We've now spent 5 days in Rotterdam and today is the first day we've decided to stay in because it's been pretty much non-stop pissing down with rain since the moment I opened my eyes (ie 9.40) til now (ie lunchtime). Our little loft apartment is actually the perfect place to spend a quiet morning - the bed and couch are comfy for reading/ blogging/ watching TV* and the four skylights keep the place flooded with light, even on the dreariest day.
But let's not dwell on the rain. Our last few days have been spent wandering the city on foot in (mostly) glorious sunshine and temperatures of around 8 degrees. Turns out, Rotterdam is a pretty cool city. Wiki tells me that Rotterdam has a population of about 600,000, which is certainly not a small town, but not a big city either. From what I've seen, I'd say it's definitely punching above its weight.
I mentioned in an earlier post that we had selected Rotterdam based on 4 criteria - not too far (from Hamburg), easy to navigate, not too cold and not too pricey. Not too far was a big tick before we'd even arrived (5 hours by train from Hamburg). The others required some investigation, but I think I can now confirm that we're good on all fronts.
For late Feb/ early March, the weather has been as good as you could hope for. The city is actually also Europe's largest port, so yeah, there's a lot of water here, which means some icy winds blowing across the city, But even then, it's been comfortable to walk in all day, especially with the sun shining down.
It's been incredibly easy to navigate, partly because the streets are made for walking - there are zebra crossings absolutely everywhere. There is also great public transport which is very easy and convenient, with conductors - remember those? - on every tram so you can buy a ticket onboard. It's not super cheap, but seems decent value for the service (3 euro for a one way trip).
But it's also easy to navigate because the Dutch are just so freaking nice! Yesterday, we went to the movies, and asked the attendant if she spoke English, apologising that we didn't speak Dutch. She gave us a huge smile and said "I'll do my best" and then spoke to us in perfect English, of course, because it's the Netherlands and pretty much everyone does that. She could've been a dick about it - but wasn't, and that's pretty much been my experience of almost every person I meet in the Netherlands every time I visit.
As for the pricey aspect - it's still western Europe. The Netherlands has adopted the Euro, against which the AUD is not especially thriving. But I am currently drinking a bottle of Dutch winterbier which 8.5% (hey, it's lunchtime), which comes in a six pack for under $8. And it's delicious! I say f--- you, Australia, as I drink my delicious 1 euro bottle of beer-wine!!
So what is there to do in Rotterdam? The Guardian has rather presciently published an article today - "Top ten alternative city breaks in Europe" focusing on great value city break, and of course, Rotterdam is on the list. How close are our finger to the pulse, people?? If you're interested, you can find the article here http://gu.com/p/467ye/sbl. The article focuses on Rotterdam's architectural credentials, which are impressive. It's a very design-looking city - from beautiful modern bridges to epic glass skyscrapers, even the train station is a masterpiece, it's a cool city to just wander around. There are some amazing museums (apparently - I'm not anti museum, but it has to be one I'm dying to see to spend a day on it, particularly on a 10 month trip) and awesome markets (more below).
So far we've spent some of our time walking around our own, very local neighbourhood. On Saturday, we hit the weekly market at Afrikaanderwijk, which looked a lot like a smaller Dandenong market. Full of locals with shopping trolleys and incredible bargains like 4 avocados for a euro and whole smoked mackerel for 2.50 euro**. It felt like a super local market and was great to see what regular people get up to on the weekend here.
We've also checked out a couple of other markets - the very hipster Fenix food factory farmers market, run by 7 businesses selling coffee, cheese, artisanal cold meats (they even have their own cold room), brewery (with 20 local beers on tap!), juice// fruit shop and bakery, cider producer, potato merchant (with frites, of coures) and more. You can sign up for a brunch or lunch plate that has a sampling of each item and it was definitely a hip place to be (judging by the proliferation of beards and oversized glasses on the hipster customers). Anyway, because I have no sense of irony, I loved it with abandon. If you're ever visiting it's in a huge warehouse in Katendrecht, which also has a great coffee shop (Paul's posse - selling coffee, not soft drugs) and loads of other cafes/ restaurant. We've already been twice and I want to go back again for a final beer before we leave!!
We also visited the new Markthal, which is a huge, indoor foodie market in a giant dome that opened a few months ago. It was insanely packed on Saturday, which I guess, is not surprising. It was a lot like the foodie section of Vic Market without any of the other fresh produce. So kind of pricey, but worth a look for the architecture of the place and surrounding buildings alone. Hey, they sold meat in paper cones, I was impressed!!
We also stumbled in our random wanderings in what looked like the centre of cool in Rotterdam - the Witte de Withstraat. Basically, a street filled with cool bars, upmarket hamburger joints (including the home of the best hamburger in all of the Netherlands 2015) and design stores/ art galleries. It's down the road from the museum district (and beautiful museum park) and also houses Rotterdam's self-proclaimed coolest hostel, King Kong (it does look awesome - but seriously I'd rather have my own private loft for half the cost!) We had lunch at a place called Warung Mini specialising in Indonesian food and I had a pretty awesome chicken soup for $6 - highly recommended.
So the weather has finally dried up a little, and it may be time to venture outside for the first time today... I have noted the results of the poll- at this stage, "get off your lazy backsides and go to both" Gouda and Delft is in the lead. Although, due to the rain, we really only have one full day left in the Netherlands, so it's up to the weather report tomorrow. Whichever looks warmer/ drier between Gouda and Delft wins! I'll let you know how we go.
Some pics for your amusement below:
A repurposed warehouse in Katendrecht:
Artisanal bakery at Fenix Food Factory Farmers Market
The Erasmus Bridge
Beautiful museum park
The impressive Markthal
Happy travellers!!
* Despite our host proclaiming that we have "more than 200 channels on the sattelite", we have managed to get 3 - BBC and... nothing else in English! We do have an internet connection that more than makes up for it though...
** Can you tell I can't find the euro symbol on my ipad??
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