It’s been a long time since we’ve slipped the surly bonds of COVID and ventured out of the country. We’ve planned and scheduled trips to New Zealand / Australia (twice) and to the Baltic states, only to have them cancelled. So - though I have a bit of trepidation about the virus - we are pretty excited about our 3 week cruise to the Nordic Seas. We were both packed early and ready for our airport ride hours before he arrived.
Maggie had hopes of smuggling herself aboard in a packing cube.
While Ellie wanted nothing to do with it.
While Ellie wanted nothing to do with it.
We woke up on our departure day to an email from Holland America notifying us that our embarcation port was changed from Amsterdam to Rotterdam. Because of a long drought in the Netherlands, the government has limited the hours during which the IJmuiden locks leading to the port in Amsterdam can operate.
Grateful that we’d decided last week to leave a day early for our cruise, we quickly checked train schedules, cancelled our Amsterdam hotel and booked a new room in Rotterdam. We’re supposed to return to Amsterdam for a day next weekend, and then disembark there 3 weeks from today. We’ll stay flexible with our plans. The train from Schiphol (Amsterdam airport) directly to the Centraal Station in Rotterdam is timely and reasonable priced, and now that we have the train app any adjustments should be easy
The train passed acres of greenhouses, farmland, wind turbines and the occasional old-timey windmill. We assumed that a lengthy tunnel went underwater, as there were certainly no mountains to burrow through. After about 30 minutes, we arrived at Rotterdam’s Centraal Station. It was our first sample of the city’s striking architecture. The station opened in 2014, and incorporates the lettering and a large clock from the previous iteration.
After checking into our hotel in the Rotterdam’s core and picking the brain of the receptionist, we set out to explore some of the nearby landmarks. I didn’t know much about Rotterdam before our cruise was re-rerouted. It’s the second largest city in the Netherlands and the largest port in Europe. I assumed it would be gritty and industrial. While it certainly is a high-functioning commercial center, I couldn’t have been more wrong in assuming there would be little for an accidental tourist to see or do in the city.
The area was settled at least 1100 years ago. In 1279 a dam was built across Rotte (hence the name: Rotterdam) and as the area developed, was granted city rights in 1340. At one time it was a walled city. Although the walls were destroyed to accommodate the city’s continued growth, references to the original city gates are commemorated in street and monument names.
Rotterdam’s most famous son, Erasmus, would recognize few sites in the city where he was born, wrote and preached. The central district of Rotterdam was flattened by the Luftwaffe on May 14, 1940. Archival photos show the complete devastation of the old city. Today, Rotterdam is a vibrant, diverse, multi-cultural, young city. Two-lane bike lanes, complete with their own traffic lights, encourage healthy commutes. Much traffic is diverted underground, freeing streets for pedestrians and minimizing traffic noise and congestion. There are also tunnels for bicyclists. Another benefit of underground traffic is that it eliminates the need for bridges over waterways, easing navigation for the many boats and ships in Rotterdam’s port.
After the debris was cleared, the ruined Church of Saint Laurence stands as Rotterdam’s sole surviving piece of medieval architecture.
The restored church as it looks today.
A symbolic recreation of the Delft gate in the old city walls, dedicated on the 50th anniversary of the Luftwaffe attack.
This sculpture, Memorial to the Fallen 1940-1945, stands across the street from the Stadhuis (City Hall). The Stadhuis, a 1914 neo-Renaissance building, also survived the bombing.
The Markthal is an amazing marketplace/office building with a bustling array of shops and restaurants on the lower floors. There are boutiques and a grocery, but mostly it’s about food, light and color. A huge colorful mural explodes across the entire arched ceiling of the barrel-shaped building. There are so many things to look at, and foods to sample. One could spend a week inside and not try everything. There were traditional stroop waffles, a macaroon shop, many ethnic restaurants, dumplings, Edam cheeses, and (most amazing) a corn dog shop with a variety of flavorings including black squid ink.
The Markthal ceiling
Across the plaza behind the Markthal is the Cube Houe complex, an eccentric collection of private homes sprawled over several blocks. The bright yellow cubes are set at 45 degree angles, and one can’t help wondering what it’s like to live inside one of them.Fortunately, one of the houses is open for tours. The roughly 1000 sq ft space was spread over 3 levels, and used very efficiently. What couldn’t be efficient was the inability fo push furniture to any walls with acute angles to the floor, so there was a fair amount of “wasted” space.
The iconic Witte Huis, or White House, is another of the few buildings to survive the Second World Was bombing of Centraal Rotterdam. The Art Nouveau building was the first high-rise building in Europe.
The Witte Huis, Willems Bridge, and historic sailing ships.
We limped back to the hotel to shower and watch the end of the Tour de France time trial. After a good outdoor dinner at the nearby Cornelis’Bar, we are both overtired and ready to crash.
The city looks so different from when I was there in 1979. The only thing that looked familiar was the harbor with the ships. Sounds like a delightful and educational first day there. Glad everything worked out for you.
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