but there were more floors below with different stores.

After our dinner, we walked around the city. To be honest, Rotterdam is mostly like any other big city. There are funky buildings jutting out here or there, but for the most part it seemed pretty normal.

We walked across the Erasmus Bridge and around for a little bit longer before heading back. Oh, we also saw some floating trees, which was a bit confusing. We found out that they are apart of an art exhibit. So much for being cultured.

Rotterdam would be a nice place to visit if you really enjoy city life. There are also a bunch of museums in the city, but we were there just for the afternoon and didn’t explore any. But honestly, I’d go just to stuff my face in the market again.

I think I’ll finally stop talking about the Netherlands after one more post on my mini trips to Keukenhof and Zaanse Schan, which I would recommend!