RVing in Europe - Rotterdam, The Netherlands

July 2, 2007

It was only about 100kms to reach Rotterdam from Antwerp, Brussels.   The night before, we actually arrived in Netherlands but it was late to go anywhere so we stayed the night in an aire beside Mc Donalds.   We had an unhealthy late night snack of McDonalds french fries before going to bed.

When we arrived in Rotterdam, we found a paid parking beside a small supermarket.  Did I mention, one of our favorite things to do in Europe is food shopping at supermarkets?  We liked finding things/food one can only find in Europe.  Every country in Europe has a different thing to offer so it is always interesting to look, buy and try.  For example:  I liked the pancetta from supermarkets in Italy and they're cheap.  It goes absolutely perfect with pasta and vegies.  We liked parmegiano reggiano and prosciutto from Parma, Italy.  I liked the spices I found from Spain and can't find it anywhere else.   My husband so much enjoyed different kinds of tetra packed multi-flavored fruit juices from Germany.  We ate a lot of chocolate croissants in France - it became our breakfast every morning.  We've tasted different kinds of sausages and they were all ok but nothing comes to mind as my favorite.  Eggplants looked perfect and individually wrapped in plastic in Netherlands - we wonder how they grow such perfect eggplants.  Our eggplants in Canada are normal looking.  Normal to me is what I had seen and enjoyed in the Philippines.

We were always excited to enter and explore any supermarket in any country in Europe.  I'd like to do it again - maybe next year - just thinking and writing about it makes me happy.

We drove around  and found a perfect place just outside the city - beautiful trees, a huge pond where there were mating ducks and their small ducks, in a quiet and peaceful looking neighborhood, free street parking and free wifi connection.  We parked there and stayed the night.  Nobody bothered us, so we stayed 2 more nights.

The days we were in Rotterdam were rainy.  We did not want to go doing tourist stuff when it was raining.  So we relaxed in our perfect parking in a perfect neighborhood enjoying my free wifi connection and enjoying good food.  We went to a small mall and did some more food shopping.  There was a chocolate shop and we sampled their various chocolate concoctions.  We also bought a vegetable peeler.

On July 4, we finally were able to tour the city. We did a tram tour of the outskirts too. Rotterdam is known for the Erasmus Bridge, the Euromast and the Port of Rotterdam being the largest port in Europe. We were in Rotterdam's Museum at the right time - free entrance day - so we went.