Ever since I upgraded my embarrassing (but beloved), old-fashioned brick stone of a cell phone to a 21st century one, I’ve developed a slight addiction with taking photos on the road and instagramming them. And I also love integrating my Instagram photos into blog posts as a destination sneak peek, which I have done quite frequently during last months. This time however, I decided to introduce Rotterdam through scenic dSLR photos with blue skies first, although they are not really representative of my stay there…

The old harbor of Rotterdam on the one (!) beautiful May day I took most of my “real” photos

Because when I was in Holland earlier this month, my phone actually became a substitute for a “real camera” most of the time. Not that I suddenly lost my fascination with “proper” photography (attempts), but honestly, the weather made it almost impossible to take nice photos.

This was my third visit to the Netherlands and again the weather messed up my plans. I wanted to photograph reflections of huge ships in the harbor and bikes in front of futuristic architecture. In the end, I left the dSLR at the hostel most of the days after almost ruining it in the pouring rain on the first day. But Instagram became a quick and fun alternative to an actual camera.

So, I really attended a travel blogging conference!

That’s why — compared to my few dSLR photos — my Instagram photos show more aspects of my visit to Rotterdam: The rain of course, but also my little travel paradox of attending a travel blogging conference in a brand new five star hotel, but sleeping in a 8-bed-dorm in a backpacker hostel. So, this post is a little Instagram summary of what my time in Rotterdam REALLY looked like:

When I arrived in Rotterdam, it still looked so welcoming…

…but on the next day, our Art & Culture Walking Tour had us soaked and shivering
within minutes

Oh… the rain… what can I say. After all, I found a little color in all this gray 

And at least the puddle reflections at night were somewhat pretty looking

I stayed at the easy-going Hostel ROOM close by the old harbor, which was a great choice, because I met a lot of other great travel bloggers in the hostel’s cozy common room — even before the conference officially started.

My days in Rotterdam thus began with simple peanut butter sandwiches at the hostel…

…but ended with decadent red champagne in abundance.

As a delegate of the Travel Bloggers Unite conference I was also spoiled with spectacular evening events in restaurnts, clubs and (!) rooftop bars —

On a day on which the rain even stopped for a little while and made room for a
dramatic sunset!

And where I could just enjoy wine and fried nibbles (the Dutch fry everything!) with the fabulous Arianwen of Beyond Blighty and Nienke of The Travel Tester
— and so many other great people!

All in all: I had a great time in Rotterdam even if the weather was such a letdown. In the end, it was more about the people I met and the things I learned – and these factors made for a great experience in Rotterdam. And strangely enough, the weather doesn’t even look all that bad in my photos now.

How do you cope with rain and bad weather while traveling?

You can find me on Instagram as @JulikaSarah