Rotterdam is a major port city thanks to its deep rivers and canals. Your ship is likely stop where the QM2 did. ‘Rott’ means mud, ‘a’ is water. Rotta is muddy water. Although settlements started around 950 they flooded in 1150. It was rebuilt after the dams were constructed between 1260 to 1280. This city in the Dutch province of South Holland was also bombed flat in WWII by the Luftwaffe and 80,000 people were made homeless. The reconstructed city is now known for some bold, modern architecture. From your ship, you can walk into the tourist area in ten minutes, catch the efficient metro or trams, or take the shuttle bus.
Why stop in Rotterdam and not Amsterdam? Because there is now a room tax charged to ships, per passenger! It is nearly ten Euros per passenger so the cost to a cruise ship is high. Amsterdam Tax site.
The Maritime Museum’s vintage ships and exhibits trace the city’s seafaring history. The 17th-century Delfshaven neighbourhood is home to canalside shopping and Pilgrim Fathers Church, which is where pilgrims worshipped before sailing to America. Many people left for the USA from here. Almost all tours will show you the same three things we do, they are near to the Blaak station and shuttle stop.
The grey pavement is the Hoogstraat (“High Street”) and shows the old waterway.
On 7 July 1340, Count Willem IV of Holland granted Rotterdam city status.
1350 the shipping canal was completed, and it became a go-to centre between the Netherlands, England and Germany.
During World War I, it was the world’s centre for spies because of Dutch neutrality and its strategic location between Britain, Germany, and German-occupied Belgium. MI6 had its main European office here (on de Boompjes). But in WWII it suffered.
Witt Huis was built in 1898 and survived the blitz of WWII
The Cube Houses (Kubuswoningen) in Rotterdam are one of the city’s most iconic attractions. Designed by Dutch architect Piet Blom. The homes are cubes, tilted over by 45 degrees. Only 1/3rd is living space. Jean takes you around one of the houses.
Delfshaven, one of the few places in Rotterdam that was spared during the WWII bombing, has the atmosphere of pre-war Rotterdam. The Pilgrim Fathers’ Church (Pelgrimvaderskerk), city brewery De Pelgrim, and De Delft, a replica of an 18th-century warship.
The odd Statue outside the Market
Was erected as a tribute to cartoonist Marten Toonder, who turned 90 on 2nd May 2002. The statue was nearer the station, but moved when that was expanded. It has a baroque clover-shaped bench and sitting above that are four of figures from his strip comics: Marquis De Cantecler, Mayor Dickerdack, Professor Sickbock and the painter Terpen Tijn. They represent four force fields in society: philosophy, politics, science and economics. An obelisk towers more than six meters above it crowned by brush and pen, symbols for Toonders drawing and writing.
The Markthal: You will go there. It is nicknamed the Sistine Chapel of Rotterdam due to its impressive ceiling design. The 11.000 m² artwork, “Horn of Plenty” was designed by Arno Coenen. Not just a market, but 228 apartments have windows looking down into the Market Hall.
The statue De Verwoeste Stad (‘The Destroyed City’ near the Leuvehaven, not far from the Erasmusbrug in the centre of the city, on the north shore of the river Nieuwe Maas).
Football clubs Feyenoord and Sparta. There is an annual ROMANTIC MUSIC festival in Het Park. Romantic-era styled clothing, hats and Victorian parasols are on sale in the park during the two-day festival which is one of the oldest classical music festivals in the Netherlands. It has previously attracted up to 35.000 classical music enthusiasts.
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