In the last four days I was in Dordrecht, a town in the south of Rotterdam, that has 119.000 inhabitants. Yes, it isn’t small but not so big as Rotterdam or Amsterdam.

First I took the train from Germany (from Essen) to Dordrecht. I’m attentive about the emphasis „Germany“ because there is a town in Belgium at the Belgian / Dutch border with the same name. You can take the train from Dordrecht to Essen (Belgium) in 1 or 2 hours. Inhabitants from Dordrecht would understand this town and not the town where I live.

It was the same old way for me from Essen. Essen to Duisburg, Duisburg to Viersen, Viersen to Venlo and then to Dordrecht, altogether 4 hours. Very easy.

In Dordrecht I’ve booked an appartement via Airbnb. The hirer were a young couple who live in an old house. I arrived my room with a wooden spiral stair. In the meantime the behaviour has changed. In the past you must wear slipper but now you can go barefooted. That I like it because at home (here) I do it, too. It’s normal.

The room had a balcony with a metal-working ground and a nice view into a courtyard. In the morning the sun was shining into the room that has a double bed, the best place for other couples 🙂 and a wooden table, no TV or radio. It seems that the inhabitants in Airbnb in general no one listen to the radio. There was a docking station for the Ipod or etc.. but I don’t have a smartphone. The couple made a rich breakfast, too.

After my arriving on Thursday, there isn’t a bank holiday as in Germany (Corpus Christi) so that I could see the city centre. Already in Venlo I bought the „De Telegraaf“. I must understand the Dutch language.

Friday I was in the city centre of Dordrecht, too but in a small park outside of it, too. There is a open public pool. This was the hottest day in my journey, about 33 degrees. But I decided to swim in the real waves of Hoek van Holland. In the city centre I bought the newspapers „De Telegraaf“, „De Volkskrant“ and „De Morgen“. „De Morgen“ is the Belgian Flemish newspaper. A friend of mine who lives in Mol, in the East of Antwerpen, in Belgium, who read this newspaper instead of „Gazet van Antwerpen“.
Yes, I’m still old-fashioned with reading a paper newspaper. I like it and I want to read something in the evening. The greatest attraction of the new town in Germany or in a foreign county are the local newspapers, too.

Unfortunately the Belgian French newspaper I have never found in the Netherlands.

In the evening I stayed in a small park in the south of the main station of Dordrecht. There was a fountain but in the background I saw rain cloud. The thunderstorm came but it took a long time until the first raindrop fell down. I didn’t take an umbrella so that I went a little bit wet but the rain wasn’t strong. Don’t sweat it. I’m still alive.

Saturday I was in Hoek van Holland with the train from Dordrecht via Rotterdam. Hoek van Holland is a seaside town (but in reality it’s a quarter of Rotterdam) and the exit of the harbor of Rotterdam. The big cargo ships from Rotterdam uses that way to go out. The beach was empty with swimmers. But a lot of anglers were standing on the beach and fishing. But it was a game not a struggle of survival. And not a nice girls / women on the beach :-(.

The waves were strong and the wind was still cold. Although I was wearing a bathing suit under my shorts I decided not to swim in the water. If someone was in the water I would attempt it but alone – not. I don’t know the situation of swirl on this weather conditions.

After that I went to Rotterdam by train. The town is big. Not so big as Amsterdam but I think it is the second biggest town in the Netherlands. A lot of pole jumpers were showing their sport – an advertising of an event in Amsterdam in the next year (2016).

In the pedestrian area I ate the Dutch chips and in the Rotterdam tourist office I collected everything that was nice for me. Back to Dordrecht I went by train.

Yesterday I took the early train to Venlo and then back to Germany. It was a nice idea to leave the town early because there two works on the rails. First after Breda and the second after Horst-Severum. Every time I had to change into an overland bus. Now I must look after to all works on the rail in the Netherlands and Belgium for my next journeys. This time (due to my plenty of newspapers in the heavy suitcase) I had to tow so much time it. Yes I have power in my arms but for a journey it isn’t so very nice, when you don’t know how long does it takes.

The next journey will be to Belgium, the Flemish part. But the Netherlands are a very important aspirant for living there, too for me.

Sometimes I understood everything in Dutch and sometimes nothing.