Before I get into Rotterdam, I thought I would give a little life update. Not that there is much to tell.
The last couple weeks have been gloomy and rainy. Think about the stereotypical weather in London, or maybe Seattle, lots of rain and dark skies. That is how the winter is here in the Netherlands. It can be hard on one’s daily emotional state. One of Jeremy’s co workers suggested taking extra Vitamin D by tablet this time of year to help combat the effects of the dreary days. We have been taking it! Not sure what kind of effect it is having, but it can’t hurt.
I met our second new neighbor this week! She is a young gal who just moved out of her parents’ house and into a place of her own. She is a police officer in Middelburg. So now we have two very young neighbors, since the neighbor that moved into the first apartment is a young man who just moved out of his parents’ house. Both neighbors are very friendly, not loud, not partiers…I am happy with our living situation! I still have not met the young lady who is opening a jewelry store below us, but I am keeping my eyes open for her. 🙂
Another exciting event for me is one that others would think is small and silly. If you know me well, you know that I am a dog person. I miss so much having a dog around me. I have been looking for an opportunity to walk one of the many dogs in Goes. And I finally got my big break. Last week I met with a woman at the Goes library about getting a Dutch language tutor. In conversation, she mentioned she lives very close to me, so I took the opportunity to ask if she had a dog. One thing led to another, and I am getting to meet her little dog next week so I can walk and take care of it in the future. I am very excited about this!
I don’t talk much about Jeremy’s job. I probably should since it is the reason we are living in the Netherlands. I did get a tour of the facility a few weeks ago and met a few of his co workers. It was a nice afternoon! Now I can picture his daily environment. Jeremy works Monday through Friday. He leaves before I wake up each morning and gets home around 6pm. He does come home and talk about his job every day. I try to supportively listen but of course I can’t fully relate to his every day experiences. He enjoys what he does and is very motivated to get to work each day. He is a busy body. If there isn’t enough for him to do on a weekend day, he gets antsy. So it is a good thing for him to be busy all day during the week.
Rotterdam!
I didn’t really want to give Rotterdam a chance. People told me that is was a more modern city compared to the others in the Netherlands, and I am not about that. I like the historical towns with old beautiful buildings that have stories to tell from hundreds of years ago. Jeremy and I decided last November to visit Rotterdam for a day since it is only a 90 minute train ride and quite a famous place. And we have been there twice now! We love it!
And I was mistaken about Rotterdam not having much history. The only reason many of the buildings are more modern is because Rotterdam was bombed by the Nazis in WW2. The enemy stole many of the historical landmarks. Because Rotterdam was the main port in the Netherlands, the Germans destroyed their means of import and export in order to force Dutch surrender. And it worked. The Nazis controlled the Netherlands for several years during the war. Such a difficult part of Dutch history.
But Rotterdam has rebuilt and now has a combination of old and new buildings. The atmosphere is busy, friendly, and full of creativity. The main street language seems to be English, which makes it easy for tourists like us. I have to admit, when I walked out of the train station and saw all the newer buildings, it felt like home. It was a good, warm feeling of being back in the United States. So I had a positive feeling about the city from the git go.
The Walking Tour
The first time we went to Rotterdam, we took a 4 hour walking tour. We saw the Asian district, the old harbor, Erasmus’s birthplace, the Cube Houses, and many other interesting sites. It was a warm Sunday afternoon and people seemed to just be lounging in the parks and chatting on the street. Jeremy was amazed that people had free time to just be. 🙂
Our walking tour took us to this tiny little Chinese place famous for crepes. But their crepes are wrapped around Chinese veggies and meat, like a burrito. It was really yummy!
The philosopher Erasmus was born and raised in Rotterdam. They have his boyhood home marked with a special formation. This statue of him is close by his boyhood home.
This is now a meeting house for the city, but once was a hotel. It is famous for housing Napoleon Bonaparte when he passed through town.
This statue is representative of the devastating bombing that took place in WW2. Interesting fact: The Germans built the base of this statue with the intent to put a statue of Hitler here. The Dutch drug their feet so much during construction that the war ended before the Hitler statue was placed. So now they use the base for this remembrance statue.
A new shopping center in the old section of Rotterdam, call the Markthal. There are apartments in the arched structure, and shops in the center. There are more floors of shops under the ground. The picture below shows the inside main level. Notice the beautiful ceiling.
A form of a Street Organ. The person managing this contraptions feeds punctured, patterned sheets of paper through it. The machine reads the pattern on the paper and plays the song.
The Cube Houses are a famous part of Rotterdam. The architect planned on building over 50 of them, but ended up with 38 in the end. He wanted it to be an urban village, which it really is! Each cube house has 3 floors. And each has a great view of the city!
Second trip to Rotterdam: The Port Area
The second time we went to Rotterdam, a few weeks ago, we visited a different section of the city. We walked to the great Port area, closer to the ocean. This area is busy with industrial activity and of course shipping goods. We found a visitor’s center that gave us great information about the area. Even though this is where the boats are loaded, it is still 26 miles to the ocean. The big cargo boats have to weave through miles of canals before reaching the open sea. We also learned that one of the world’s largest wind turbines is near by, and they can control the amount of water that comes from the ocean to the city with walls in the canal waters that can open and close.
My favorite part of the day, however, was the Hotel New York. Years ago, this building was the headquarters to the Holland America Cruise line. This company hosted one of the only large boats that went back and forth from the Netherlands to New York. Most of our Dutch ancestors would have come through this building to get on the boat to America. This building is on a point of land in the port, and the ship was parked out front. Today it is a hotel with a beautiful restaurant. Jeremy and I feel blessed to be able to eat in the building that hosted so many of our ancestors as they left for a new land.
The visitor’s center that was so kind to us. They gave us MUCH information about the Rotterdam Port area.
The Erasmus bridge. Three paths on this bridge, one for walking, one for biking, one for driving.
Bubble Dining. Restaurants build these outside for a unique winter dining experience.
This ship, the SS Rotterdam, is permanently docked in Rotterdam now. It is a floating hotel. Anyone can stay there. But it used to be a Cruise Ship that sailed travel guests from 1959-2000. This boat took travelers to Alaska, main America and the Carribean. We toured the inside. It is quite fancy and beautiful.
The old inner city port of Rotterdam. Beautiful at sunset.
This is the back of the Hotel New York, formerly Holland America Line. It is a beautiful old building that survived the bombings of WW2.
The front of the historic Holland America Line building. Most of our Dutch Ancestors would have come through this company to get to their new home in the U. S.
Side view of the Holland America building (the building with the green peaks on top). The ship was parked out front, to the left of the picture. If you look close, you can see a black boat parked where the ship going to America would have parked.
The ship parked out front of this building, waiting to take Dutch people to their new home in America.
Inside the Hotel New York restaurant. Jeremy and I so enjoyed dining there and remembering the thousands that went before us.
And that is my long yet brief summary of our days in Rotterdam. Visiting Rotterdam has reminded me not to judge a book by it’s cover. I am so glad I gave Rotterdam a chance! Please feel free to message me with any questions or positive comments. I would love to hear from you!
The Niemantsverdriet family is from Charlois — near (or now part of) Rotterdam. Much of it is now part of the Rotterdam Harbor. On the Niemantsverdriet Family Tour of the Netherlands in 2001 (!) we were honored at a dinner at the Landhuis De Oliphant (Kromme Zandweg 90, 3084 ND Rotterdam) — and just down the street is a windmill the Niemantsverdriet ancestors would have known — Kromme Zandweg and the mill the Zandweg. Located in the Charlois district. There’s a very nice little museum in Charlois. As I recall, further down the road there are some low, modern apartment buildings and further just past those apartments there is an old traditional house/barn combination that had been in the Niemantsverdriet family over a century at that time. I know the old lady and her son who had lived there have since passed. The family name originated — is first found in records — in Klaaswaal, South Holland.
The three Niemantsverdriet brothers all immigrated to America prior to the founding of the Holland America Line — I was disappointed to realize that when we saw the NAL building!