Yesterday was my birthday, another year older but perhaps not another year wiser. This is decidedly just a fallacy, for me anyway. Today I tried to ride a fully laden bike around some rubbish bins, which were on the edge of the footpath that I was trying to ride up on to. The bike tipped over, and I landed on my bottom. And the Taco shells I bought for dinner were crushed, but not by my bottom. They were in the panniers. It was altogether not a wise decision as I should have got off the bike and wheeled it up onto the footpath.
But back to yesterday. We decided that a perfect way to celebrate my birthday was to visit the city of Rotterdam. And it turned out to be a sunny day too, well mostly sunny, and it certainly helped set the mood. So off we went, with Aaron, Kylie, Abi and Raphy, to first catch a train to Utrecht and then catch the intercity from Utrecht to Rotterdam.
As we all know, Germany bombed Rotterdam during World War II, as a way of making the Dutch Government surrender to them. So in May 1940 it was bombed to the point of obliteration. Total destruction. And of course it worked, and Holland capitulated to Germany.
Before 1940 Rotterdam was a very old and historic city, a medieval city, with a thriving port, although I have been told that there were many slums in the oldest part of the city.
Consequently Rotterdam was rebuilt as a modern city, much of it following a brutalist approach to architecture, which I think was popular in the 1950s and 1960s. The latter buildings, are modern in their design, and sleeker. However one cannot say that Rotterdam has the atmosphere or character, that abounds in the old towns and city centres in the Netherlands, rather it has a functional and practical approach to modern living.
There are many interesting buildings, and we spent quite a bit of time looking up at them and commenting on their architectural styles. The main shopping street has wide streets and low buildings, almost like some of the buildings that were established in Christchurch after the earthquakes.
When we first stepped out of the railway station we saw these huge shiny giants in front of us.
Plus a long skinny building. Rotterdam Central Railway Station on the right of the photograph below has solar panels over the railway tracks plus a very shiny roof coming out from the side. One has to be very careful crossing the large expanse outside the railway station as there are silent trams everywhere. A bit scary.
There is plenty of room in this city, for small boys to run around in. Raphy getting ready to jump off a seat.
A view of the medieval church, Laurenskerk, which was the only building left standing after the 1940 bombing of Rotterdam.
Our first stop was at the Markthal. This very iconic indoor food hall is different from any other that we have visited because there are luxury apartments arched over the hall. Inside the hall there are food stalls, plus restaurants, and underneath there is a four level carpark. It was opened in 2014. Quite an amazing piece of architectural work.
The massive artwork across the ceiling of the hall, is called the 'Horn of Plenty' It is possible to see buildings through the glass at either end of the hall.
The area around the Markthal was extremely busy, and it appeared that there was a sporting fixture on, either a run or a walk, as there was plenty of cheering and people wearing lycra. Heaps of atmosphere though.
The side of the Markthal, with a ferris wheel and a tall building in the centre. There was a bit too much paving around the Markthal, but then the trees were still small so perhaps in a few more years the area will look less stark.
We all purchased something different for lunch, either Italian, Chinese or Indian, and managed to find some bench space in which to sit and eat our lunch. It was all delicious. I chose a vegetarian biryani.
We then starting walking to our next destination which was only a few metres away. The Cube Houses (Piet Blom 1984). The architect wanted to design a kind of village within the city and saw the houses as trees and the whole area as a wood. The cube houses were tipped to one side, so that three sides faced the ground and three sides faced the sky.
The above description was copied from a brochure, but I could not see the connection with trees and a wood. They looked, to me, like a lot of boxes tipped on their side. As fascinating as they were to look at on the outside, I did not like being inside the show cube.
After climbing very narrow stairs, which were at an odd angle, I was more than ready to sit down on the couch. The cube house really messed up my sense of balance.
There were three floors in the cube house, the lounge, dining and kitchen floor, the bedroom, bathroom and study floor, and the conservatory at the top. You may notice in the photograph below that I am sitting again. Thanks to Kylie, who took quite a few photographs, mostly with me in them.
But I did manage to take a photograph,
looking down at the cube houses on the level below the one we were in.
After the cube houses we returned to the railway station via the Laurenskerk, with a band in front of it.
A view of the church tower.
The final stop was at a museum, but first we visited the cafe next door for coffee, tea and cold drinks. However it was very warm there and noisy as well so not overly restful. Abi and Raphy both look very tired in this photograph.
There were large displays in the museum, with before 1940 and after 1940 pictures, and models of the city. There was a temporary exhibition which focussed on musical events, especially rap music and dancing. We had trouble getting Raphy out of the museum as he is into rap music at the moment. He said it was the best museum he had ever been too.
A quick look inside the old town hall, with its lovely ornate hall.
Finally we made it back to the station, where we avoided the silent trams, and managed to get straight onto a train.
It was a lovely day out with the family and so much appreciated by me. Such precious times.
No comments:
Post a Comment