The beach is windy and sand is blowing in the air, the sea is cold and covered in a foam. The only protection are the wind shelters erected here and there, the crummy looking ones are free, the good ones are for rent. I find it amusing that northern Europeans are prepared to endure cold wind and sit behind a shelter so they can’t even see the sea, just so they can have their day at the beach ;)
The route back to Brussels is not direct, and we made many stops on the way there but only to switch trains. On the way back we decide to do a little exploring. Our first stop is Leiden, an old university town. From the train station we walk along the canal to see the pretty buildings and iron bridges, and the small boats travelling across the town. The town also has a few windmills, one of which is right next to my colleague Arthur’s house. The highlight of the visit is a small round fort at the top of a hill giving a full view of the town. We take a moment to take all the usual hilarious photos, the group shot of everyone falling into a well stands out as an instant classic. From there we follow the usual paths along cobbled streets, through the churches and squares.
As part of our long series of running for trains we hustle to try and catch a train to Rotterdam but miss it because our overstuffed locker would not release our bags. After having some station people fiddle with it for nearly 20 minutes the locker finally opens to our great relief. The day is getting long, people are getting tired, and tempers are getting shorter. We head off to view the town and are instantly divided between those who want to meander in the shopping area, and those who want to simply look at architecture. At the Erasmus bridge we divide, and Rickard, Christina and I head off.
For 2007 Rotterdam is the “international city for architecture”, and the titles is well deserved. Everywhere you look you can see that buildings were built with an innovative sense of aesthetics, and that great care and detail has been paid to most buildings. The city was destroyed in World War 2 providing the opportunity to re-invent it from scratch, and the cities’ architects certainly did not pass up on the opportunity. However the weather is grey and beginning to rain, and while the buildings are fine to look at, our mindset is wrong to appreciate them. To make matters worse, we suddenly realize that we are late. Christina, Rickard and I run for the train station, the train to Brussels is only once an hour and we earnestly want to catch this one. I run ahead to retrieve our bags from the locker, Christina shows up without any sign of Rickard. We head to the platform but he isn’t there either. He would miss the train and instead go to briefly see Dorderecht. However he would also miss his train there, and so he enjoys a repeat of our initial adventures while Christina and I head on simple straight route home.
The beach is windy and sand is blowing in the air, the sea is cold and covered in a foam. The only protection are the wind shelters erected here and there, the crummy looking ones are free, the good ones are for rent. I find it amusing that northern Europeans are prepared to endure cold wind and sit behind a shelter so they can’t even see the sea, just so they can have their day at the beach ;)
The route back to Brussels is not direct, and we made many stops on the way there but only to switch trains. On the way back we decide to do a little exploring. Our first stop is Leiden, an old university town. From the train station we walk along the canal to see the pretty buildings and iron bridges, and the small boats travelling across the town. The town also has a few windmills, one of which is right next to my colleague Arthur’s house. The highlight of the visit is a small round fort at the top of a hill giving a full view of the town. We take a moment to take all the usual hilarious photos, the group shot of everyone falling into a well stands out as an instant classic. From there we follow the usual paths along cobbled streets, through the churches and squares.
As part of our long series of running for trains we hustle to try and catch a train to Rotterdam but miss it because our overstuffed locker would not release our bags. After having some station people fiddle with it for nearly 20 minutes the locker finally opens to our great relief. The day is getting long, people are getting tired, and tempers are getting shorter. We head off to view the town and are instantly divided between those who want to meander in the shopping area, and those who want to simply look at architecture. At the Erasmus bridge we divide, and Rickard, Christina and I head off.
For 2007 Rotterdam is the “international city for architecture”, and the titles is well deserved. Everywhere you look you can see that buildings were built with an innovative sense of aesthetics, and that great care and detail has been paid to most buildings. The city was destroyed in World War 2 providing the opportunity to re-invent it from scratch, and the cities’ architects certainly did not pass up on the opportunity. However the weather is grey and beginning to rain, and while the buildings are fine to look at, our mindset is wrong to appreciate them. To make matters worse, we suddenly realize that we are late. Christina, Rickard and I run for the train station, the train to Brussels is only once an hour and we earnestly want to catch this one. I run ahead to retrieve our bags from the locker, Christina shows up without any sign of Rickard. We head to the platform but he isn’t there either. He would miss the train and instead go to briefly see Dorderecht. However he would also miss his train there, and so he enjoys a repeat of our initial adventures while Christina and I head on simple straight route home.
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