The Spido Rotterdam

As third on the list of most popular attractions of Rotterdam is the Spido. The standard  harbor tour takes 75 minutes, but there is much more to it if you want to! The Spido celebrates its 95^th birthday this year, and with that it’s one of the oldest attractions of the city!

From 1931 on the Spido was connected with the touristic Rotterdam. Back in the day there was an airport located in the Waalhaven, this attracted a lot of tourist. The Spido would take on the transport over water. In the war the airport got bombarded, but the Spido stayed. In those days the so called ‘volkvaren’ started up. The Spido took care of bringing employees to their work and would bring them back after.

From 1936 the harbor mail service started. This mail service took care of delivering mail to sailors who were on journey and had a stopover in Rotterdam. That was not the only thing they did for the sailors! They also functioned as a taxi company between the ships and the main land, but they also took care that the sailors were brought back to the ship in time.

As with everything, time changes, and in 2012 the Spido undertook an enormous reorganization that lead to the current Spido Rotterdam. Today this harbor touring doesn’t only include the regular tour, but they have multiple themed tours that are also customizable to the wishes of the customer. This gives way to the perfect business event, but also for the perfect family party or just a day out.

Next to the regular tours there are also day tours to the Tweede Maasvlakte and various fishing tours for saltwater fishing or freshwater fishing. These arrangements are a combination of the boat tour multiple stops at the main land.

If this doesn’t fit your idea of a nice day arrangement, you can also combine the tour with other attractions in Rotterdam, such as the SS Rotterdam. Or you can choose for a high tea arrangement, where the tour is combined with a luxurious high tea.

The Spido shows Rotterdam from a whole different point of view and makes it a memorable day every time again.

Would you like to live in Rotterdam? Check Domica Rotterdam for more information! 

The Euromast

The most populair attractions of Rotterdam are the Zoo Blijdorp (Click here and here for the blogposts on the Zoo), the Spido and the Euromast. Today I’ll tell more about the Euromast!

This beautiful tower has deep roots in the Rotterdam soil. Literally. With it's concrete foundation of 1.900.000 kg it stays stable. This is needed to place the center of gravity as low as possible. Especially since the walls are made of 30 centimeter concrete.

The tower was built because of the Floriade in 1960, a horticultural exhibition, that took place at the park. In that time, the tower was 101 meters tall, and with that it was the tallest building of the city. However, this position didn’t last too longe. With the city building more and more buildings they exceeded the length of the Euromast. In 1970 the tower was extended with the Spacetower, that made the tower another 85 meters higher, and with that gave back the title of tallest building of the city.

The crow’s nest hangs on the 100 meter, and took 5 days to be placed there. When the crow’s nest opened in 1960, two restaurants were located there. The first being De Rottiserie, a first-class restaurant, with silver cutlery and a luxurious ambiance. The second restaurant was the public restaurant that had an all-around view. On the bottom floor there was a café where you could order microwave meals, which was pretty special back then.

In 2004 the Euromast had gotten a bit outdated. There came one restaurant with an international menu and a renewed decoration. Nowadays you can also stay the night on a 100 height. And if that’s not enough, you can also abseil down!

Are you looking for a place near the Euromastpark? Check our website Domica Rotterdam for more information! 

Station Rotterdam Central

With a rapid increase of visitor the Central Station also becomes more important. The attractions Rotterdam has to offer has been visited about 1.5 million times in the first six months of 2014. To compare this with 2013 this is an increase of 3.1%. On the 14^th of March this year, the new station was finally opened by King Willem-Alexander. The aluminum point of the station is already called Station Kapsalon, referring to the Rotterdam Shoarma meal “de Kapsalon” (an aluminum dish with fries, shoarma, cheese, garlic sauce and lettuce).

 

Before the Second World War there wasn’t a Central Station. Rather, there were four different stations in and surrounding the center of the city. Finally, in 1954 there were plans made to build a central station. The architect Sybold van Ravesteyn (yes, this is the same Sybold van Ravesteyn who designed the Rotterdam Zoo) was appointed to design the station. On the 21^st of May 1957 Central Station Rotterdam was officially opened.

Unfortunately, the station didn’t last. Due to the junkies, and the increasing number of visitor, the old station had to go. There was a high demand for more space, since the calculated amount of daily visitors would be on 320.000 in 2025. Therefore they made plans for renewal in 2004, the rebuilt was planned to take 10 years.

During the rebuild, the old building had to be demolished. To artfully say goodbye to the old building the station letters “CENTRAAL STATION” were used to spell out “TRAAN LATEN” which translates into “To shed a tear”. The final closing of the station was on the 2^nd of September 2007. In between the time of the closing of the old station, and the opening of the new, there were bright blue temporary buildings that held a few stores for the travelers.

The new building, luckily, holds more luxury. The new hall is six times larger than the old one, and there are multiple stores that will provide a fine lunch or any groceries needed on the way. The only remains of the old station are the old letters and clock that are again displayed on the front of the station. From the new Central Station you can access the Trams, subway and the trains.

You’ll be surprised by the new ‘entrance’ of the city, it offers you all the luxury needed for your travels and at the same time gives you a wonderful impression of architecture that the city has to offer.

Would you like to live near the station? Check our website Domica Rotterdam for more information! 

The Blijdorp Zoo, part 2

Last Tuesday I wrote about the history of the park, but with about 1.6 million visitors a year the park is still thriving. Today we’ll see what you can do in the park!

From 1988 onwards the park has a ‘master plan’ in which they decided to reconstruct the park, and divide it into continents. By doing this they can place all the animals per continent where they originate from and make the residences as realistic as possible. Until today they’re building an adding to the park.

Oceanium

The Oceanium opened in 2001 and added 11 hectares to the whole park. The enormous aquarium offers a wide selection of different sea creatures. You can walk through a tunnel surrounded by water and sea life. No need of beautiful weather to visit the zoo anymore! With this large range of sea life you can stay indoors all day!

Extra fun for the kids!

The park put in extra effort in the playground (the Oewanja Kidsjungle). The parents can sit next to the playground enjoying a drink, while still keeping an eye on their little ones. This is not the only thing that the park has to offer to kids! They can play in the public lab, climb through the belly  of a whale, jump over floes, climb into a giant egg and much much more!

Birds, birds, birds!

The park has a huge amount of different birds. There are multiple aviaries. There is one for meadow and migration birds, of which is one part dedicated to the birds that also live in the Netherlands, and the other part is dedicated to the south-European birds. Next to that there is also a aviary with different types of vultures.

To make it even better, there is a daily show called the “free flight performance”, they trained more than 20 different species for this.

Amazonica

The last development of the park is the gigantic butterfly house, the Amazonica, which opened in 2013 (back then the largest butterfly house of Europe). As visitor you can walk freely between the beautiful plants while the most beautiful butterflies fly around you. In the middle of the butterfly house they built a basin where they house different types of reptiles and fish that also originate from the amazon.

So who’s visiting the zoo this weekend?

Would you like to live in Blijdorp Rotterdam? Take a look at our website, DomicaRotterdam, for more information.

 

The Blijdorp Zoo

A trip to the zoo is one of the nicest things to do with the whole family and The Blijdorp Zoo makes it an extra special day! The zoo is one of the first Dutch zoos, and thus, has an elaborate history.

The very beginning of the zoo can be traced back to 1855, when a garden for water birds and pheasants located at the Kruiskade opened. Due to its success it expanded into a zoo, the Rotterdamsche Zoo opened in 1857. Back in the day it was open for members of the association ‘Vereniging Rotterdamsche Diergaarde’, which were only the richer citizens.

Unfortunately there were some financial problems in the beginning in the 20^th century. That’s why the zoo decided to move, and for 1 gilder they bought 13 acers of land in the district Blijdorp in 1938. With the help of the Associantion Vokskracht they were able to build the new zoo and it opened for everybody.

In 1940 the zoo got hit by bombardments, two days before the large bombardment of the city. A few animals were killed, and a few were able to escape. According to popular stories a zebra escaped into the shopping streets and a couple of sea lions were swimming in the canals of the city.

The new zoo is designed by Sybold van Ravesteyn, he designed it in such manner that he used canals and walls instead of fences. The heated indoor spaces and the large outdoor spaces were phenomenal back then, and so was Blijdorp one of the first zoo’s using this system. Blijdorp Zoo is also one of the few zoo’s that are designed by one architect. It’s because of that that the zoo is proclaimed as national monument in 2004.

On the 9^th of December 1940 the zoo opened its new doors for the public.

Would you like to know what the zoo offers nowadays? Check our blog coming Thursday!

Would you like to live in Blijdorp Rotterdam? You can! Check Domica Rotterdam for more details!

Museumpark, part 3!

It's unbelievable how much the Museumpark has to offer us! Today we’ll describe the last two museums at the park!

De Kunsthal

Since 1992 the Kunsthal opened it’s door for the public. Since then there had many interesting expositions of different genres. They had old masters, forgotten cultures, fascinating pictures, innovative design and contemporary art. The interesting thing about this museum is that they have 3300m2 on exposition space, this gives them the opportunity to, at the same time, show different art movements. This is also the reason the Kunsthal attracts su

ch a wide public.

So what are the current expositions in the Kunsthal?

Rudolf Steiner, Alchemy of the Everyday

For the first time in The Netherlands, the Kunsthal presents an overview of the broad, encompassing work of Rudolf Steiner(1861-1925). Steiner was one of the 20th century's most significant and influential reformers, and his legacy is as relevant today as ever. Steiner served as a source of inspiration for some artistic giants including Piet Mondriaan, Wassily Kandinsky and Josef Beuys, and still does so for many contemporary artists and designers, such as Olafur Eliasson and Konstantin Grcic. The exhibition presents a rich and extensive collection of furniture, models and blackboard drawings, offering a fascinating insight into his life, work and sweeping intellectual legacy.

Design Art 115 years VIVID

15 years ago the gallery VIVID opened its doors, one of the first galleries on the border between design and art. The Kunsthal shows 15 Dutch (Rotterdam) and international artists and designers that have previously been sold in the gallery. Over the years the gallery has become much more than only that, it built a national and international meeting point and a platform for lively discussions about the border between design and art.

Definitely worth a visit!

Love & Marriage, Paul Breuker

As part of the national picture week with the theme ‘look my happiness’, the Kunsthal presents Love and Marriage by Paul Breuker. Paul has been a wedding photographer for the last twenty five years, and presents the most special moments of before and during the wedding ceremony. The exposition gives an overview of heartwarming pictures.

Natural historic Museum Rotterdam

The Natural historic Museum Rotterdam is the only of its kind in the region. Because of its special attention on nature and the history of nature of the region, but also the rest of the world, it’s especially fun to visit with the whole family! The museum is different from the rest of its kind because they have a dynamic collection, an active research department, and a different view on the every surprising nature.

Next to a the large standard collection, there are also changing expositions. Currently, till the 7^th of December 2014, there is the exposition Window victims. This expositions, of photographer Andre van Soest, shows multiple birds who fell victim of flying against windows. Part of this is also a picture of the famous ‘Trauma gull’. This gull flew against a trauma helicopter in October 2011, unfortunately the bird passed away, but the trauma helicopter as well had to make an emergency landing.

What has your favorite museum been so far?

Would you like to live in Rotterdam? Take a look at our website Domica Rotterdam!  

Museumpark, part 2

Last time I already wrote something about the museumpark and about the museum Boijmans van Beuningen, but what do all the other museums at this park have to offer?

Het Nederlands Architectuurinstituut

Het Nederlands Architectuurinstituut (the dutch architecture institute, also known as NAi) is not only a museum. It’s also an archive, a library and a cultural stage. Important archives and collections of Dutch architects after 1800 are saved and is open for public. The NAi is a part of het nieuwe instituut (the new institute).

This is a fun place to meet and the perfect place to have discussions. Next to that the institute offers fun an playful workshops for all ages. There have been workshops where kids could learn to build miniature houseboats, and workshops where they could learn to produce their own advertising in the digital play-ground and much more!

The Chabot Museum

The white villa is where the Chabot Museum is located in. This villa is designed in 1938 by the architect G.W. Baas, an employee of the architect office Brinkman en van der Vught, a name that is connected with some of the most well-known buildings in Rotterdam. Such as: the van Nelle-fabriek, the Feijenoord stadium and the other museum park villa’s Sonneveld and Bouvé.

The museum itself is located in the villa from 1993 onwards. The collection consists of multiple works of Hendrik Chabot, but also has changing expositions next to the standard works. From 12 October on is the museum opened again with a whole new exposition! Ultramodern works – New sounds from the city. This will be the first time that some of the paintings will be available for the public eye. The exposition will be about the De Branding (1917 – 1926), a Rotterdam artists federation.

Villa Sonneveld

The second museum house Villa Sonneveld is one of the best preserved houses in the style of het Nieuwe Bouwen. The villa is designed in the 1930’s commissioned by Albertus Sonneveld, one of the three directors of the Van Nelle factory. Instead of moving their old furniture with them, they had all their new furniture designed to fit the new modern way of living.

All of this used to be super modern in 1933, and can still be seen today. To change it up a bit the artworks change every now and then to complement the interior, so it’s different with every visit!

Would you like to where you can live in Rotterdam? Take a look at our website Domica Rotterdam for more information!

Curious to the other museums at the park? Check our blog next Thursday for part 3!