Rotterdam, the Netherlands























 My BlaBlaCar ride from Brussels into Rotterdam (7.5€ instead of 30+€ train ride) was pretty smooth, and finally made me feel like traveling pre-COVID. People are friendly, helpful, and relaxed. Unlike other EU countries, the Netherlands only requires face masks for public transport, but not public buildings or venues. 


Rotterdam is second largest city in the Netherlands, once biggest port in Europe, and it is cleaner than other EU cities this trip, and also much fewer homeless people. According to my walking tour guide, one priest even offered free drugs to help addicted people to move away from drugs, yet too many people flooded into Rotterdam for free drugs so the city forced the priest to terminate the program. 


I was very happy to buy fresh Brussels sprouts in ALDI abd cooked in the hostel kitchen. I went in city center again to check out the tallest building anniversary lighting show as well as Rotterdam 18-km bumbling line markings on 14 May 1940 by Germany. The city decided to forgo most historical ruins and rebuilt a modern city. During the tour, the guide kindly shared stroopwafel which is a wafer waffle made from two thin layers of baked dough joined by a caramel filling. 




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