We took the bus from near Delfshaven and made our way in fairly short order towards Binnenrotte Square in Rotterdam. It might not be a name that instantly sparks any sign of recognition but when people visit Rotterdam – and particularly when almost everyone we know who cruises visits Rotterdam – they will invariably head for this part of the city as it’s the area that hosts the Cube Houses and the food market. We weren’t there for either, as it turns out, but because we fancied something to eat and drink and had spotted a craft ale bar in the vicinity on the map.
As we headed towards the bar we had time to appreciate a few of the architectural and artistic sights in the square, and Rotterdam is certainly not slouching when it comes to interesting architecture and public art.
First up was the somewhat chaotic-looking sculpture called Ode To Marten Toonder. Toonder was a cartoonist, sometimes referred to as the Dutch Disney, and I’ve decided not to investigate and see whether that stretches to some of his political leanings and will just assume that it’s because his work became rather ubiquitous nationally at the time of production.
The sculpture was erected on the occasion of Toonder’s ninetieth birthday and features some of his cartoon character creations. For weary visitors to Binnenrotte Square it also incorporates some benches.
Rotterdam did not come out of World War II unscathed – that’s an understatement – and the explosion (apt word) of new buildings in the post-war years make the city a feast for the eyes if you’re a fan of modern architecture. Like me.
Dutch architect Piet Blom has left his mark on this part of Rotterdam. First up is the Blaaktoren apartment block, colloquially known as The Pencil for obvious reasons. The windows that resemble sunglasses are just gorgeous.
A more famous and popular example of Blom’s architectural design is the set of Cube Houses. Everyone takes photos of the Cube Houses. You can visit one inside and we still haven’t done that yet but I imagine we’ll be back to Rotterdam one day and will get around to it.
Jaap Bakema and Hans Boot are responsible for the design of the Central Library building and it’s impossible not to see influence from the Pompidou Centre in France.
And, of course, there is the more recent addition to Binnenrotte Square and magnet for tourists, the Markthal, or market hall, where all kinds of food and drink can be consumed on site or picked up to return home (although check what you’re allowed to bring back to your country; the UK’s had some dairy-related restrictions recently, for instance, that could lead to you facing hefty fines if you breach them).
We would finally visit the Markthal in the morning – and you can read about that in the next post – but for now here are some photos from our stop in Bokaal, a craft ale bar also serving food, a couple of minutes away from Binnenrotte Square.
First, the good points about Bokaal. We tried a decent array of beers, ciders, and even wine, while also grabbing some snacks as part of Operation Semi-Sensible. The bar was a great size inside and had plenty of seating outside too, and it seemed pretty popular as the sky darkened into the evening.
However, I have to mention the toilets and the Dutch attitude (in this particular location) towards hygiene. The toilets, accessed down a set of stairs, were foul. Graffiti, stains, broken flush panels, no lock on one of the doors. Then there were the taps and trough for hand-washing which I was the only man to use on several visits over the course of the evening. My wife reported a similar story from the women’s toilet, noticing other women simply walking out of the loo without washing their hands. This didn’t leave us with the best lasting impression of the bar or the local inhabitants (or possibly visitors), which is a shame because the food and drinks and location were otherwise great.
Ben Zegers is the artist responsible for the sculptural pieces that comprise Everyone Is Dead But Us, one of them shown in the photo below as we headed back to the ship for the night.
We passed back through Binnenrotte Square and it was nice to see the Marthal in particular lit up at night with the colourful interior of its arched construction very evident.
We could have walked back to the ship over the Erasmus Bridge but our Tourist Day Tickets were still valid and so we took the lazy option and caught the Metro for one stop instead. This then gave us more views of Rotterdam’s buildings at night from the south side of the river and the bridge looked spectacular with the floodlights shining up its support struts and casting an ethereal glow.
Back on board Aurora we treated ourselves to a cocktail in Anderson’s as it was quiet enough to find a seat, then headed to bed, keen to get up early and get out in the morning before our early afternoon sail away from Rotterdam.
In the next and final post in this Aurora cruise travelogue series we’ll make a flying visit to Markthal to finally see what it’s all about, then it’s a daytime sail along the Nieuwe Maas out to sea and some concluding thoughts about the cruise as a whole and Aurora in particular.