1. Monday: sneak preview at film and music theatre LantarenVenster
Do you like films and do you like being surprised? Visit the sneak preview night at LantarenVenster. They won’t tell you which film you’re going to watch. It will be a new one…

2. Tuesday: break time organ concert
Do you think organ music is for the elderly? You should just try listening to it. It will only take half an hour of your time. Imagine that in (the acoustics of) the beautiful Laurenskerk. With organist Kerstin Wolf playing, on this occasion.

3. Wednesday: visit to Mechelen
Would you like to pop abroad and be back in the evening after having seen an entire city? This can be done, since it will only take you 90 minutes to travel to Mechelen from Rotterdam Central Station. Like its more famous neighbour Antwerp, the city of Mechelen has typical Flemish architecture, and it goes without saying that the city has plenty of pubs that serve Belgian beer. For a flashback to your own childhood, and/or the childhood of your parents or grandparents, visit the Toy Museum (het Speelgoedmuseum). Or maybe you would rather visit the Zotte Kunstkabinet, with 16th-century paintings that didn’t abide by the strict chastity rules of the time…

4. Thursday: the fair
You can also use your autumn holidays to take an old-fashioned trip to the fair. Take a ride in a bumper car, try to win a watch on a grabbing machine, and have a big pink candy floss at the end of your visit. The fair at the Schiehaven is open to the public from October 14th up to and including October 25th, in the afternoons and in the evenings.

5. Friday: go surfing
Now for something more active at the end of the week… There are several locations in Scheveningen where you can take surfing lessons. At surfing school Hart Beach Surfschool, located at the Strandweg, for instance (for two hours, book in advance for a minimum of three persons, 35 euro per person, equipment included). You don’t have to make reservations if you want to rent equipment and go out on the water without taking lessons.
It is also possible to take surfing lessons in the sheltered harbour at surfing school Aloha Surfschool in the relaxing surfing village FAST. It has a hostel, a bar, art, and many more facilities. A lesson takes two hours, book in advance for at least three people and costs are 40 euro per person, equipment included.

Jos van Nierop