A daily dose of Rotterdam since august 2019
This is also Rotterdam. I found this car parked nearby home. Its a vintage Citroën, I don’t know the details exactly, but the model is a Traction Avant produced from 1934 to 1957! In France, the Traction is known as “Reine de la Route” (“Queen of the Road”).
Yes, go ahead! Shake the hand of this tree! And its a warm hand (37 degrees Celsius – 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or normal body temperature)! Made out of bronze you can find this tree in front of shopping center De Groene Passage, at the corner of Goudsesingel / Mariniersweg. The tree symbolizes the relation between human and nature and is made by the artist Hans Lemmen in 2001. The name of this artwork? You guessed it: the tree!
This is the Erasmus University College building, located at the Nieuwe Markt (the New Market). This building was the former Gemeente Bibliotheek (municipality library) 1923 – 1983. In 1983 a new building was built at the corner Hoogstraat / Binnenrotte in a style that is reminiscent of Centre Pompidou in Paris (I show you a picture later). And from 2013 till now about 750 students attend here the Erasmus University College, the undergraduate college of Erasmus University Rotterdam. At the right you see a glimp of a fountain, that is a subject for another day!
Although a nice design, lights and a chair for everyone nobody is home in this kitchen / diner in the Pannekoekstraat (pancake street)! Thats because its not somebody’s real house but a shop window with examples of design. I liked the museum look of it so ended up photographing it! Is it Rotterdam? Yes, the shop or design bureau is called Depot Rotterdam. No advertising just a nice picture…
This morning while walking trough the still quiet city centre I spotted this woman in her little place in the sun. She enjoyed the moment before the city woke up again. Sunday at its best.
Cycling is popular in Rotterdam. And Rotterdam helps cyclists with, among other things, placing bicycle pumps on the street, storage options, adjust traffic lights more bike friendly and many more! The bikes in the picture are just a part of the many bikes parked in the city near buildings on the sidewalks etc. despite the more than 6800 places in bicycle parking, just not enough probably! I often ride a bicycle to work, to the shops and yes even when it rains!
Its a friday night and beside a night on the town its also a shopping night. Shops in the center of the city are open till 21.00 hours. Festive lighting is coming into place for the coming months as you can see in this picture of the nicknamed “Koopgoot” – slang for buy (koop) ditch (goot). I didn’t buy anything tonight but enjoyed the ambiance. Have a nice weekend!
There used to be a big cattle market in Rotterdam at the location I photographed this part of the original fence (corner Goudserijweg / Hugo de Grootstraat). Parts of the fence are the only reminders of this cattle market. On monday for sheeps and pigs and on tuesday horses and cows. The market was located here since 1867 and moved to a new location in 1974. The whole location was redeveloped and was filled with houses. The slaughterhouse nearby (closed in 1981) was reused to house students!
Looking for a few photo opportunities this tree in front of the main library of Rotterdam caught my eye. I liked the light through the leaves and on the bench. So here it is, not the best picture but for sure a atmospheric one, and do not forget, this tree can become a book one day…
Here in Rotterdam the shops decorate the windows and throughout the city there are parties with the theme Halloween. Halloween (also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve) occurs on the day before All Saints Day. It is a day that is dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed. Halloween is a holiday celebrated annually on October 31 in the United States and throughout the world. Walking by this shops window I thought of halloween, the red blooded shoes leaking over the stand, scary!
This is the Stadhuisplein (Cityhall square) right in front of the cityhall. Its free of traffic and has many cafes and restaurants and is popular with tourists and locals alike! And if there is a big victory of one of the local footballclubs thousands of people celebrate here. I didn’t spend the evening here, I just shot this photo for you and went home to put in on the blog…
Its sunday so again I found it appropriate to show you a church. Its the Allerheiligste Verlosserkerk (Most Holy Savior church) located at the Goudse Rijweg in the neighbourhood Crooswijk. Build in neogothic style between 1882 – 1884 with a connected monastery build in 1885. About 1050 people could find a seat inside the church, so quite big. Closed in 1978 due to declining church attendance and severe damaged in 1979 by a fire it was decided in 1982 to convert the church to house students. The name of this appartment building? The church…
Instead of the promised rain and grey skies this saturday was reasonable sunny as you can see in todays photo! This is the “Markthal” or in english market hall 🙂 located at the Grote Markt, near station Blaak. The inside is full of stalls, small and big with all kind of food. There are restaurants and takeaways. Also contains the largest work of art in the world, the 11.000 m2 Horn of Plenty. The arch of the market hall contains appartments. Mainly tourists visit this spot, in groups with a local guide because of the design etc. Building started in 2009 and the hall opened in 2014 so this year it was celebrated, five years already opened! I celebrate this at home, have a good weekend!
I photographed already a ornament on the facade of the city hall but I didn’t show you the city hall! Here it is (the front of the city hall it is). With proudly displaying the flags of Rotterdam and the Netherlands. If you look closely you can see exactly the time I took this picture, not the day, about two weeks ago, sorry!
Looking for a picture opportunity I walked by this giant cola can! Obvious for people walking for hours in the urban desert and having a giant thirst! You can find this can if you need it at the Binnenwegplein…
Today I will show you a swimming pool opened in 1937, the Sportfondsenbad Noord or known by the people of this neighbourhood as the Van Maanenbad, named after the street where the pool is located. One of the main and special features was the roof that could be opened, nowadays this doesn’t function anymore. The pool is classified as a monument and restored to its former glory in 2014 – 2015. Note the flag of Rotterdam – green/white/green – in the left upper corner!
N.B. A Sportfonds swimming pool was financed by a savings system for members and shareholders.
Living history here in the center of Rotterdam, the socalled “Lijnbaanplataan” or translated “Lijnbaan plane tree”, nominated as tree of the year 2019 and named after the location where it grows now. But this location is the second life location of this remarkable tree. Planted in 1851(!) in the garden of the former Coolsingel hospital the tree survived the bombs and fire of the war in 1940. The hospital itself was severe damaged. In the 1960s the inner city was rebuild and new shops were build around the tree and former gate of the old hospital. A reminder of the recent past!
Update: Unfortunately the tree ended second place in the “Tree of the year 2019” with 9212 votes. First place: Noord-Brabant: Heksenboom (witch tree) in Bladel (9840 votes).
These footsteps are not mine but from who else I don’t know! They disappear at the side of the road, maybe the person stepped into a car or flown away? I came across these (painted) steps while walking down the Goudsesingel to work, maybe a leftover from a advertising campaign? Truly steps into the unknown!
This sunday morning I walked by this hidden spot. Its maybe difficult to find but its still there, sandwiched between the tall buildings, a Jewish cemetery that dates back to 1696! First used for the Portuguese commune and since 1710 used by the “Hoogduitse” commune, in 1811 consisting of approximately 2100 people. People were buried there until 1820. There are about 200 gravestones, but the older graves are under the most recent ones.
At the start of WWII in 1940 some 13.000 Jews lived in Rotterdam. Nowadays there is not much left of this community. The foundation Boete en verzoening (penance and reconciliation?) takes care of maintenance of this historic place so that it is not forgotten.
Using the tram or lightrail in Rotterdam has its advantages. You don’t have to look for a parking space, it is relatively cheap and the stops are almost everywhere. But now and then work is needed because of wear and tear at the rails. I took this shot near Rotterdam Centraal, the hub for public transport in Rotterdam. Work is in progress and the deadline is near, october the 20th. So in a few days we can enjoy fresh rails for the coming years. I keep track of the work and show you a shot of the result!
Yes! The weekend started today but the weather didn’t feel like it belonged to the weekend! Rain, rain and a bit of rain and the weather forecast for saturday and sunday aren’t better. But a few days off is a good prospect, so have a good weekend!
Tonight while visiting the main library (grote bibliotheek) here in Rotterdam, taking the escalator to the 4th floor this view through the windows caught my attention. A view on Rotterdam with at the right the Grote of Sint-Laurens church, in the middle a greenish building – the world trade centre and on the left a glimp of the Markthal, a now architectural tour de force of Rotterdam. Liked the view, hope you like it too!
Taken near my house I liked the colors of the trees and the light of october. Last days and the coming days much rain so for me much photo opportunities!
Apparently about 150 years ago we started eating baked potatoes or fries! And every dutch civilian eat 18 kilos of fries (in dutch you say “patat”) a year! Here in Rotterdam where there is a market there is a chip truck, easily recognizable by the blue checkered appearance. And here’s one of the several lists of where to find the best fries but you have to check that yourself! Took this picture at today’s market at the Binnenrotte and no I didn’t buy fries (this time)…
Maintenance of a building can be boring and when working with a lift that is on the sidewalk with a wooden fence around it for safety you can just as easy “lift” the fence to a work of art! I saw this near the subway this morning on my way to work. Its not a piece of art Sotheby will put on auction but makes life cheerful!
Walking to and from work I pass the “Student Hotel” (more info her). And as the name already indicates its a hotel for students 🙂 Besides giving the students a place to sleep they provide al kind of different spaces to study, be creative or whatever. On one of the windows of these spaces “Join the club” is shown, I liked it and now you can enjoy it too!
At home we have a dog but not as old and locally famous as this dog “Fikkie”. In 1963 “Fikkie” was donated to the city of Rotterdam by the Rotterdamsche Studenten Corps. After wandering through the city for a few years and even was stolen he finally found his permanent place (in 1992) at the Oude Binnenweg. Adopted in 1999 by the socalled XVIIe Lustrumcommissie Fikkie is assured of good and permanent care! And with this positive item I wish you a good weekend!
Tonight I passed this shop, full of cigars! Inside there’s a lounge where a few gentlemen smoked a cigar together with some small talk. I liked the smell and yes I know that it is not fashionable these days to smoke but…
Last evening it was raining, there was wind and a almost empty street. Even the colors faded. Only a blue light above a entrance put some color in this image. This street scene is shot at Willemsplein, near the river Maas. In daylight many tourists and buses, at night almost deserted!
When I saw this on the Erasmus bridge I had to photograph it for this blog. Starting this blog and hoping to reach people over the world as they do with their blog is the goal, so this message is for you!
And its the first of the month, themeday for CDP! And the october theme is orange. And while walking the dog nearby our house I spotted this delivery boy of “Thuisbezorgd” the local delivery service for food delivery ordered online with one of the many participating restaurants. And is it orange or not! 😉