Rotterdam photos

Wow, time just flies by, doesn't it? It's already October, and I still have pics from the beginning of July to put up, and I haven't even gotten to the bike tour yet.

So, Rotterdam.One of the largest ports in the world, if not the largest. Did you know that the "dam" in Amsterdam and Rotterdam means an actual dam? That's where each of those cities started, when dams were built.

So, massive port, hundreds of years old, center of maritime history/activity for Europe. Why did we go?

Because Jackie Chan filmed part of a movie there.

 The movie has some of the best fight choreography ever. This fight scene takes place on top of a building in Rotterdam.

This building, actually:

No spoilers for the movie, but see that sloping part of the building? Yeah.

 Rotterdam was almost completely destroyed by the Germans in WWII because it was such an important Dutch port. Here's one of the older buildings that survived. It's called the White House.

 


So unlike central Amsterdam, most of the architecture in the center of Rotterdam is very new. They really seem to like the overhanging motif.

 

But back to Jackie Chan. One of the fight scenes in Amsterdam takes place at the Cube Houses.About half of them are private residences and the other half are a hostel that is part of the StayOkay hostel company. When I found out we could stay there, I grabbed a reservation.

You don't have to be a youth to stay there, but you do have to bring your own soap. If you don't have your own towels, you can rent them for four euros, three of which you get back when you return the towel. You can also rent bikes for 6 euros/day. Tourist rental bikes tend to come in really bright colors, probably to tell the locals to watch out.

 

View from our room down to the street. The windows are the next-door cube's.

 The floor plan for the second floor, where we stayed. I think the green in the middle is where the elevator is. But there are also staircases made of gorgeous smooth wood. They're nauseatingly curvy.

Some more Cube House pics.

 

 And on the inside: 

The center, where the elevator is.

Corner of a room/cube sticking out into the hallway

Wall of our room with window, out of which you can see Blaak Metro station with its weird flying saucer thing. Beyond that is a bizarre new building they're constructing -- a giant arch that will have an enormous grocery store inside of it.

And this is the bar in the lobby of the hostel, which is how you know it's just a hostel, not a youth hostel. Although this is Europe....The breakfast buffet is around the back of this area.

Some other cool stuff in Rotterdam: 

I think these two pictures both show counter-weight drawbridges

The far side of the river from central Rotterdam -- maybe why the older buildings survived the bombing. Or maybe they were rebuilt?

The Holland American Line building that is now Hotel New York.

So, back to Jackie Chan's "Who Am I?" One of the scenes in the movie was shot on the Erasmus bridge, also known as "The Swan".

Rotterdam has a massive maritime museum. When we were there, they had an excellent exhibit on pirates, and used "Pirates of the Carribbean" lego people to show scale on the model ships.

Sword that belonged to Erik the Red. I think. Hard to tell in this picture that it's about six feet long from end to end.

If you get the chance to go to Rotterdam, do it. It's a little more advanced than Amsterdam, because you actually have to ask for menus in English; the locals won't assume you're foreigners immediately. It's not that  much of a tourist town. But we did find one fairly inexpensive, casual restaurant near our hostel that had English menus....

...and it's only about an hour's train ride from Amsterdam, and everything's pretty close. You could do it as a day trip from Amsterdam. Or stay at the Cube Houses. Just remember to bring your own soap.

Or if you can't get to Rotterdam, watch Jackie Chan's "Who Am I?" It's a fun movie. 

Coming up: Windmills!!!