Day 7 "The Rotterdam'ing"

We woke up after a lovely evening out in The Hague and decided to re-visit the Peace Palace and the eternal peace flame in the day time. It was just as beautiful! After that, we decided to walk around in The Hague to see the sights. We were not disappointed!

We found our way to the Noordeinde Palace, the working residence of the Dutch Monarch, King Willem Alexander. The Netherlands is a Constitutional Monarchy with a parliament and three other bodies of equal standing. The Monarch is a member of the government (Cabinet of Ministers) and is legally obligated to be in agreement (publicly) with them. There are means by which the Monarch may pull the strings a bit in his/her own favor, should he/she be of differing opinion, but he/she speaks for the government of the Netherlands and must present a unified message of the government to the people and to the world.

The palace is lovely! A gate surrounds the compound with the gilded crest of the Royal Family. Behind the palace are the Royal Gardens, which are accessible to the public. The Politie (Federal Police) maintain a presence around the palace, and I'm sure they have an eye on folks wandering the gardens. 

The gardens are also amazingly beautiful. They contain monuments, sculptures, and a playground for children as well as rows and rows of beautiful flowers. If you know Jessi, you know that she's known to take a picture of a flower or two....or 5000. She loves flowers, so this was perfect for her! She thoroughly enjoyed wandering the garden. Near the garden across a pond are the Royal Stables, which still house the King's royal horses. The yard behind the stables is full of hay and there are stalls partially visible from the back. Unfortunately no horses were out today. We wandered the streets a bit and headed back to the hotel to jump on the bikes. We wanted to get a head start on Rotterdam, so we geared up and headed off.

The path out of The Hague took us through the city of Delft. You may recognize the name from the very famous blue and white pottery. It was EVERYWHERE in every store for tourists. It made it kind of UN-attractive. Yesterday, we spoke to a man on "The Space Train" at ESA, who told us that no one really uses the stuff anymore except in Amsterdam. It's a tourist thing. 

The city square is breathtaking, with a huge cathedral on one side and the old town hall on the other. Both structures are incredibly ornate and very old. Shops line the square, offering everything you could possible want for food/bobbles. We stopped in at a coffee shop for a lovely drink. Jessi found a chocolate cannoli, and I found a waffle with strawberries and cream on top. Ohhhhhh yeah! :-)

Rested and re-fueled we jumped back on the bikes and made for Rotterdam, riding through the square and out of Delft on the opposite side. We arrived in Rotterdam and checked into our hotel. Our hotel for the night is the H2Otel. It's a hotel on a boat! We have a cabin room downstairs in the boat hull, which includes a restaurant and bar with dock seating. 

We dropped our bags and quickly headed out into the city to explore. Jessi wanted a bite to eat and I knew JUST the place, the Markthal. The Markthal is an indoor market, which has a curious architecture. It resembles a large thick airport hanger. Along the outside of the hall are living spaces, and on the inside is the market. It is HUGE! The inside walls and ceiling are also quite a sight to behold. The walls and ceiling are painted with images that depict the types of foods and goods you could purchase at a market. It's known as Rotterdam's Sistine Chapel. Across from the market is the Blaak metro station, lovingly referred to by locals as "the manhole cover" for it's shape and design. It was made to resemble a UFO, but the residents of Rotterdam have a different interpretation. WE also found the nearby Sint Laurenskerk, which is the only medieval structure in Rotterdam. It was hit hard during the war, but it still stands and acts as a protestant church for a local congregation. More than that, the church is also used and rented for community functions and business meetings/conferences. We've seen this across the Netherlands as we travel, and I find it so incredibly interesting how the dutch use and re-use these spaces for more than one purpose. The concept of a church does not exist solely as a religious space. We love it! In the yard in front of the church stands a statue to Desiderius Erasmus (Erasmus von Rotterdam), erected  by his hometown in his honor.

The architecture of Rotterdam is astounding. Everywhere you look, there is something to see. Everything is new, modern, and different. The city has a young, hip, modern feel to it. Jessi is completely taken by the amazing feats of architecture and art incorporated into the city. We could spend weeks here exploring this city! We wandered around and found the legendary cube houses, which were constructed by the architect to resemble cubic tree houses. People live in these houses and have to deal with thousands and thousands of tourists walking around their doorsteps each day. Each house is accessible via stairs built into the trunk of each unit. The inside allocation of space in the units themselves is a fun play on the concept. It's difficult to describe for me, so I will let the pictures do the talking. You can actually tour one of the houses (a museum version) which allows you to experience what the insides of the units look like. It costs about 3 euros per person, and we definitely HAD to do it. wandering around the cube neighborhood Jessi spotted some AMAZING picture opportunities of the port and bridges of Rotterdam, and we took full advantage. 

We wandered the city for a long time, drinking in the atmosphere and enjoying the various buildings and sculptures all around us. Eventually, we decided it would be time to head back to the hotel to have drinks on the floating dock attached to our boat hotel. We had a lovely if not breezy evening on the dock enjoying some local beer and retired afterwards so we could get a start on our next day. Tomorrow we bike from Rotterdam to Gouda (of the cheese fame). Tally-ho, everyone!