Rotterdam – BabyPenguin

In a word, this unusual Dutch city is impressive. Why unusual? That requires a bit of historical explanation..

On the western border of Germany was a terrible place to be going into WW2. Hitler wanted a swift victory over the Netherlands, but progress westward was slow to non-existent. A German general sent a letter to the Dutch colonel overseeing the defense of Rotterdam to demand a surrender by 1:30 PM or else the city would be bombed to rubble. While taking it seriously enough to warn residents, the Dutch demanded an official document with a signature instead of the questionable note that they’d received. The general sent back something more official and postponed the time by three hours. With that, the Dutch had no choice but to surrender the city, but no one managed to reach the bombers that were already underway. At 1:27, fifteen minutes of firebombing commenced despite their intent to yield. The worst fires burned out of control for two days. Afterward, there was almost nothing left of the city center. The warning was enough for many to evacuate, leaving less than a thousand people dead, but 80,000 were homeless.

After such a blow, it took years before major resettlement. As people began to rebuild, the decision was made to build something new, not a historical replica. A tradition of modern, highly-functional design was born. Whereas most European cities bear the signs of modern life being overlaid on top of aging infrastructures that struggle to cope, Rotterdam stands in contrast. The roads are wide enough for vehicles, with sidewalks for pedestrian traffic, separated bike lanes, and all manners of public transit crisscrossing the city.

Having done any research at all before going to Rotterdam, it’s expected that it’ll be modern. Experiencing it is something else entirely. Arriving to the central train station at night and walking fifteen minutes to a hotel was jaw dropping. It’s not that anything was particularly beautiful or awe-inspiring. Rather, it was that everything was so well arranged and perfectly suited to modern life (almost) without any hint of the urban issues that plague a city like Brussels.

The intent was to use the city as a base to explore the surrounding areas, but one of the day trips to the historical town of Delft got cancelled just to stay and enjoy Rotterdam. That was a remarkable change from the expectation that each morning would start with the desire to flee an urban hell. One day trip stayed on the agenda to visit seemingly endless windmills in Kinderdijk, but this post will focus on in Rotterdam itself.

Getting There

It was to take multiple trains and over four hours to head north to Rotterdam, but an accidental detour to Leuven extended that by an hour. One late train led to rushing on to another that was on the right platform at the right time, but there was apparently a last-minute track change. The good news is that the robust rail system offers plenty of alternatives, so it ended up being a minor hiccup.

The train that arrived late to Namur had plenty of people waiting. The next track was pretty busy too.

Being hungry at the Leuven train station led to poor decisions. This is a kipwurst broodje (chicken sausage in flaky dough).

The chocotwist was certainly a worse idea than the chicken sausage.

It felt huge, but this was before seeing Antwerp’s station.

Stacked bike racks at the station; a reminder that bikes outnumber people in the Netherlands

A tunnel under the station that’s convenient after going out the wrong exit

An idea of just how much, and how many different types of traffic flow through a main street (without ever feeling overwhelming!)

CityHub Hotel

Even lodging was a new experience. Like a hostel, CityHub has shared bathrooms, and a common area for travelers to congregate, but everyone gets a private pod. It was a wonderfully executed concept, with plenty of privacy and everything efficiently arranged. The design seemed quite at home in Rotterdam.

Room 420 was an ironic assignment for someone who’d never visit one of the local “coffee” shops.

Color changing LEDs and a built-in Bluetooth speaker are a part of every room. Fortunately no one abused the latter.

For space optimization, the neighboring room’s bed hovers over this one’s.

An RFID wristband gets visitors into their rooms, but can also be used to purchase from vending machines, a coffee maker, and even this bar.

The hotel is on Witte de Withstraat, which turns out to be party-central, with sections of sidewalk being nearly impassable outside bars and restaurants.

The area was too busy, so takeout food from this place was easier than trying to find somewhere quiet.

“Kapsalon” – This 21st-century Dutch/Turkish fusion was on the list of cultural foods to try. A base layer of fries is topped with döner kebab meat and a salad. Despite appearances, it wasn’t actually too bad. Most importantly, it was available across the street and easy to consume in the lounge of the hotel before calling it a night.

Around the City

After a trip to Kinderdijk that’ll be featured in the next post, the next day and a half involved a lot of wandering around the City, including another free walking tour and sampling various foods.

“Heerlijke Oliebollen” is supposed to mean “delicious oliebollen (Dutch doughnuts),” but it was hard to agree. It was too dense and moist, though it wasn’t clear if that was from absorbing too much oil or if they’re always that way. These will get one more chance in another city before writing them off.

Santa has a bell in his left hand and what’s supposed to be a Christmas tree in his right. Residents apparently think that the artist from San Francisco had something else in mind.

The fridge at the Albert Heijn (large Dutch grocery chain) looked as efficient as the rest of the city.

This and the next photo we’re taken while waiting in line. Note that it’s not all candy and soda.

In the Netherlands, potatoes must be a last-minute impulse buy.

Delicious spiced-apple pie would be better if they didn’t always serve it cold!

The pie crust is consistently this heavier variety.

Vapiano is a German chain of Italian-fusion restaurants. If you ever get the chance to visit one, go twice.

Prosciutto and cheese make everything better.

The hall of the shopping center outside Vapiano

Vapiano was just across from the train station

Markthal includes apartments on the sides, dining in the middle, plus parking and plenty of shopping underground.

The black stone in the foreground is one of the many markers around the city that shows the fire line from the WW2 bombardment. It looks like a completely different, older city on the other side of the line.

These women were enjoying a cruise in a floating, heated pool.

Each cube is a small home. One of them can be visited for a few euros, but it didn’t sound that appealing.

The tour guide insisted that this was the best appeltaart in the city, but hadn’t tried the place I’d been to the day before. It was decent, but disappointingly not better.

Bitterballen are basically breaded and fried meatballs. I suspect they would have been better somewhere other than a busy fry-stand in Markthal. Maybe next time.

Eurasian magpie; the first of several shots on the way to and through Het (The) Park

Hamburg restaurant; reminiscent of Hodad’s back home, and highly recommended by staff at the hotel

The Cow vs. Pig burger included pulled pork and a host of other tasty ingredients. It, and the sweet potato fries, were delicious. That’s coming from someone who doesn’t eat burgers all that often and who prefers to try local foods while traveling.

Up Next

There’s already another week’s worth of adventures to share, from an excursion out of Rotterdam toward the windmill-covered landscape of Kinderdijk to four days in and around Antwerp, followed by a long trip to arrive in Zermatt, Switzerland for a glimpse at the Matterhorn.