Rotterdam
The wonderfull group of the Morroco holiday in 2009 planned a meet-up to see each other again 2 months after our holiday. Ronald made this meet-up possible on 25th June when it was summer carnival. It was a wonderfull day. First we visited the Euromast in the morning, were we also had lunch. After that we went to the summer festival. Than a few beers at the bar near the Erasmus bridge. And finally diner in style in a Morrocan restaurant. This special group had a great time with laughs all over!!!
First Rotterdam. Rotterdam is a city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland, situated in the west of the Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the country (behind our capital in Amsterdam), with a population of about 600,000 inhabitants.
A dam on the Rotte was built in the 1260, and so Rotterdam was founded. Eighty years later, in 1340, Count Willem IV of Holland granted city rights to Rotterdam, which then had approximately 2,000 inhabitants. Around 1350 a shipping canal, the Rotterdamse Schie was completed, which provided Rotterdam access to the larger towns in the north, allowing it to become a local transshipment center between Holland, England and Germany.
The city suffered very much when the German army invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Germany had planned to conquer the country in one day. After meeting unexpectedly fierce resistance from the inferior Dutch army, it finally forced the Dutch to capitulate on 14 May 1940 by bombing Rotterdam and threatening to bomb other cities. The heart of the city was almost completely destroyed by the German Luftwaffe, and 800 people were killed. From the people which survived 100,000 became homeless. Only the city hall survived the bombing.
From the 1950s through the 1970s, the city was rebuilt. It remained quite windy and open until the city councils from the 1980s on began developing an active architectural policy. Daring and new styles of apartments, office buildings and recreation facilities resulted in a more livable city center with a new skyline. In the 1990s, the Kop van Zuid was built on the south bank of the river as a new business center. I must say I was surprised how pretty Rotterdam looked with the sky buildings, the harbour, the new bridges.
Our holiday group met up just before the Euromast. Within one minute the group feeling was back! We travelled through Morocco, visited markets in Marrakech, spend the night in the Sahara, so the stories and laughs were immediately back. Our day: visiting Rotterdam, the Euromast, summer Carnival, the Erasmus bridge and a Morrocan restaurant, but most important having lot's of talks with a lot of drinks, food and pleasure......
It really cost not much to visit it (less than 8,70 euro), and than there is that spectaculair view over the city. Also 5 of our group went for the abseilen from the Euromast. You really must have not a fear of highs for that! It was windy, so it makes the achievement much better. Also we had a lunch there.
The southern span of the bridge has a 89 metre long bascule bridge for ships that cannot pass under the bridge. The bascule bridge is the largest and heaviest in West Europe and has the largest panel of its type in the world. The bridge was officially opened by Queen Beatrix on September 6, 1996, having cost 165 million Dutch guilders (about 75 million euro) to construct. Shortly after the bridge opened to traffic in October 1996, it was discovered the bridge would swing under particularly strong wind conditions. To reduce the trembling, stronger shock dampers were installed.
The bridge featured in the 1998 Jackie Chan film Who Am I?. In 2005 several planes flew underneath the bridge as part of the "Red Bull Air Race". In 2005, the bridge served as the backdrop for a performance by DJ Tiësto titled "Tiësto @ The Bridge, Rotterdam". The performance featured fire fighting ships spraying jets of water into the air in front of the bridge, a fireworks barge launching fireworks beside the bridge, and multi coloured spot/search lights attached to the bridge itself.
Before dinner we spend for a few drinks in a bar near the bridge on the site of the water. A perfect place after a few hours watching the summer carnival.
Summer Carnival in Holland is held since 1983. The first edition was in Utrecht, since 1984 it is in Rotterdam. Although the street parade attracts the most visitors the Zomercarnaval is a multiple-day event. A week prior to the street parade the new Queen is elected in the official Zomercarnaval Queen Election. On the Thursday after the election the Zomercarnaval Beach Party is held at the Stand aan de Maas, a small beach created in the city center of Rotterdam. Several brass bands and DJ's show up and the newly chosen Queen is also present
