Between two worlds
Since 1872 Rotterdam's Wilhelmina Pier has been the link between the Old World and the New World. It's the port from which the Holland-America Line's first ship sailed its 15-day maiden voyage from the Netherlands to New York City, a service which continues to this day.
Now surrounded by modern skyscrapers, the company's former headquarters built in 1901 and nicknamed “The Grand Old Lady” has been converted into a hotel. Hotel New York, to be precise, and the letters Holland-Amerika Lijn still adorn the Jugendstil building standing proudly at the end of the quay.
Rotterdam was given the nickname "Manhattan on the Maas", and you'll find many references of the ties between the two cities on the Wilhelmina Pier. In days gone by, millions of immigrants left Rotterdam for NYC by ocean liner. And today, ex-pats arrive in Rotterdam from NYC by jet liner, Brit included.