ROTTERDAM !

To get back on EV15 we needed to go through the old part of Dordrecht.

Now there’s no doubt where she comes from. It’s a great way to meet people though when they know where you’re from.We join the early commuters on their way to work.We couldn’t understand why we weren’t taking the direct route to Rotterdam. Much shorter but EV15 tries to find the pretty routesThe regions around Rotterdam are nearly all below sea level so we passed dozens of windmills. And the gardens ! Wow !one after another ,many running down to a canal. The Hydrangeas especially are brilliantNow this was interesting. A gate company delivering a totally finished system. Of course I had to find out why they were replacing an identical one, still quite new. Answer. This one had been hit and was occasionally malfunctioning. “It’s no problem to change it over “I was told “then we fix it at the factory”. They’re made in one piece because the foundations are too soft and they would soon be out of line. (About €4000 fittedThe bike path runs between 2 wide canals. This chap had a fish on the line as I was passing. I asked if it was good eating and he answered by sign language .crap .

See the row of windmills along the far bankThey are lined entirely of thatch. This area was knee deep in tourists. Some mills are working and some look like they are being lived in. This one is being reclad.mostly the water is pumped by electric pumps nowadays and in extreme conditions there are these Archimedes screws each driven by HUGE diesel motorsRotterdam! The end of the trip down the Rhein and what a pleasant surprise! The Nazis totally demolished the centre of the city and so it has been rebuilt with some of the most stunning architecture you will ever see .The building on the right is the ‘market place’ City appartments line each side of it and the inside is all markets. ( 3 floors below as well) Those windows in the walls belong to the appartmentsTo join the square to the harbour on the other side of this busy road, this block of ‘cubes’ makes you want to explore. It’s the library and office blocksopening on to a cafe lined harbour and the river behind.Our hotel is in the centre of town so we can go exploring again tomorrow. I think it’s the scarcity of traffic that makes this such a nice city .