It was a cozy night at the Easy Hotel. This is a very inexpensive yet modern Hotel in the centre of down town Rotterdam. My room has two single beds, a TV with cable (but nothing to watch except CNN and BBC), and a very decent shower/toilet. The hotel appears to be new. It is modern and clean inside, but basically ‘no frills’ throughout. I can at least buy coffee from a machine in the foyer for about $2. My bike is safely locked under the stairs on the 1st floor. There are no meals on site, but for the price of less than $50 per night no one is complaining.
The day was very cold again, but 1C all day rather than the zero of the day before. When I went for breakfast at the local café at about 8am, the air was so moist with mist and dew that it felt like rain on my face as I walked. I had forgotten that dawn was not until about 8:30am, so it was a shock to walk outside into the dark! I still had my excellent blinds in the down position.
I had decided to explore the town on foot, although it involved a fair bit of walking. I wanted to explore the historic dock area, which I learned later to be called the ‘Port of Delft’. I set off with map in hand trying not to look like a tourist, but being in the inner city, the ‘Port of Delft’ was probably 4-5k to the west along the continuous docklands.
Rotterdam is quite an impressive place. It is the 2nd largest city in Holland to Amsterdam, but one of the largest ports in the world, and the largest in Europe. I was quite surprised as I came in yesterday along the Nieuwe Maas River (it is part of the Rhine/Meuse delta, the Rhine divides before Arnhem into two, and then divides again before Rotterdam). The view, once I emerged from the lovely forest on the northern edge of the city, was almost jaw-dropping. I gazed in amazement. The bridges that span the Nieuwe Maas from the city centre are large and beautiful.
The city’s population is about 650,000, but is almost 3mill if the near continuous urbanization to the nearby The Hague is included.
Settlement goes back to at least 900AD. It developed around the mouth of the stream called ‘rotta’ which basically meant ‘muddy water’. There was serious flooding in 1150 or so, which ultimately led to a dam near the mouth of the ‘rotta’ river, around which the development of a growing settlement was re-established, the settlement taking the name from the Dam. Due to the extensive waterways around Rotterdam, it soon became a central hub for shipping within Europe, England and the world. Its fate as a world shipping centre was sealed when it became the seat of operations of the Dutch East India Company.
I didn’t really know it when I came in on Monday, but I was tracking with the Rotte River, which was marked on my map as the ‘Rottedijk’. It makes a lot more sense to me now in retrospect.
Sadly, Rotterdam is without virtually any of its historical buildings thanks to the ‘Rotterdam Blitz’, the bombing blitz by the German Luftwaffe at the start of the German invasion of Holland in May 1940. The German military machine vastly underestimated the resilience of the vastly under-resourced Dutch military. Hitler ordered the bombing blitz of the treasured city in order to break the resistance of the Dutch. Photos show that nothing was left standing with the exception of the magnificent 15th century Cathedral, which took serious damage but has been beautifully restored today. Nothing much of the original medieval buildings in the city remain.
I enjoyed the morning adventure, making my way west to the Delft Port. It was historically built around the mouth of the waterway that runs up to the historic town of Delft, hence the name. It is an historic dockyard. Despite the lack of virtually any buildings that predate WW2, it is a port that has collected a museum of floating old ships that still appear to be used as floating accommodation. The sights of these gracious old boats were quite stunning. I enjoyed a cup of coffee in one of the very few original buildings from the 19th century, actually a tiny, quaint pub. At least it was warm inside.
Making my way back, I was also checking out the way out for tomorrow. I didn’t know until arriving yesterday, that the Stenaline Ferry Port is actually 30k to the west at the ‘Hoek de Holland’, at the mouth of the Nieuwe Meuse where it runs into the North Sea. The streets are very busy and very complicated. I am a ‘tad’ nervous about my exit tomorrow. I have a ferry to catch!
I gradually made my way back, enjoying the beautiful scenes in the small city park on the way. I headed for the Cathedral on the opposite side of the Easy Hotel which added an extra few kilometers to my daily walk. I was glad though to be on foot. It was quite enjoyable to stroll through the streets and the parks of the city.
The Cathedral was as beautiful as many that I have seen, although not the largest by a long way. I enjoyed the walk through, as well as the $2 cappuccino that was being sold by the women’s League set up inside the Cathedral. It was now early afternoon, and I decided to call it a day. I enjoyed sitting quietly in my warm room at the Easy Hotel, sorting out my maps, checking my route for tomorrow in detail, and catching up with my notes.
Tomorrow I leave the beautiful country of Holland. It has been two weeks exactly since my wet arrival in Arnhem. I will long remember Holland – the graciousness of the people, the beauty of the country, the complexity of the history and the ingenuity of the generations to develop such beauty and such practicality out of what was essentially a very wet, watery, marshy land many centuries ago.
The weather tomorrow morning will be cold, promising a minimum of Minus 2C. However, it is raining in England. I will be landing by ferry at Harwich at 8pm tomorrow night where it is currently raining which is expected to continue for the next 48 hours. That may not be too much fun!
From my lovely 3rd floor warm room at the Easy Hotel on the edge of the Nieuwe Maas River, part of the Rhine/Meuse river system, I send my love….the final time from the great country of Holland!
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