Rotterdam and around

Here are some images of around where I live.
If you feel like coming over to have a look for yourself, please let me know.

Rotterdam is has a reputation of being a city of workers. Here is a picture of a small part of the port looking at the 'Noordereiland' an island in the river 'Nieuwe Maas' near the centre of the city. On this picture they are still working on the railway tunnel, thus the bridge in the background (de Hef) is still being used for rail traffic there.

All of the city centre has been bombarded in 1940. That makes this monument by the sculpture Zadkine a symbol for the city: the heart of the man is torn out. The man here seems to really suffer from this, and of course the lacking of an old city centre is a big loss for the city, however since Rotterdammer like building so much they also seem to relish in the rebuilding which has been going on for over half a century now.

Here is the other famous monument, the one for Desiderius Erasmus. For in case you have no idea of who that is, I'll shortly quote the Encyclopeadia Brittannica for that: "Born in Rotterdam in 1469, Desiderius Erasmus was the greatest European scholar of the 16th century. Using the philological methods pioneered by Italian humanists, he helped lay the groundwork for the historical-critical study of the past, especially in his studies of the Greek New Testament and the Church Fathers. His educational writings contributed to the replacement of the older scholastic curriculum by the new humanist emphasis on the classics. By criticizing ecclesiastical abuses, while pointing to a better age in the distant past, he encouraged the growing urge for reform, which found expression both in the Protestant Reformation and in the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Finally, his independent stance in an age of fierce confessional controversy--rejecting both Luther's doctrine of predestination and the powers that were claimed for the papacy--made him a target of suspicion for loyal partisans on both sides and a beacon for those who valued liberty more than orthodoxy."
This encyclopeadia does not mention his being gay. Of course this is not a well established fact; can you attribute 'gay' to someone in the around 1500? But it is quite clear from his writing that he was very fond of some guys.
The university where I am working is named after him, and also recently a new bridge over the Maas.

This and the next picture are from the Summer Carneval which is held at the end of July. It is a tradition brought over by immigrants from around the Caribbean. That's why the timing is switched from February to July when the weather is a bit more similar to in the Caribbean. I love to watch the parade from which here are only two individuals, but it goes on file hours also with largers groups and floats.

This and the next picture are from the City Hall. It is one of the few buildings which survived the bombardement of 1940, it is built in 1918 and some of the original interior has been well preserved.

This is inside the postoffice which is next to the City Hall, one of the other few buildings of beofer the war in the city centre.

Being the largest port is being celebrated in September by the 'Wereldhavendagen'. It gives a show of what goes on in the port, but there are also some things to see which are not part of the dayly business such as this sailing boat. It is in front of one of the two ventilator buildings of the tunnel under the Maas. The tunnel is of around 1940 by which time the apparently did not know very well how much ventilation was necessary. There 8 huge ventilators inside, while I hear that they never use more than one. That's why this building appears so huge.

Rotterdam is a commercial port and usually does not have ships from the navy around. But commerical ships are usually too busy for taking part in this show, while the navy is hardly ever really at work, luckily. People do like watching the craft of war...

... and after all, you are never too young to learn how to destroy and to kill.

Also the more civil kind of demolition is rather popular in Rotterdam. Building being the first in popularity, combined with the fact that the city has only a limited size, there is often need for demolition. This was very close to my house, and I can assure you this is a quite noisy hobby.

This is the City Hall of Vlaardingen, some 10 kms West of Rotterdam. It is also the place where I was born.

This is inside the grain windmill of Vlaarding where I buy my wheat meal for my dayly bread.

Delft is also very close to Rotterdam. Here is a view over a canal on the 'Oude Kerk' (Old Church), this in contrast to the new one which is only from the 15th century.

In between Delft and Rotterdam there is some fairly quiet countryside where I like to go for bicycling. It is a very peaty soil wich sometimes lets building seriously tilt from their original position.

I heard this lock was in use until around 1960 after which trucks definately took over the transportation of horticulture products which were traditionally taken by small ships.

Overshie if part of the municipality of Rotterdam but used to be a town on its own.

The Rottemeren are also at bicycling distance from where I live.