Birthday Breakout

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February 6th 2022

Published: March 22nd 2022

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Delek Delek

Overblaak Development

Rotterdam's iconic "cube houses".

Six months after my first trip out of Berlin in eighteen months, I was now ready to take my first trip out of Germany in more than two years.
There is perhaps, simply no more fitting a way for this old traveller to celebrate four decades of being on Earth than by breaking out of the country to see a little bit more of it.

Since my trip to Dresden, the new Omicron variant saw the number of Covid cases rapidly increase worldwide in the lead-up to Christmas, which put the brakes on any travel plans I may have had. I was hoping to be able to get back to New Zealand to see friends and family after almost two years of pandemic, but Omicron ensured that New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern kept the gates to the country shut for Christmas. Apprehension about how Omicron was going to pan out also scuppered my secondary plans of heading back to Costa Rica or a couple of islands in the Caribbean. Thankfully, high rates of deaths and hospitalisations did not materialise with Omicron and we were spared another lockdown in Germany; and by late January, Europe was starting to open up again.

I have not really seen much else

Rijnhaven

Looking across the harbour at this view while we enjoyed pintxos and white sangria.

of The Netherlands apart from Amsterdam a couple of times and Rotterdam, The Netherlands' "second city", has always fascinated me with its size, history and reputation as a lively cultural centre.
When I mentioned this to my girlfriend Britta, she said, "why don't we go there for your birthday?"
It seemed like the perfect plan; still a little anxious about travelling during a pandemic, Rotterdam's proximity to Berlin and its location within the EU would remove some of the travel complications that have come about as a result of the pandemic and it would be the perfect place to cautiously dip my toes back into the water after so long out of it. So...it was on!

In the two years since I took my last flight, Berlin had managed to close two airports and open a new one. The fact that the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport opened during the middle of a pandemic - nine years after it was originally meant to have opened, at a time when flight passenger numbers have been decimated by Covid-19 - seemed like the perfect punchline to what has become a long-running joke for Berliners.
Were all the continual delays to the airport's

Delfshaven

Quaint, quintessentially Dutch area of Rotterdam that was not bombed during the WWII.

completion and opening worth it?
Well in the end, I have to say that the final result isn't too bad. I like the airport's wood-panelled aesthetic and while it didn't blow me away like Baku's Heydar Aliyev International Airport or Singapore's Changi Airport, I would say that it is one of the most elegant of all the airports that I have visited. And there have been a lot of them! It reminds me a bit of London Heathrow's Terminal 5.
While it looks snazzy however, getting through security was painfully slow and about half of the travelators weren't working. I guess that if an airport has been delivered nine years late and almost three times over budget, that there are bound to be a few teething problems...
Otherwise, I was just excited to be in an airport again - as I passed through the automatic sliding doors and into the terminal building, I suddenly felt a lease of life that I hadn't felt in ages; this old traveller felt alive again!

I thought that I might feel a bit weird flying again after so long but like riding a bike, the muscle memory kicked in and apart from having to wear a

Erasmusburg

Rotterdam's iconic bridge.

mask on the plane and in the airport, it felt no different to all the countless other flights that I have taken in my lifetime. I did feel a little nauseous on the plane though - the old motion sickness was playing up again after so long without travelling.
There were a lot of youngsters on this easyJet flight to Amsterdam too - Britta and I felt decidedly old - but my new Bose noise-cancelling headphones were amazing at blocking out the noise of my fellow passengers and just about everything else.

From Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, we then had to make our way to Rotterdam by train.
There was a bit of confusion on the train platform as our train switched platforms without us knowing - but luckily another one arrived fairly quickly, such is the efficiency of the Dutch railways. The Netherlands' relatively small size does help in this respect, as you can get just about anywhere in the country from anywhere pretty quickly - we made it to Rotterdam in just twenty-six minutes!

After checking into and then chilling for a while at our hotel, it was time to go out for my birthday meal.
As

Markthal

Architectural marvel that was opened in 2014.

those of you who have followed my blog know, I am a lover of just about all food and pinning down a favourite is difficult. So for my birthday meal, I decided to go back to my pre-travelling days and make a nod towards a family tradition, which was to go out to a steak house for my birthday dinner. I also remembered that Amsterdam had a mysterious proliferation of Argentinian steak houses so if it was the same in Rotterdam, the heightened competition should mean there should be some of decent quality. I also remembered the magnificent steaks that I had in Argentina and Uruguay.
Mysteriously, the restaurant Britta had booked wasn't open (it turns out that she had booked it for the wrong month - hilarious, but also something I have done myself before with a flight), but the steak house next door - El Gaucho's, which was the one we wanted to eat at originally but was booked out - was open and by chance, happened to have a free table. All's well that ends well!
As it was my birthday, I splurged on steak and wine…and to be honest, it was not the best I’ve had.

Pedestrianised Shopping

Much of Central Rotterdam is made up of pedestrianised shopping districts that look like this. Note the arrows on the footpath and signs that tell you which way to walk.

However, it is difficult not to enjoy half a kilo of filet steak with a couple of glasses of Malbec...

The weather was horrible when we arrived but luckily the sun came out the next day, even if the wind made things a little chilly. We were staying in Central Rotterdam, which is almost entirely pedestrianised and is chock full of shops. It reminded me of Berlin’s Alexanderplatz and central Birmingham; I also got hints of Liverpool and Manchester at the same time.

With the city centre almost completely levelled during World War II, in its place rose an eclectic and fabulous mix of architecture, which has given Rotterdam the moniker of "Manhattan on the Meuse (River)".
There are a lot of 60s/70s buildings that gave out a real Slough vibe; at times, it felt like I was walking through a British housing estate. In any case, I found it sort of charming.
But perhaps exemplifying the city's architectural quirkiness is the Overblaak Development. Built between 1978 and 1984, the development consists of 38 cube-shaped apartments which are tilted onto a corner and held up by a pylon that acts as the "trunk" of the each building, with

Havensteder Building

One of many modern glass buildings built alongside the canals near the Overblaak Development.

the cube representing the top of a tree; all the "trees" together then make up an urban "forest". Perhaps the city's architectural highlight, there was many a visitor within the structure, taking pictures like we were. The Overblaak Development also looks over the old harbour, which was full of old clippers.
A stone's throw from the old harbour is a network of canals with lots of modern glass skyscrapers built upon the banks. Apparently, Rotterdam has 38 skyscrapers, 352 high-rise buildings and the top five tallest builidings in The Netherlands. The canals and modern buildings very much reminded me of Hamburg's HafenCity and Düsseldorf's MediaHafen.
Braving the wind along the Nieuwe Maas river, we pass the iconic Erasmusburg Bridge, spot the amphibious Splash Bus in the river and eventually (!) make it to Delfshaven. From modern canalside buildings, we had now come to see old canalside buildings, as this quaint district managed to survive the war. It was quintessentially Dutch and very much like Amsterdam - although I would probably say that Amsterdam is still prettier.

We stopped by at a cool cafe on the way back to the hotel, of which there are many in Rotterdam; the cafes and

Backyard

Cafe in Central Rotterdam where we had brunch; and Britta tried acai for the first time.

eateries here seem a little bit more upmarket than what we are used to in Berlin, I must admit. Britta got to try acai for the first time at one of them, which brought back sunny memories of my time in Rio de Janeiro.
The cafe we stopped that is located on Nieuwe Binnenweg, which is one of two main drags for cafes, restaurants and nightlife. The street resembled a British high street and to boot, had the sort of old red-brick buildings that lined the high street of my old neighbourhood in London. The partially pedestrianised Witte de Withstraat is the other main nightlife drag, whose outdoor bars were fairly packed despite the chilly temperatures, when we walked through it on the night we arrived.

On our second and final evening in Rotterdam, we took the metro across the river to the Fenix Food Factory, which wasn't quite what we expected and was closing up as we arrived. We settled for some pintxos that we were being served next door, which we enjoyed with some white sangria and a wonderful night-time view of Rijnhaven skyline.
Food-wise, the highlight was probably the Markthal, which is a huge market hall full of

Witte de Withstraat

One of Rotterdam's main nightlife drags.

stalls selling food from every conceivable corner of the planet. The building itself is an architectural marvel too, with a massive 11,000sqm fresco adorning the walls and the ceiling. We stopped here on our way back to Amsterdam where I picked up a duck burger, some local gouda cheese and of course, some stroopwaffels!

I really liked Rotterdam when I first got here and it is pretty cool. I would have to admit however, that my initial excitement was much to do with simply being out of Berlin and Germany. So the place is OK; but in saying that, I think that there is enough here to warrant a visit and is perfect for a short weekend getaway.

Some other observations about the city;
- Like Amsterdam (and Berlin too, in many ways), Rotterdam is a cyclist’s paradise
- There are arrows and lanes on the footpaths here that tell you which direction you should be walking in
- It has a very diverse and multicultural populace

Working from home has ensured that I no longer get out or exercise as much as I did pre-pandemic and it showed during our trip to Rotterdam as by the

Britta & I

At the Martkhal.

end of it, I was absolutely knackered - I had forgotten how much walking I do when I go on a trip!
So lastly, I must thank Britta for coming up with the idea to come here, putting up with me and being a good sport - this was my first proper trip as part of a couple (!), so I hope I did it right.
In any case, it was really enjoyable and positive to be travelling again and I must say that I have missed it. As the world slowly opens up, we have plans to do more trips this year - so stay tuned for those...

Tot ziens,
Derek

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