Adventures of Davina

And off we went.. To Rotterdam with our two new Dutch companions. Rotterdam is an amazingly industrial city, with modern skyscrapers hanging out with historic buildings and the machinery of the shipping industry. It is a city full of art.. from big important sculptures and bridges, to street art - it was a feast for the eyes.


We got of the tram we took from Schiedam right in the heart of bustling down-town Rotterdam. This is a major metropolitan area, and reminded me a bit of New York.
Sculpture on the outside of the City Hall.

Tulip Vendors - these were the only tulips I saw while I was there. When is Tulip season? I obviously not here at the right time!

Public Works Building from the first quarter of the 20th century. Ordinarily, I don't take photos of big office buildings of this style - however - this one had a feature I've never seen before. Bullet Holes.



We went into the City Hall - the main reception hall has an incredible neo-classical interior dome and arches with coffering. So beautiful, even our Dutch tour guide took a photo.




After building up an appetite, we left the City Hall and got a toasted sandwich - a Tosti! It was akin to a cheese and tomato panini - delicious! It really was the right taste..
I popped into the tourist information to see about taking a harbor cruise to see the big shipping lanes, on the way out, I snapped this photo of a stylized map of Rotterdam. Thankfully, there was no "you are are" arrows - I really think it's lovely as a work of art.
We turned towards the harbor, walking down the main canal towards the bridge. There is a maritime museum along the banks of the harbor, so we looked around at the old machinery of sailing and shipping. Like all big urban centers, there was a bit of tagging - but check out this lovely work of street art on a litter bin.





As we continued our journey, we strolled through a "walk of fame" area with hands and feet of famous celebs. Along with them, were these charming blue and white tiles of beavers. So cute!

Because I notice things with the word "Bowling" - this sign caught my attention. I tried to suggest going to see this - as it was playing - but three out of four in my party said "umm.. no." So instead I took a photo - and looked it up online - here's a link to the trailer.

I had forgotten that Rotterdam was the home of the Erasmus bridge. This is called locally "The Swan" and it is THE architectural landmark. It's 2,600 feet long, and has a 456-foot tall pylon. It opened in 1996 by the Queen Beatrix herself! We took a boat ride and chugged right underneath it.

I found it a little bit funny that we were getting onto a boat named "James Cook" the name of a friend of mine. Even funnier to me - the boat is a "Tangerine Spido" - Like the song by Caviar - video.



And then more window shopping - touring - and soaking up the views of the city!






And then there are the little things - we popped into a store to get water - and here is a delightful sign for language classes.

Tim and I left the Stena ferry station, walked outside and hopped on a Dutch train headed to Rotterdam. However, we had been invited to meet up with friends from the internet, and went, instead to meet them in the lovely town of Schiedam, near Rotterdam.We hopped off the train and met Thaily, our hostess for the next two days. Not only is she witty, smart and quick, but she's pretty and a fantastic tour guide! She lead us around the old city center of her town where I too so many photos, it was difficult to edit them down for this post.
There are some things you just never see in the US. One of them are the numerous "dog toilets" around this city. Dogs are literally everywhere, and in an effort to help keep the city clean, citizens are encouraged to use these dog toilets. Unfortunately, dogs can't read signs - if you know what I mean?


After we dropped our things in Thaily's front hall we took of on a whirl-wind tour of Scheidam. As we walked the narrow cobbled passages with modern shops in historic buildings, I was struck by how beautiful this town was, even with the modern ills of tagging and vandalism.



In the heart of the oldest part of the city in a reclaimed building once used in the major gin distilling operations that helped put this town on the map, the Bonte Koe Chocoladekunst was a small, yet amazing place. The chocolate.. ummm.. we sat down, had a cup of hot coco, bought some chocolates.. and just enjoyed... Need more info - visit their website - The Bonte Koe




A few doors down was a small museum on the history of Gin. This area was established as a gin-making region and the windmills around the city were used to grind the grain for this process. Keitel One is one of the brands from this region but this museum is pushing it's own brand - Old Schiedam- http://www.gedistilleerdmuseum.nl/
A short ways down the canal, we stopped at a vintage sweets shop, where we gazed longingly into the windows at the glass jars filled with candy. Everything about this quaint little shop was charming. I wanted to take some photos, so I made a small purchase of eucalyptus drops which were weighed and then wrapped in a paper cone.




From the vantage point outside of the sweetshop, we could look up and down the canal and see not one, but two vintage windmills. We stopped in the base of one known as "The Whale" and Thaily bought a basket. We walked further and saw the next in the series of five called "The Three Cornflowers."


After we located a place to stay for the evening, aptly named the Windmill Hotel Cafe, right accross from this historic windmill, we continued on our tour of the oldest parts of the city.

We did a lot of window shopping, stopping to check out the little shops selling chocolates, blue and white plates and bowls, cellular telephones and every modern convenience. One place that fascinated us all was this maker of clocks and barometric pressure gauges, H. N. Rose.

For a country that relies so heavily on the sea trade, and consequently, on the weather, barometers and such are an important part of their cultural history. These however, were to expensive to just drop in and purchase.


As we walked, we passed by the Old City Hall, which is a beautiful 17th century building with a cafe below.










This gothic revival gem of a church drew me in like a moth to a flame. While we were there when the church was not open, I walked around it, enjoying it's doll-house like miniature quality. Built along a scaled down version of a true basilica-format church, Basiliek simply means "Little Basilica" and was just too cute for words!



This is the remains of a castle keep of a much larger complex that included fortified walls. I was surprised that the moat was filled with water, but there was no sign indicating the name or date of this ruin. It has been a ruin since the 16th century, and you can see how the modern construction of the new city hall behind it has encroached on this poor sad little castle.

After we spent the morning at Schiedam, we met up with Ryu (spelling?) and we headed off to Rotterdam for an afternoon of sight-seeing.

Windmill cafe - where we spent the night in a terrible - terrible little room with a broken shower, exposed wires, a chair for a night-table and.. well.. at least it seemed clean!

Below are some more photos of Schiedam's beautiful historic canals and windmills. I will continued on with Rotterdam in a separate post. We've already done all of this by Noon! Whew.. sitting on the train sounded like a real blessing!