You can imagine how busy the port of Rotterdam must be on any given day of the week, still the center of shipping activities in Europe since the 14th century.   However, I am down by the water mainly to see the gorgeous Erasmusbrug (Erasmus Bridge). Its nickname is De Zwann (the swan) but for some reason, it reminds …
Work Hard, Play Harder
 There’s a local expression here loosely translated to “you make money in Rotterdam, divide it at the Hague, and spend it in Amsterdam.” Whereas Amsterdam is the cultural epicenter and the Hague more or less a government seat of the Netherlands, Rotterdam is this country’s no-nonsense, worker-bee kind of city. It’s my kind of town. But on this day, when there’s a summer …