Had a lie in yesterday.Didn’t even leave the room till 11am and as soon as I did I got accosted by Jehovah’s Witnesses.I was studying the bus stop map whilst simultaneously having my phone open to Google Maps which one woman who was virtually on my shoulder clearly saw and not once did she look at me with puppy dog eyes and say “are you lost?” Had she done so I may have joined up there and then…an opportunity missed by the Joeys…
Turns out I am so far out in the sticks here that the bus doesn’t run at weekends and on weekdays it’s only one an hour.It doesn’t feel that far out to be honest.If it was London the equivalent would probably be staying in Romford.I’d rather be here though…good old Google Maps pointed me to a metro station about a five minute walk away.I didn’t want to ask the Joey’s Witness.Can you imagine? “ can you help me?” Her eyes would have lit up like Wembley stadium on a night game!
It’s a brand spanking new station too.Not sure how old Rotterdam’s metro is but all the stations I have seen look fairly modern.I’m guessing it wasn’t all built at once but added to bit by bit.All of their stations have a lovely big yellow “M” marking where they are and I bet Mr Maccy D’s had something to say about that but if they did they clearly lost whatever action may have taken place…
If your only vision of the Netherlands is the beautiful houses that skirt Amsterdam’s canals then Rotterdam might be a bit of a shock to you.The city centre is Nothing like that at all,it’s the complete opposite Infact.All large gleaming brand new buildings in the city centre.It’s quite easy to get lost,if like me,you’d not been here before(I have but it was 40 years ago and it’s changed so much it might as well be my first visit) then it can be a bit disconcerting,like you’re walking around in circles.Not that that’s a bad thing,at least you’re getting the exercise in…
There are still some “old” Rotterdam streets round by Centraal Station so you can imagine what the place looked like pre WW2.I say “old” because a lot of the streets were clearly rebuilt after the war but in a sympathetic style to how it used to look.Many long six story terraces in dark red brick.Very beautiful and probably highly sought after.In the little side streets leading off the main drags it looked like a community of sorts had sprung up with many coffee shops and cafe bars tucked away…
Today I am going to go look at the cube houses & market hall which in pics I have seen look very interesting.Luckily it’s on the same metro line as my stop so will be easily found.Also I might hang around Centraal Station for a bit as Feyenoord are playing at Zwolle ( just over an hour away by train) and it’ll be interesting to see what(if any) the police presence is.Obviously it’s gonna be more in Zwolle but I don’t know if they all get hearded on to one train or just allowed to go as they please…
Then I need to find an Irish bar that shows English football in the hope that the Wolves v Villa game will be on…
Ok peeps that’s it for today…see you all tomorrow sometime…Caio.
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