Rotterdam is Awesome!!

Sunday October 21 was a travel day.  We took the 10:45 a.m. regional train from Antwerp to Rotterdam.  The trip took about an hour.  We arrived at the very modern beautiful Rotterdam Central train station, built in 2014.  Rotterdam's history stretches back more than a millennium, but the city was almost completely destroyed during WWII and while initially the rebuilding was a bit staid, Rotterdam has become the site of some of the most interesting architecture in Europe.

The Central Station is fabulous.  The 1957 station building was demolished in 2008 to make way for the new station.  The concourse is topped by a dynamic roof and the roof over the tracks is partly covered in solar panels.  A consortium of architects was responsible for the building. There are 25 stores in a spacious hallway, and a wonderful glass lighting sculpture in the entrance.

Outside of Central Station

Cloud of lights in station

We are staying at Citizen M, a very cool hotel chain, located just minutes from the Markthal building.

Alain- Citizen M

TV screen in our room-- note "welcome citizen Allan"

Bathroom

Bed

Sink 

View from our room

Cool hallway

At the outside of our door

Common area

Barista and Citizen M bar--- we had been chatting about coffee to one of the staff and
she treated us to two coffees at their bar

Main floor with Dutch blue influence

Just outside the hotel

We walked across the road to visit the famous market hall- called De Markthal.  The Markthal has about 100 fresh food stands, nearly 15 food shops and various restaurants with a supermarket.   There is an incredible ceiling called the "Horn of Plenty" done by Arno Coenen and Iris Roskam.  It has become known as the Dutch version of the Sistine Chapel.  The ceiling is decorated with 4,000 aluminum panels that form a giant mosaic of fruits, vegetables, fish and flowers. The building was opened on October 1, 2014 and designed by the architectural firm MVRDV.  The building cost around 180 million euros and the city worked with a developer who offset the financing by incorporating both condos and offices into the arc of the roof.  Apparently the residents have windows with views into the market.  It is an amazing building.

The Markthal- condos on the outside

Bike area in square in front of Markthal- stored in tiers

Another view from the front

Amazing ceiling

Inside the Markthal

Busy, fun place

Dried fruit and nuts store

Gorgeous fruits and vegetables- pretty good prices

21 Pinchos, where we had a bite to eat

A plate of pinchos and a beer-- very good

Another nearby building

Right behind the square in front of the Markthal and just a few minutes from our hotel, are the Amsterdam-born architect Piet Blom's cube houses, which were completed in 1984.  Designed to look like a built forest, the cubes on pedestals are still amazing.  Most are still private homes, but there is one "show cube" that is open for tourists, for 2 euros.  It has three floors.

Outside of Cube houses

Another view

Up close  - there are 38 small cubes and two super cubes.  In 2009, the larger cubes were converted into a Hostel.

Quote from Piet Blom

We decided to check out the "show cube".  All the furniture has to be built specifically to fit the design.

Living room area

Kitchen

Desk area

Specially designed furniture

View from the bedroom

Alain relaxin'

Bedroom

It was very cool seeing how one could furnish a cube.  Reminded me a bit of Habitat in Montreal.  There are three cube houses on Eastern Avenue, Toronto, built in 1996 by architects inspired by the Rotterdam cube houses.

We then walked a few minutes to an area recommended by Citizen M.  There were a number of small boutiques, coffee houses and restaurants.  Great area which we will come back to.  We checked out The Good People store, a menswear store originating in Rotterdam, that has been successful in other European countries.  It had a showroom, where one could see the next season's pieces.  Lucas, the salesperson working there, gave me an espresso and we chatted about the city.  Alain bought a neat sweater.

At the Good People store

Window

Yes, there is a Hudson's Bay in Rotterdam- on the main shopping street.

Yikes, a Hudson's Bay in Rotterdam

We continued our walk to an area around a canal with some lovely sculptures and stores.

Stores and residences along a canal

One of many sculptures

More interesting buildings

It was time to stop for a chocolate treat.

Chocolate Company Café (CHCO Café)

I had a dark chocolate dipping stick in hot oat milk.  Very good.  We hung out at the store for a bit.

Yum!

I had to take a picture of the bathroom doors-- Chocolista and Chocolist.

We then walked to Witte de Wittstraat, which Lucas at Good People had recommended as a street full of restaurants and galleries.

Cool signage over the street

We had dinner at Bazar (the restaurant of the funky Hotel Bazar)-- delicious Moroccan and Middle Eastern food.  It turned out that our server, who is Iranian, lived in Toronto during the 1990s and had fond memories of the Blue Jays.  It was a very buzzy place, with excellent food at very reasonable prices.

Mint tea-- we ate outside

Alain and the large lamb shank meal that we shared (so glad that our server recommended sharing-- he also brought us a bowl of another lamb dish to try)

Moi aussi

WITTY sign on the street

Another interesting building

We had a lovely half day wandering around Rotterdam-- it is a totally walkable city and has a real energy and excitement as well as great architecture.  We have really been impressed so far-- definitely add it to your travel list.