Ascension Day/Rotterdam’s Remembrance day

Tomorrow is another day filled with events! Read on for an overview on what to do tomorrow!

The Official Program of Rotterdam’s Remembrance day:

14^th of May, next to being ascension day, is the official remembrance day of the bombardment of 1940, during the second world war. This year marks the 75^th year, enough reason for an extensive program!

Statenweg / 10.00 – 10.30: The program starts at the monument at the Statenweg, near number 147. This is the remembrance of the ultimatum given to the city. Major A. Aboutaleb will start of the day.

Laurenskerk Rotterdam/ 12.00 – 12.45: Remembrance, followed by a walk to Plein 1940

Plein 1940 / 13:00: Remembrance of the bombardment at the monument ‘The Destroyed City’ by Ossip Zadkine.

13:29-13:39 : All (church)bells will ring within the fire limit as remembrance of the duration of the bombardment.

Onderzeebootloods Heijplaat / 14.00 – 17.00: Exposition ‘The Attack’ about the may days in 1940, start of WO II.

Laurenskerk Rotterdam / 14.30 – 15.30: free entrance to the performance ‘l’Histoire du Soldat’ of Igor Stravinsky.

Hal Rotterdamse Schouwburg / 15.00 – 16.00: official handing over of the book ‘Rotterdam and the bombardment – 75 years of memories and forgotten memories’.

Museum Rotterdam ’40-45 NOW Coolhaven/ 16.30 17.30: presentation of the neon-artwork by Dick Rutten.

Binnenrotte, behind Laurenskerk / 21.00 – 24.00: fire limit run. A run following the 12 km fire limit.

Food Truck Festival

Unfortunately, the speeches of remembrance day will be held in Dutch. However, there are still enough other things to do where the language barrier won’t be an issue! One of these instances is the Food Truck Festival Trek. This Festival will take place in Rotterdam from the 14^th of May till the 17^th, after which it travels to Utrecht, Maastrich, Enschede, Nijmegen, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Amsterdam and Den Haag!

The Food Truck Festival is a free festival, paradise to all foodies. This ‘gezellige’ festival offers a wide variety of food, from sushi to sate. Not yet hungry? Don’t worry! The Festival is completed with music, live acts, shows and an overall good atmosphere!

The Food Truck Festival takes place at Vroesenpark and is open on Thursday and Friday from 14.00 – 23.00; on Saturday from 12.00 – 23.00; and on Sunday from 12.00 – 22.00.

Shopping

Do you want to do some shopping on your day off? Most stores in the city center are open from 12.00 onwards!

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

A few facts about Rotterdam

Did you know the following about our city?

• ·         Rotterdam is the second largest city of the Netherlands with more than 600.000 inhabitants
• ·         1/3^rd of the city is actually water
• ·         And had a total surface of 325.79 km2
• ·         It’s not surprising that the harbor of Rotterdam the largest is of Europe
• ·         And number 8 of the world!
• ·         The harbor extends 40 km from the city to the North sea
• ·         The city holds 170 different nationalities
• ·         And more than 700 restaurants
• ·         The city has two spots on the Dutch Monopoly (Blaak and Coolsingel)
• ·         The city motto is: stronger by action (or stronger by struggle)
• ·         This refers to the bombardment of the city on the 14^th of May 1940
• ·         The city slogan is: Rotterdam works
• ·         The city holds the 4 tallest buildings of the country
• ·         These are: The Maastoren(165m); New Orleans(158m); the Delftse Poort(151m); and The Rotterdam (149m)
• ·         The last one also the biggest building of the country with its 160.000 m2
• ·         The most popular attraction of the city is the Blijdorp zoo
• ·         The city also has a lot of ‘firsts’
• ·         Such as the first car free shopping street of Europe, the Lijnbaan
• ·         Or the first subway of the country

Interesting, isn’t it?

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

Christmas in Rotterdam

Christmas Circus Ahoy

For the past 44 years there has been a Christmas circus in Ahoy. This year isn’t any different! There will be a beautiful show with lots of humor, sensation and surprises. As the largest and oldest Christmas circus of the Netherland, they have of course quite a track record. This year promises a very special show. The circus presents you  the very best circus acts of the whole world.

Christmas City Walk

From 20 to the 24^th of December there is a daily (and free) Christmas walk with the Rotterdam guide Eveline van Wanrooij. The walk takes you to the most beautiful and fun places that Rotterdam in Christmas has to offer.

Every day the city walk stats at 15.30 and on the 24^th at 14.30. You can reserve yourself a spot at Rotterdam Info.

Christmas Market

From the 6^th of December till the 4^th of January there is a cozy Christmas market on the Lijnbaan and Binnenwegplein. Here you can enjoy some tasty Christmas treats, or buy some last moment Christmas gifts. It’s a Christmas market that lives and breathes Christmas!

Ice Skating

There is nothing more Dutch than ice skating! That’s also why there are a few skating rinks in the city. And the best? These are also open during Christmas!

The first skating rink is located in Rotterdam Kralingen, at the hockey club Leonidas. They have a 400-meter track and a 800m2 fun track. For only 5 euro’s entrance fee you can skate all day! They are also opened with Christmas, but mind the different closing times!

At Plaswijckpark (Rotterdam- Schiebroek) they have a whole winter wonderland set up. You can either go ice skating at the 100 m2 skating rink, or enjoy one of the many Christmas themed adventures that the park has to offer. For €11.20 p.p. you can have a day fill with winter fun!

Would you love to live in Rotterdam? Check Domica Rotterdam!

The city by bike

 

Going for a walk is obviously a healthy and fun way to explore the city. The internet and the tourist office of Rotterdam will be able to supply you with all the needed walking routes possible…. But, what’s more Dutch than to go for a bicycle ride?

Rotterdam has a lot of attractions spread out on a large surface, that’s why it’s almost impossible to see them all by foot. Cycling makes it much easier. There are multiple options to spend your day by bike.

1.       Internet/VVV

You can go to the tourist information office, or just look up a route on the internet. You can pick just a route through the center of the city that takes you by all the top attractions, or when you’re less in the mood for the urban ride, you can also go for one of the nature routes.

With the help of Fietsen in Regio Rotterdam you can even build your own route! All you have to do is choose what you want to see during your trip, and the websitedoes the rest!

2.       Cycling route with guide

Naturally, there are also bycicle tours which include a guide! These arrangements are available from 2 hours to a whole day program. Again, you can choose exactly what you want: Do you want to see the inner city? The Old and new buildings of the city? Or are you more interested in the harbors of Rotterdam? The day arrangements are provided with lunch, coffee and a drink at multiple popular places of the city.

Naturally, you can also rent a bike! Look for more information on Rotterdambycycle.

3.       Dinnertour by bike

We wouldn’t be Dutch if we didn’t use the bicycle for everything! We cycle to that one dinner, or to the other bar we are supposed to meet with friends. Now you can also enjoy a 3-course meal at 3 different locations! All you have to do is cycle to the other location in between. You can do this with a guide, who in the meantime tells you some nice facts about the city.

Or you can divide your company in teams and race each other to the next restaurant.

There are so many fun things you can do by bike to explore Rotterdam even further! Did you already think of a pub-crawl by bike? Or maybe even a treasure hunt? The possibilities are endless!

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

The fire limits

That Rotterdam has a seemingly short history is already clear when taken a look at the overpowering modern architecture of the city. However, our city has its roots in the 13^th century. The modern history can be lead back to 1850, when the harbors went through an exponential growth, which was followed by the rest of the city.

In the time the city prepared itself for its 600^th birthday, in 1940, the German bombardments hit the whole center of the city. The fire that came from the bombardment took 4 days to put out and left an almost empty landscape. More than 24.000 houses were destroyed. About 800 people died and 80.000 people became homeless.

The plans for a reconstructions were soon made, but the work only really began properly after the war. The city got the image of a ‘working city’ and developed itself as model for modernity.

The fire limits (De Brandgrens) indicates where the German bombardment had its destroying effect. The city council decided in 2006 to permanently mark the fire limits, to create a place for memorial and to help to tell the history of the city.

In 2010 this project was finally completed. The marking consist of lights in the pavement that light up red at night. The lights are decorated with a burning Rotterdam, a German bomber and the sculpture The Destroyed City by Ossip Zadkine.

Connected with the fire line is an audio tour, that unfortunately is currently only offered in Dutch. However, the route still provides a lovely overview of the city with its modern as well as historic buildings. Would you love to follow this lovely city walk this weekend? Take a look at Brandgrens for the map!

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

Shopping in Rotterdam and the Koopgoot

The perfect place to go shopping in Rotterdam is definitely the Beurtraverse, or as called by the Dutch: de Koopgoot, which translates into the not so flattering name: “The Shopping Gutter”. The traverse, built in 1991 till 1996, underpasses Rotterdam’s most expensive street the Coolsingel.

The Beginning

The traverse used to be a subway station (the Beurs) and a walking passage, to reduce the amount of people crossing the Coolsingel and improve the traffic. Unfortunately not many people choose this way, so they made plans to expand the Rotterdam gutter into a shopping mall.

And now?

The ‘underground’ shopping mall connects two of the busiest shopping streets of the city: the Hoogstraat and the Lijnbaan. You can enter ‘the gutter’ by either side via the stairs. Midway there is an escalator, but you can also enter one of the large shopping malls such as H&M or the Bijenkorf and exit on the bottom floor. Usually the smaller stores only have a shopping area on the ground floor, this way you can continue shopping without the hassle of the busy traffic at the Coolsingel.

In the summer, childrend can have fun refreshment due to the ‘running’ water fountains that emerge from the ground at the Koopgoot. As far as public transport goes, the subway station is still located in the middle of the gutter, but there are also tramstops at the Lijnbaan side.

The Perfect Shopping Route?

From the Lijnbaan you can enter the Koopgoot, walk the Hoogstraat and end for a drink at the new Markthal! Would you like to have some more exclusive shops? You can better start at the Markthal and make your way to the Van Oldenbarneveltstraat. This street is also near the Koopgoot, but offers a wide selection of luxurious and exclusive shops and restaurants. This is doesn’t mean you can’t go there with a smaller budget; the Oldenbarneveltstraat is very divers in its shops.

Would you like to live near the Koopgoot? Check out Domica Rotterdam for more information! 

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! 

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.