It was a gorgeous day here in Rotterdam, with the day temperature reaching 17°C/ 62°F. Here is a selection of sights from today.
This bike path & foot path is next to Het Park (‘The Park’), on the way to the Euromast.Euromast is an observation tower (185 m/ 606 ft), built for the 1960 Floriade (an international exhibition). The tower is a concrete structure. It was built on a concrete block weighing some 2,000 metric tons, so that the center of gravity is below ground.Here’s a view of the Erasmus Bridge (139 m/456 ft high, 802 m/ 0.5 mi long), from the panorama platform at 85 m (278 ft), drawn a little closer with my camera’s zoom lens. The bridge is a combined cable-stayed and bascule bridge over the Niewe Maas river. The bridge was named after Desiderius Erasmus, a prominent Christian Renaissance humanist. It opened in 1996.Another view from the panorama platform. Look for the flat barge with the blue containers. It first entered the lock at the top (middle right of the picture), then water was pumped in to raise the barge by some 6 ft, and right now it is making its way under the second drawn bridge, into the canal.This Egyptian goose (‘Kolgans’) is native to Southern Africa, but I guess one finds them in many other places in the world, as well. This is at a little lake in Het Park (‘The Park).This eye-catching apartment building is close to Eendrachtsplein. I still have to look up its name and construction date.This is the Metro train at Beurs station, a suburban train that runs to the outer suburbs of Rotterdam. It took me to Leuvehaven by the waters of the Niewe Maas river.Here’s the Rotterdam Water Taxi, coming to pick up a couple at a stop on a canal close to Leuvenhaven station. The Niewe Maas river is on the other side of the buildings.I started at the Erasmus Bridge (seen earlier from the Euromast), and then walked to the red Willemsbrug (Willem’s Bridge, named after named after King Willem III of the Netherlands, and of course, after ME too). Opened: 1981 | Height: 65 m 213 ft | Length: 318 m / 0.2 mi.The gorgeous Witte Huis (‘White House’) is near Willemsbrug. It was built in 1898 in the art nouveau style, and was for long the tallest office building in Europe (the first ‘hoogbouw’ = tall build, at the time, with 10 floors).This is the little Spanjaardsbrug (‘Spanish Bridge’) in the Oude Haven (‘Old Harbor’). The bridge was built in 1886, and I just love the art elements of the Victorian age, that went into it.The crazy Cube houses at the Oude Haven is a set of innovative houses designed by architect Piet Blom. Yes, there are actually people living in them, and the design’s main purpose is said to optimize the space inside (hmm, OK). I was surprised to find out they had been built in 1977, already.The Markthal (Market Hall) nearby, is a new residential and office building (2014) with a market hall underneath.Beautiful and enormous mural artwork inside theMarkthal. This depiction of a caterpillar might just be the largest in the world... and finally, Willem says: Come to Willemswerf (Willem’s Yard) to park your car in Rotterdam!
