Rotterdam, Netherlands

 Rotterdam, Netherlands                                                              Saturday, June 4, 2022

            No scheduled tour again, so had a slower morning and set out to get 10:30 shuttle bus.  The tour host for Rotterdam had a table in the terminal, so we dallied a bit listening to places he recommended.  Almost missed the well loaded shuttle bus.

            Surprisingly, the shuttle drove us only about 10 or so blocks, and we thought we’d spotted where to catch a harbor tour if we wished before returning to the ship. During the short bus ride, we spotted a modern city with a plethora of new architectural styles—almost as if there might have been a contest for most creative functionality.  Looking around when we got off the bus, we immediately found the cubes and the indoor market—both of which were artistic.  

We also saw the every-Saturday open air market/flea market already in full mode.  Because we were already interested in the cubes, we headed that way and found that one was open for visit with entry fee of about 3 dollars each.  Worth. It.  Signs indicated that anyone wishing to purchase one as a home would need to be very creative, very patient, and probably rich.  No normal furniture or appliances would fit, the three levels had us negotiating lots of narrow and windy steps, we ducked a lot—even when unnecessary, remarked that there was almost no wall space for artwork, marveled at the ingenuity.  The one we toured was furnished but some (on-going?) maintenance was happening.  Knick-Knacks were enclosed in glass shelving cabinets.  Kitchen on lowest level, small, and large enough for one.  One eating table there.  On level 2, the one bedroom was a wrap-around with stairway in middle. Jerry thought the bathroom may be about the same size as ours on the ship.  Lots of people were vying for a small amount of space, so we headed out.  The architect used the base of the cubes to form a bridge over a major roadway and on that bridge were some souvenir shops, a fantastic chess museum—one set was made of cubed pieces, and a few other things not yet open.  We headed to the markets for the hope of a bathroom.

 Wanting to mingle with the locals and take in the energy, we strolled the rows of the open air market that had about 5 aisles and extended further than thought.  Lots of clothing, some shoes (and people were sitting and trying them on), fresh flower stalls, along with the “normal” off-brand purses and sunglasses.  The enclosed off the charts artsy market had permanent stalls with various goodies like chocolate, cheeses, nuts, and a super massive mural painting on the entire arched structure.  

The cubes and this building were designed to draw people and then business to downtown.  It has worked.  We found the “loovia” (use your imagination—you’ll get it) on lower level behind push stiles after inserting 50 cent euro.  A long line had formed when I came out—perhaps a tour bus.  A very interesting trip down the escalators into the four story parking garage revealed a museum like exhibit showing the layers of various time periods in the city on the walls and glassed in displays of what we assume they found while excavating for the parking garage.  Totally unique and interesting idea.

Not finding much else we wanted, we walked the 10 or so blocks past the outside part of the maritime museum to get to the tickets for the harbor cruise.  We could immediately board, so we joined the perhaps 150 others, hoping to get out of the drizzle that had just started.  We found a table inside, but went out when we could, withstanding the wind and grinning as the kids included in family gatherings on board got bored.  Saw so any dormant unloading cranes that I stopped counting.  Saw stacks upon stacks of containers on shore.  Some very low-slung long boats had underwater compartments so that they could fit under the bridges.  A helpful recording documented what we were seeing—in French, German, and English (I think).

I spy 3 people having some fun...

Back to the ship since we were already close.  In fact, we boarded the Spira harbor cruise directly across the waterway from our ship.  That tour passed it twice.

I enjoyed the afternoon tea with the string trio while Jerry had some downtime. As I came back into our stateroom, our cruise director came on the intercom to notify everyone of the late afternoon lecture given by a guest lecturer about Bruges that would serve us well tomorrow on our tour. We raced down to the lounge just in time to listen. 

Made a quick run back to the room for heavier clothing before returning to the lounge to co-lead the Pentecost worship service with communion.  It was a full and fruitful day.

Human sized chess board under one of the cubes.

One piece in an outdoor display honoring and thanking health care workers