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Rotterdam, my hometown

61K views 571 replies 30 participants last post by  AtomicTom 
#1 · (Edited)
 
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#3 ·
Close to work (400 meters) and I always start early. Just had to take it.
 
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#4 ·
Beautiful photograph, I do not encounter scenes like that on my way to work very sadly.

Sent from my Sinclair ZX Spectrum using a rubberised keyboard.
 
#6 ·
The best things are free!
 
#9 ·
iPhone 6
 
#12 ·
Why didn't you give me a PM, we could have had a coffee or something.
 
#17 ·
Rotterdam, once the biggest port in the world (now just the biggest in Europe) sports 127 different nationalities, had the first ever Chinese restaurant in The Netherlands (in the Thirties, Red Light District), is called the 10th island of Cape Verde because we host the largest group of Cape Verdeans in my country. It was the city many Dutch used as a spring board to emigrate to the US, Canada and Australia (with the HAL, or Holland America Line).

We are often compared to New Yorkers, straight to the point, no-nonsense, hard working, big mouth and big heart. We will always be the second city behind Amsterdam. Hard core Rotterdammers never pronounce that city by its name but simply refer to it as '020' (the area code). Rotterdam is proudly referred to as '010' because it was the first city in The Netherlands to get a telephone system.

The city centre was completely demolished by a Nazi bombing in 1940 and that probably is the reason why the architecture keeps inventing itself and is world renowned. (Rem Koolhaas).

I was born here and I will die here.
 
#19 ·
One more, Rotterdam Port Museum.

 
#20 ·
Former HAL cruise liner 'SS Rotterdam', restored to former glory to the tune of US$ 275 million and and now a hotel:



The aft deck, it's like you are on vacation when you are having a drink there:



The former Rotterdam Head Office of the Holland America Line (HAL), now also a hotel with one of the most spectacular terraces in Rotterdam:

 
#21 ·
I you appreciate it I will try to take some more pictures the coming weeks. Architecture and places we like to go.
 
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#23 ·
'Old Harbour' district. Many bars, cafés and restaurants here. Very popular with students. This part gave the district its name:

 
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#24 ·
Rotterdam World Trade Centre. The lower part was opened in 1940, the upper structure in 1986. It rests on 6 gigantic concrete pylons, a first in my country. The lower part is internally completely restored (down to the last ashtray :D) to what it was in 1940. The larger conference rooms are very popular as a venue for business parties.

 
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#28 ·


The Witte Huis or White House is a building and National Heritage Site in Rotterdam, Netherlands, built in 1898 in the Art Nouveau style. The building is 43 m (141 ft.) tall, with 10 floors. It was also the first hoogbouw (literally: high-rise building) in Europe. The building is listed as a Rijksmonument (literally: National Monument).


Construction
The architect Willem Molenbroek designed the 10-storey building, at the time an unprecedented height in Europe. The site at Wijnhaven 3 is just 1 m above sea-level and skeptics claimed that the soft soil of Rotterdam would be unable to adequately support the building, so before construction could properly begin, 1000 piles were driven into the ground to support the building's weight. The building is constructed from iron and steel and concrete, and includes two thick interior walls which increase the building's strength. Unlike many other contemporary buildings of the time, wood was not a significant construction material due to the fear of fire. The building cost 127,900 Dutch guilders.
It was also one of the few buildings in central Rotterdam to survive the German bombing campaigns of World War II.

Source: WikiPedia. (Picture by F. Hens).
 
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#34 ·
This brings with it the danger of meeting yours truly. A prospect most unwanted :D
 
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