| Our first sight of
Rotterdam as we got off the bus was the railway station and the trams. We
had never seen trams before! The tracks in the road were certainly
unusual. The very tall buildings in the centre of Rotterdam were also
rather different to home. The only tall buildings we have are the blocks
of flats. But nothing as tall as the huge office buildings. We were lucky
enough to be able to go right to the top of the tallest building and look
out across the city. We could see for miles and miles.
We had a guide who told us some of the history of the city. During the 2nd World War it was very badly damaged and we could see where all the new building had taken place. This is a bit like our own city of Hull which was also badly damaged during the war. We found that Rotterdam and Hull have many similarities, both in the past and now. We were able to visit a number of places in the city centre including a church which had been rebuilt since the war and a marina area, like the one in Hull. Our main visit was to the Maritime Museum to look at the layout of the exhibits and the facilities for foreign visitors, but we also had time to take in lunch at a Dutch McDonalds and a walk around the street market. This was really good. There were so many different types of food from all over the world. People from many different countries have come to live in Rotterdam and this helps to make the markets more exciting! We were surprised by how quiet the city centre was on a Saturday. The centre of Hull is a bustling and busy place full of shoppers and people going about their business. The roads are busy and buses full. Rotterdam was very quiet. There were a few people around but it was more like a very quiet Sunday morning. |
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