After our visit to Hamburg and a sea day we arrived in Rotterdam for our two day stay.
Day 5: Wednesday 13th December 2024: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Iona had travelled up the river to near the Rotterdam building without waking us up. But a loud police siren prompted me to get up and go out onto the balcony. As I watched Iona was slowly reversing towards the dock in front of the Erasmus Bridge. Once the docking procedures were over, we had announcements that passengers could now leave the ship and it was only 6:30 am!
Breakfast for us was again in the now quiet buffet upstairs.
It was after 10 am when we finally decided to leave the ship and head over the bridge into Rotterdam.
Once over the bridge we crossed and went through the Maritime Museum onto Blaack. Our plan was to go up towards the market hall and then onto the Cube Houses.
Along the way we were surprised to see a large cofferdam on the canal below us and signs promising that a surf centre would be opening shortly. The market hall was not very busy as we walked through. Once over the bridge we crossed and went through the Maritime Museum onto Blaack. Our plan was to go up towards the market hall and then onto the Cube Houses.
Rotterdam’s Cube Houses
On our early visits to Rotterdam we had walked past the Cube Houses but this visit we had decided to go and see inside. At the top of the wide steps we were surrounded by the Cube Houses. We followed the signs and climbed the stairs to the Cube House museum and paid a small fee to go in and explore.
Shopping?
After the Cube Houses, it was time for a little Christmas shopping. We headed back towards the river looking for HEMA in the pedestrian precinct. Past the store entrance we stopped for a coffee (and a donut) at the small Dunkin’ Donuts there.
Opposite was a picture on the wall of people walking. Outside of Dunkin’ Donuts I took the opportunity to try and capture juxtaposition images as people passed.
HEMA’s Christmas shop was depleted compared to our early visits. From a very small collection of wooden nutcrackers I chose one to add to our collection.
The White House
From the precinct, we followed the street map, to find the “White House“. This was another Rotterdam landmark that we had yet to visit. As we walked towards the canal by the White House, we could see the Cube Houses very close by.
The small canal basin was full of historical barges. Next to them on the key were notices that gave a short potted history of their working life, followed by how the barge had been rescued.
We could hear music drifting over the canal and we had a surprise as we could see a floating hot tub coming into the basin. The occupants of the hot tub must’ve been warmer than us as they were dressed only in their swimming costumes.
Crossing back across the river
From the White House, we walked to the nearest bridge and then over the river to head back to Iona dock near The Rotterdam building.
On the transporter bridge we watched a man inch his way over the river on cables stretched between the towers.
As we walked closer , we could see a small group of men waiting to cross too. Next to the tower where army trucks.
This is a different way of reaching the ship via bridges over the river onto an island and then over another bridge.
Memorial
Walking along the path by the river we came to a memorial for the Jewish children taken by the Nazis in the Second World War to extermination camps.
Yet another reminder of the sad history of Rotterdam.
Back on board Iona
Once back on board, we had a late lunch in the Olive Grove.
SPARK in the Skydome
After our evening meal we went first to the Skydome.
At 9 pm we were in the Skydome to see the (new to us) show called SPARK. This was all about the starship Nexus and solar storms…
We had to hold our breath quite a few times during this spectacular performance. This show was much closer to the Cirque du Soleil shows in its “moments”.
710 Club – On the rocks
We were on the wait list for the performance. When we made it into the lounge we didn’t have a great view of the corner that the musicians were in BUT their performance was excellent.
Our plan for the second day in Rotterdam was to goto the Christmas Market in The Hague.
Leave a Reply