A Detour to Dordrecht
Traveling to a Relatively Tourist Free Spot in the Netherlands and Relishing Its Inherent Calm
Amsterdam is without doubt the largest and most beautiful city in the Netherlands, but I believe Rotterdam is more centrally located, as in a person can cover a lot of places if he/she is based in the country’s second largest metropolis. If you are contemplating multiple day trips during your stay Rotterdam, I believe, offers a lot more options.
Every time me and my better half head to the Netherlands we make it a point to begin our trip in Rotterdam. Making the port city our first base helps in planning the future course of the trip.
On this occasion the initial plan was to head to Utrecht in one of the days. But since we had been to this city earlier we decided to venture into unchartered territory. Being a traveler has a huge advantage vis-à-vis being a tourist as in there is no need to stick to a particular plan, and one can improvise as an when required.
Even as we decided to venture south of Rotterdam we zeroed in on two options. We hadn’t been to either Breda or Dordrecht before. While doing our research we came to know that Dordrecht is the oldest city in Holland, more than 1,000 years old. For starters, north and south Holland are actually two provinces in the Kingdom of Netherlands.
Since it was lesser in distance an impromptu day trip was planned. The lady at the ticket counter told us there is just one station between Rotterdam Centraal and Dordrecht Station, that being Rotterdam Blaak — the station to get down at if you want to see the iconic cube houses as well the inverted horseshoe-shaped Markthal.
In less than 15 minutes we had got down at our destination. As we made our way to the city center there were two notable observations that we made. First, that most of the shops open late — we had landed at around 9.30 am local time and second, the manner in which people were staring at us it was palpable that the city was not the touristy kind, and the locals were not used to seeing a lot of tourists. Dordrecht seemed like a place where people prefer a laidback lifestyle vis-à-vis the usual hustle and bustle one gets to see in a city.
We weren’t complaining though. In fact we were enjoying being in a place devoid of the crowd. Besides, a majority of the deemed attractions, like the city center, a few beautiful churches and museums, historical premises like Het Hof (Hofstraat) — a monastery founded in 1215, a network of few old bridges and the harbor, were all in walkable distance. With its historic boats Wolwevershaven and the Marina in Binnenstaat, in particular, is highly recommended.
In fact the Rondje Dordt — Round Dordt (as the city is called by the locals) — trail took us past all the beautiful spots in the inner city and within a couple of hours we were through with the “sight-seeing” part. To be honest there’s nothing particularly special to see in Dordrecht. However, the inherent calmness of the place is its biggest draw. It is a far cry from the maddening overcrowding that is there in case of Amsterdam.
As we were enjoying the serenity and walking rather window-shopping along the Voorstraat — supposedly the longest shopping street in the Netherlands — we got attracted by a couple of products on display. What followed was ad hoc shopping, and the purchase of two items, one apiece for the gentleman and the lady.
The next thing on the agenda was of course to satisfy the taste buds. We opted for a local delicatessen and to our surprise, it was completely empty. What was even more surprising is the fact that none of the staff members spoke English. The girl who came to take the order didn’t speak a word.
It’s absolutely not a problem. It is after all the Netherlands, and she didn’t have to speak English. She spoke Dutch, her mother tongue. Communication in itself is the best language. Besides, Dutch is a Germanic language and having some knowledge of German helps in understanding some basic Dutch. So placing the order, and making her understand what exactly we needed, was anything but difficult.
What was surprising though is the fact I have been visiting the Netherlands for a decade and half and this was the first instance where I came across people who didn’t speak anything but Dutch. In fact they speak so good English in the Netherlands that there are times one tends to forget that the country has an official language other than what is globally understood.
Once the hunger was satiated we move towards the city hall (Stadhuis) and the adjoining areas, and thereafter to explore some shops selling local stuff.
We were in no hurry whatsoever and were taking our time. Maybe the laidback attitude of the city had had an impact on us. Overall, the day was well spent.
As we walked back to the station both of us were thinking on similar lines. We may or may not (more of the latter) visit Dordrecht again in our future visits to the Netherlands. However, the calm and solitude that we experienced during this trip will stay with us forever.
Dordrecht is something we thoroughly enjoyed, and in the final analysis a detour to this low key Dutch city turned out to be a good decision.
