“Every time I blink while walking through Rotterdam, another bizarre modernist structure flares in front of my eyes.” – Old Sean
Visiting Rotterdam Recollections
After a brief evening and morning in the Hague, I caught a train heading inland. I planned on visiting Rotterdam.
I’m fond of Rotterdam. Years ago, I accidently arrived in the city after illegally hopping onto a train and regressively purchasing a ticket. At the time, I was supposed to meet my Russian friend on a train platform in Amsterdam. He was helping me out by delivering money my father had sent from the United States. However, when my friend accidently slept through the stop, I was forced to hop onto the train and nudge him awake.
I hopped off the train at the next available stop, which happened to be Rotterdam. Now, I’ve made a full loop around the planet to visit the city once more.
An Intro to Visiting Rotterdam
The city planner for modern Rotterdam was likely a quirky individual and the buildings and bridges seem to reflect that well. Odd architecture abounds, old sailing ships lounge in the numerous bays, the beer is good and the public artwork is perplexing.
That being said, I generally enjoy Rotterdam’s ambiance more than I enjoy its culture.
While the city is fun, the majority of activities circle around nightlife and outdoor, admittedly delicious snack zones. It’s a wonderful city for visiting bars, clubs and outdoor walking avenues as well as art galleries.
However, I don’t spend much time in clubs and I don’t like drinking on my own frequently. I didn’t find any fellow travelers I clicked with at my hostel, and went exploring on my own instead.
That being said, my hostel was excellent. The King Kong Hostel is objectively awesome with ladders, monkey bars and climbing ropes in the lobby and various rooms.
A Walk Around Rotterdam
The rest of my time in Rotterdam was spent walking about. The architecture is so enjoyable, it’s a good way to spend a day.
I wandered along the canals, past Old Harbor, through various parks and gardens, rested in cafes and crossed every bridge I spotted. I made sure to visit as many museums as possible, my favorite being The Chessmen Museum (Schaakstukkenmuseum). The small museum is filled with antique, modern, hand-carved and pop-culture chess pieces.
I spend additional time walking past Rotterdamn’s strange Cube Houses which look downright bizarre. Slanted, interspaced cubes lean down at impossible, almost-dangerous angles from upper roofs. Odd architecture is a prominent theme in the city.
I then swung through Markthal (Market Hall) which is an huge, open-aired arched-arcade and shopping center extending backwards in a trippy, rounded tunnel. I didn’t even window-shop. Most of my time was spent craning my head back, watching odd colors dance past.
During my walk, I also briefly passed The Witte Huis, a beautiful, Art-Nouveau-styled, stately building which predates the WWII blitzkrieg. I wanted to head inside but there was a small line already curving out from the door, so I decided to pass the area by.
A Tangent Against Scooters
The rest of my time was spent walking up and down Rotterdam’s gorgeous and surprisingly colorful canal system, occasionally ducking into manicured parks with spiraling hedges.
The only major detraction I have against Rotterdam is the same issue I have with urban Vietnam or central Taiwan.
I detest scooter hordes.
I always dislike scooters as a rule. During university, I hung around motorcyclists and developed a passive, dismissive dislike for the tiny, barely-road-worthy machines.
However, after dealing with scooters in China, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands and a half dozen other places, my passive dislike evolved into full loathing.
I honestly believe scooters are gory-damn atrocious machines.
Scooters can’t go fast enough to match vehicular traffic, so they clog up roadways. Except when they buzz through traffic-jammed lanes like time-robbed hell-fiends.
High whining engines are always too quiet to hear until they’re nearly clipping your rearview mirrors.
Don’t want to ride on proper roads? Then zoom all over the place, honking obnoxiously at bikers and ripping past them in utter impatience.
Can’t get past those slow peddlers? Well, just hop up on the sidewalk and terrorize daydreaming walkers.
In short, scooters are a versatile machine specifically designed to wreak havoc on virtually every other mode of transportation. It’s fortunate they can’t fly, or jet liners would start mounting machine guns to stop them from inhibiting air traffic.
I apologize for the tangent. But not for the sentiment.
There are a lot of scooters here and I’ve nearly been hit thrice.
Departing Rotterdam
That sums up my time in the Netherlands. I’m writing this while seated aboard a train clattering into Belgium.
After a pair of false starts expertly applied by hopping onto the wrong train, I’m on route to Antwerp. The city’s founding mythology includes a story where a dwarf chopped off a giant’s hand and threw it into a river.
I love city origin legends. Especially in Europe. It seems like they were designed oddly for maximum impressionability and vitality.
Until then,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written June 14th
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Brite Lightingtech Universal Adapter
The Brite Lightingtech Universal Adapter has been with me since the beginning. It was my first purchase when I was nineteen, charging my devices in dozens of countries. The Adapter served me during my time visiting Rotterdam and other places in Europe. I’ve only needed to replace the adapter once after a decade of use.
