Claiming to be the largest port in the world, Rotterdam provides visitors who travel by sea to the Netherlands a dramatic first experience of the country. I travelled from Hull in this way in 1994 when, like journeys from other English ports, the passage was overnight. The boat was full of people doing a quick one-day survey of Amsterdam, before returning later in the evening on the same boat.

It’s a fascinating city, half of its population of over 600,000 consisting of onetime immigrants, many of them from previous Dutch dependencies. The centre of the city was very badly bombed on five devastating nights by the German Luftwaffe in 1940, and over the years there has been extensive rebuilding. When I was there I had the opportunity to see an impressive dockland development being built- the Kop van Zuid. In marked contrast to the appalling cowboy hotch potch of London’s Docklands, here there was a clear strategy with careful planning of social and private and rented housing combining to make a mixed community of great promise.

The superb Erasmus Bridge, linking the southern and northern parts of the city was being built. Eventually completed in 1996, it was officially opened by Queen Beatrix. Made of steel and painted white it must be one of the sights of the city. Called by local people ‘The Swan’ because of its 456 foot span and graceful shape, it has become part of the city’s official logo. There were problems apparently with the web of cables which had a habit of vibrating when the wind and rain were uncooperative (shades of London’s Millennium Bridge!). Stronger shock dampeners solved the problem.

The venue of the North Sea Jazz Festival is moving from the Hague to Rotterdam this month. The annual Film Festival takes place at the end of January into February. But although it’s cultural life can stand up for itself against Amsterdam, Rotterdam is primarily an industrial and commercial city, open to the world with many companies and institutions having their headquarters in the city.

Rotterdam Airport is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, and has all the facilities one associates with a modern airport.

But for me the only way to travel to the city, is by sea!

Bryan