After Kinderdijk we drove down the road and into Rotterdam. Rotterdam is a large city - larger than we even expected. It was completely bombed during the war but instead of rebuilding quickly, city planners took their time and really thought out their renewed city. Therefore Rotterdam has a very modern feel to it. Just check out the ruins of the city in this shot after the bombs hit. War is so utterly devastating. I often wonder what Europe would be like today if the time and money spent rebuilding was put into moving forward instead of recreating.
Rotterdam today. Modern bridges and sculptures abound!
You can just imagine how enchanting these flowers were to a two year old!
This sculpture along the harbor looks like a twisted Rubix Cube to me!
Even though Rotterdam certainly felt modern it still had the distinctively "
Holland" feel. Bikes, bridges, and this Dutch style of architecture right along the water. The Rotterdam port is the largest in all of Europe!
More very modern architecture. I bet it is fun to work in the building with the crooked windows and the long red stripes!
These cube buildings look like they are blooming right off their stalks way up in the sky. Hard to believe people can really live inside as they seem more like dizzying funhouses than legitimate, adult homes.
The Annual North Sea Jazz Festival was in full swing when we were in Rotterdam. James Taylor was even playing! It took will power, but we resisted the urge to go - as the tickets were quite expensive. We also had intentions of taking a harbor cruise, but we were wilting a bit so we opted for home. Both would have been fun, but somehow just getting back to our apartment proved a powerful pull. On the way out of town we did find the Pilgrim Fathers Church nearby where the Pilgrims went to pray before boarding the
Speedwell in their quest for the New World. Too bad the
Speedwell was said to be leaky and had to turn back leaving its sister ship,
The Mayflower, to have all the glory!
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