International students visit Volendam and Marken

More than sixty international students visited the historic towns of Volendam and Marken on 26 September on a trip organised by ESN-Rotterdam.

The students loved seeing the traditional houses of Volendam and had their photos taken in traditional clothes. In Volendam’s harbour, the group boarded a ferry that took them across to the ‘island’ of Marken where the students walked around and marvelled at the historic wooden houses.

Volker Moosbrugger from Stuttgart, Germany enjoyed the architecture of the houses. Tatiana Dias from Portugal and her friend Gloria Li from Singapore also enjoyed the day: “We loved it”, Gloria said. “It is a bit cheesy but cool!” Among the students was a Dutch IBA student as well: Marjolijn de Haas had never been to Volendam and Marken before and liked being a tourist in her own country for a change. At the end of the sunny day the group got together for a few drinks before returning to Rotterdam.

ESN-Rotterdam’s Marc Saris led the group. He explained that ESN’s city trips have proved very popular, as they already visited Delft with a group of 96 and did a pub crawl with a group of 81. City trips to Amsterdam and The Hague, the latter including a barbeque on the beach at Scheveningen, are coming up.

ESN will also organise a skiing holiday. The city trips are all very affordable for the students with tickets going for 20 to 30 euro. It is ESN’s intention to have the internationals be part of the organising committee as well.