menachem

More interesting option: Fenix Food Factory in Katendrecht.

PalenQ

Antwerp, Belgium is about an hour by high-speed train and a really amazing city - its train station is one of the best in Europe from a grandiose architectural standpoint - one reason locals call it the Cathedral. Most sights are clustered not far from the train station. Lots of trains - some really cheap.

menachem

Half an hour by Thalys, an hour by "regular" International Intercity service (no reservation necessary)

bvlenci

I don't think we'll have time for Antwerp, unfortunately. Three full days is already too little for Rotterdam. I had hoped for four days, but we have constrictions before and after those three days.

bvlenci

Menachem, I just saw the Stroopwafels link you posted. When I first read the post I was in a limited reception area and it didn't load.

It brought back memories. In the office where I worked, they had a coffee machine that made really good coffee, each cup individually brewed with a filter. We all used to put a stroopwafel as a lid on the cup, to keep the coffee warm. Then the stroopwafel also got nice and soft from the steam and the honey melted just a little bit...

menachem

Yes, 'tis the way of the Stroopwafel.

Anyway, visiting Rotterdam as it now is: you'll be amazed.

menachem

bvlenci Had to look up Jan ter Laanplaats to see where it is exactly in De Esch, then realized that a couple of years ago we built the Esch communal garden near there. Beautifully grown now, after about 6 years.

Did you ever visit Arboretum Trompenburg when you were there? Or the Slotlaan/Vijverweg Quarter in Kralingen? Can I also suggest you book a place for dinner at In Den Rustwat? https://www.idrw.nl/

bvlenci

I hate to say it, but I didn't see much of Rotterdam as a tourist. I began working a few days after I arrived, and I worked in the Hague. It was a fairly long commute. On weekends we tended to visit other towns in the Netherlands, or on long holiday weekends we often went to another country. I had never been in Europe before. I don't know if I saw the Slotlaan/Vijverweg Quarter. I didn't see any Arboretum. We often made repeat visits to places my kids had enjoyed. We all liked Leiden, Gouda, and Haarlem. We went to Utrecht once, and to the Kröller-Müller museum and the surrounding park.

One thing I really enjoyed was the carillon bell concerts. Do they still have those in some towns? Also the steam calliopes. The poffertjes!!

I looked up Jan ter Laanplaats myself a week ago, to see if it was recognizable. The buildings definitely are, but there is a lot more green (trees, mostly) than there was 30 years ago. I did see a garden on the map. When I was there, there was a school (which my children attended), a small convenience store, and a doctor's office in that area. They were still building in the area, and they were extending a tram line. I shared an apartment with another family who had two children around the same age as mine, and they all went to the school together. I chose a Dutch school instead of enrolling them in one of the international schools. In a month, they were both speaking Dutch, and in no time they were fluent, at least at a kid level. Unfortunately, they forgot Dutch pretty quickly after returning to the US, although I think some of it would come back if they spent much time there in the future.

I had very little success in learning Dutch. Our office was an English-speaking international research group. My kids had the advantage that not many kids their own age spoke English yet, but whenever I tried to comunicate with adults in Dutch, they anwered me in English.

menachem

Trompenburg and that part of Kralingen are more or less across from where you lived, on the opposite side of Honingerdijk
Slotlaan and Vijverweg:
If you want a tour through Kralingen, send me a PM