walking > talking > sitting > tasting > knowing

Visiting places is easy when you are not strictly limited by the time. So don' t be in hurry. Relax and calm down. Welcome to Rotterdam, second largest city and major port in Netherlands. I didn' t know even the fact that Rotterdam is 10th largest port in the world. You couldn' t imagine that since the moment when you have a chance to see the whole city from the birds' perspective. Of course if you are interesting in history and you're romantic soul I' m really sorry because Rotterdam is not Amsterdam ;-) In this case you should go to enjoy the channels on the boats or cycling the streets inside the more cosmopolitan and tourists friendly Amsterdam. Me? No way, I'm staying in Rotterdam ;-)                                                                                                                                                        
Beautiful city of Amsterdam  was not including  in my plans for "two days break" (or we could say short stay) in Netherlands. Maybe you' re just asking yourself why I' m looking for the opportunity to visit some industrial places and cities like that time by time. Well the truth is that one reason for my visit of that city was the photographic exhibition in the Rotterdam' s Kunsthal. Second reason was the reputation of Rotterdam like great example of one of the cleanest cities with a few interesting examples of modern architecture.By the way Rem Koolhaas is one of those famous Dutch architects whose works you should meet inside the Rotterdam.

Exactly I' m living and working in Edinburgh and I admire the history and complexity of Auld Reekie with all respect to his Unesco status. On the other hand I' m missing the modern and fresh ideas in architecture here in Edinburgh (don' t tell me about the Scottish Parliament which is great building for me but most of the locals don' t like it). So that' s the reason why I would like to travel time by time in opposite direction to modern trends of tourism and trying to visit a places full of modern architecture in the future as well.

Are you ready for the next? Allright, let' s continue  the story of the first day.

When I woke up I met another Scottish guy in the hostel. His name was James (originally from Isle of Skye, last two years living and working in Australia).He was preparing for travel to Prague and staying there for couple of days. Funny fact that he met me (Czech folk living in Scotland) inside the Rotterdam's hostel. We' ve just started to chat when we met each other in the morning. Had a small talk about usual stuff like travelling, Scottish independence, Australia, smoking policy in Czech pubs, Scottish whisky, difference between the British and Czech passport holder, where to go in Prague and more. After that morning's dialogue we decided to go for some sightseeing around and left the hostel past 11am I think.

Sight-seeing sounds a little bit familiar for the city like Rotterdam is, trust me. If you are seriously into the photography, all what you need to meet are less or more ideal weather conditions with good viewing distance.

Of course don' t forget that you are in Netherlands where coffee shops are open very early (10 am). So if you are open-minded and seriously interesting even in that stuff, try to find a balance as soon as possible. There is nothing worst than to be "get stoned" in the morning and feel not so comfortable for exploring the city. But that' s exactly what I was not going to do at the start of the day. It was up to me and how I felt about that. To be fair everybody knows how the legislation works in Netherlands and I must say there is nothing wrong with that kind of legal business from my side. I' m a tolerant person in that way. Simply "smoking weed" is legal in Netherlands, coffeeshops are paying the taxes from that stuff and no one has a trouble with that. I' m so sorry and don' t be offended on me but personally I went for that stuff as well and was choosing the pre-rolled  "Silver Haze Joint" for personal use before I took a walk. Not so strong like other options for buy. Trust me if you are not smoking whole stuff at once, it' s better for you. That' s important rule for tasting in unknown places. And how was the first impressions? Keeping me bright, let me staying in talkative mode and still focusing on the subjects in terms of photographic eye (streets, architecture, directions). Please do not judge me. First I didn' t break the law. And for the second argue, it was just another part of the Dutch experience for me. And that' s it. I' m not talking about that anymore. I promise.

The truth is that the weather was not so good during the day (almost thick cloud, grey sky, limited visibility). So we were going around the Erasmus Bridge and on the opposite side of the Kop van Zuid neighbourhood with its famous De Rotterdam building designed by architect Rem Koolhaas (see extra one). Of course we did a stop for a pint and sit in one pub (don' t remember even name of the local beer) because it was almost freezing with temperatures around zero degrees of Celsius. Honestly I was trying some Dutch beer and didn' t accept the offer of Belgium' s beers on the tap. That' s part of your experience to have a drink, small talk or having a local food. And you have to keep yourself warm even in Rotterdam during the February ;-)

I could say that my first day in Rotterdam was exactly about "experience of tasting" and "enjoying the meet with locals".

Our second choice for stop was small pub-cafe-restaurant located in Delfshaven neighbourhood (not so faraway from the Euromast Tower). The name of that place was Eetcafe - M’n Schoonmoeder (Originele Oost-Afrikaanse Habesha). It' s running by a Dutch couple (the lady is originally from Ethiopia). And they were really friendly and nice to us. We were just starting to have a first bottle of Heineken when we spotted in the corner of the room another Ethiopian lady how she is starting to prepare the coffee in the traditional way. And that was pure magic (not only for me). I quit coffee for regular daily drinking a couple of months ago but when they invited us to join them and have a fresh and roasting coffee from Ethiopian beans in the traditional way, we couldn' t say no.

It was the coffee ceremony. Trust me ;-) You are just sitting around the small table and watching how it works without coffee machines which you know from the Starbucks, Costa, Caffe Nero and other brands. Pure joy to drink coffee like that, after all I enjoyed the taste and notes of the Ethiopian beans. Basically we drunk 3  small cups (first was the strongest, second one was stronger and the third one was mild). Well done and made from the same source of brewing and roasting beans. They were serving the fresh made popcorn as well. Our small talk was very inspiring and we found the fact that the Dutch couple is going to get married soon (after 12 years together). Saying hello and wishing all the best for the future.

The Ethiopian lady was listening traditional or modern Ethiopian music from the  computer and gave me a few tips about the music as well. This is actually classic example of modern Ethiopian music . I took a picture of the music instrument "kraar" (see extra two) which I saw on the wall inside the pub like the decoration.

Her spouse (the Dutch man) shared a couple of interesting stories about the Rotterdam. So I found the information that most of the historic buildings were destroyed by Nazis' bombing during the WWII. And that' s the reason why Rotterdam looks so modern. He told to me the words like that : " Rotterdam was build from the ruins again but for the people and we are proud of our city". The population of the city is not so huge (around 600 000, metro area around 1 100 000 people) but you should find around the 150 nationalities inside the Rotterdam. Interesting, isn' t it? Honestly that' s pretty serious fact like the proof of evidence about the liberal and tolerant Dutch culture. Especially if I compare that to another example of well-known cosmopolitan city like the huge London is in the UK. By the way another curiosity about other parts of Netherlands is the Schiphol Airport. The lowest point  of that international airport sits at -4 m (-13 ft) below sea level. Another pretty impressive piece of information for me.

And this was not the end of the story. Finally they invite us to have a meal with them and that food was really delicious and pretty nice (honestly I mean the both variations - vegetarian or meat). I enjoyed especially the chilli flavour of meat and the sort of flatbread which they prepared. So so delicious.

Well I promise them that this kind of experience will be result in my blip for today and I would like to share the address of the restaurant. I really hope and believe that lady will be cooking that kind of meal even for the normal guest during the season one day. Having a lot of satisfied guests. You don't need a la carte menu to be a good. A few traditional dishes and excellent coffee should be enough for the beginning. Must say, she is really good in that and once again Ethiopian traditional food should be a good option for that sort of place. Cross fingers Aster with your cafe ;-)

And what about the rest of the evening/night? During my walk back to Cool District I ' ve just took a picture of storage solution for the bicycles (I admire that sort of clever and simple ideas in Dutch design - see extra three). And please  don' t ask me what had happened at the end of the day :-D I spent some time with James and we had a couple of small talks with a few local  guys (including one Swedish) which we have met as well at the Witte de Withstraat outside and inside the bars.

Finally I was going to bed around the 1am. I was in mode to stay fit (no hangover) and be ready for my second day which included my main goal of the Rotterdam' s visit - Peter Lindberg' s exhibition in Kunsthal (Munich ad Torino are the next for that exhibition). Last but not least I have another great news for every photography lovers who are living in Rotterdam or nearby. Another great exhibition is coming in April - Robert Mapplethorpe ;-)

So if you are going to Netherlands, don' t forget about the Rotterdam please. Really worth to visit and full of surprises if you are opening to all possibilities ;-) Trust me ;-)

FIY:

fb page  - Eetcafe
contact : Aster Ingen  : 06/4474339 (Netherlands)