Rotterdam

Last Whitsun. Russ  and I spent a week staying in the Hague. On the Monday, we caught the train to Rotterdam, about a half an hour journey. It was a bright sunny day, which gave the city a bright and cheerful look. The railway station was being refurbished, and it took a little while to find the information centre - it is just around the corner from the station, tucked into the side of the Engels Grandcafe Restaurant (whose toilets we made use of!). A very helpful chap gave us a map and booklet about Rotterdam, and a quick overview of the important parts of the city. It sounded good.
We  followed the Roming Rottedam signs, again found ourselves in the business end of town to sart with, and headed across for the shopping area.
One of the most interesting buildings was the cubic house, built over a road and tramline, and quite mystifying when you first see it. You are able to wander around parts of it, as it has a youth hostelin it, as well as private housing. It was good to be able to figure out how the building actually configured from the inside.

The docks at Rotterdam are glorious - the city comes right up to the edge, with office workers sitting at cafes along the waters edge having lunch, and the old harbour 'Oude Haven' maintained as a museum of old sailing ships - such contrasts so close together. The  'Witte Huis' or White House was the first skskyscraper in Europe, and ,at ten sttories high, is now dwarfed by the  new skyscrapers along the waterfront.
We sat and ate our lunch just beside a bridge linking the Waterstad island to the rest of Rotterdam.
Recovered, we headed for the Erasmus bridge, over the Nieuwe Maas, a huge river that has been the source of Rotterdam's trading wealth.
The river is 800m long, and was only built in 1996. It is huge! We admired it, but decided not to cross to explore the other side, as this '2 hour' walk had already taken 4 hours and we were only halfway round.

We entered the 'scheepvaartkwartier', the old district of Rotterdam, containing the maritime musem, including a wide variety of boats on the canals for you to wnader among. Towards the Euromast, we entered the museumpark, with several museums set in parkland. It looked as if a new underground carpark had recently been built, and they were busily replanting the gardens above. As it was Monday, all the museums were closed, much to Russ' s relief!
The old part of town that we walked back through was busy, full of cafes and bars - and the area back near the station was very multicultural.
It is said to have more than 150 nationalities - a good place to go for authentic restaurants.
Finally, about 6 hours after starting, we rrived back at the station, hot and bothered, but having enjoyed an excellent day in Rotterdam.
There are trains every 10 minutes, so in no time we were back in the youth hostel in The Hague, relaxing before another mammoth holiday adventure began the next day!