After our two days at sea going and down the English Channel we were finally at our first port, Rotterdam. We had skipped Hamburg due to being delayed in Southampton and sadly at this visit to Rotterdam we were only staying for one day.
Day 5: 12th December 2024: Rotterdam
Iona was now docked just below the Erasmus Bridge. We had arrived while we were asleep and we were greeted by a great view of Rotterdam and of the bridge.
Walking into Rotterdam
After a late breakfast we left the ship to walk over the bridge into the city.
The “Rotterdam” building never fails to impress. Here are views as we started to walk over the bridge.
As we walked into the city I took detours of the street and went down to the streets below to see this street art.
Near the Market Hall the water park for surfing was now completed – December seems to mean that it wasn’t open for the wave machine to be working (and it was cold!)
Coffee time
The building work at the side of the Market Hall is still ongoing. On our first visit this had been a green space and now we could peep through the barriers and see the deep hole for foundations of the planned building.
The coffees and a cake were very welcome…
Further up the row of shops the tattooist was closed. These abandoned shoes could perhaps tell a tale!
Across the square towards the Cube houses were these murals. Sadly the open air market was not on the day of our visit. Crossing the large pedestrian square still means checking all the time for bikes, electric scooters and the odd wayward Vespa!
This visit we gave the Cube houses a miss but they are still worth the walk to try and capture different angles.
The Market Hall ..
Crossing over canal bridges gives plenty of scope for reflections of buildings.
Shop windows and customers for the bridal shop.
The below ground walkway for shops
by a couple of market stalls and of course a C&A.
Beneath the C&A was the Jumbo supermarket – time to stock up on chocolate!
Back to Iona
The ship museum had undergone quite a few changes since our last visit. We walked back on the river side of the road.
From the Erasmus Bridge we had more views of the mural and the “Rotterdam”. Upstream was the bridge where we had watched soldiers crossing on the high span.
From the ship we watched this tourist bus leaving the car park. This looks a much better bet to go on the water than a 70 year WW2 DUKW!
Views from our balcony
Later i the afternoon we had our last daylight views of Rotterdam at 4:20 pm
The Erasmus Bridge.
Leaving Rotterdam
After dinner I watched as Iona saled back down the river to the North Sea.
After 10 pm, I went back inside to get ready for our visit to Brussels the next day after Iona had docked in Zeebrugge.
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