While my friends were visiting, we did end up taking a couple of day trips to Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Our visit to Rotterdam was for one specific point of interest, which I’ll post about eventually, once I can whittle down the photos. Oh so many photos!
Rotterdam is a very modern city, due in large part to the fact that much of the city was destroyed by bombs in World War II. As a result, instead of an old city center full of traditional Dutch brick buildings that have been around for a few hundred years, you end up with gleaming glass skyscrapers and a variety of large contemporary buildings. We have more modern buildings just outside the Utrecht city center, but I only see them rarely, so it was a bit of a culture shock in a way. But in a nice way!
Today, I’m just going to share a few photos of the Rotterdam Centraal Station, which was recently renovated. It’s a stunning structure, with sweeping lines and metallic materials that shimmer and shine, especially in the crisp winter afternoon sunlight. The Utrecht train station is undergoing its own renovation right now and I hope ours turns out even half as impressive.
A Flamingo in Utrecht 
Big bold sweeps – what’s not to like!
Exactly! Though hard to fit it all in to one photo without standing in the middle of tram lines and bike lanes! 🙂
Looks awesome!
I’d heard from others who had visited the station in the past that the renovation had turned out well, so I was really looking forward to seeing it. Definitely worth the time spent wandering around admiring it.
I love Rotterdam – it feels like a comforting mix of Holland & North America 🙂 Also love the central station – so much food, so many shops!
To be honest, we spent almost no time inside the station, so I don’t have any real idea of what it’s like. But the outside sure is pretty! You nailed it, in that Rotterdam does feel like a great mix of North America and the Netherlands. A big city with familiar Dutch sights.
There’s a story behind the name sign, too. They were supposed to put the original letters back after the new station was done, but someone made off with a few of the letters in the meantime. The current set of letters is therefore a replica (with modern LED lighting, leading to no more blacked out letters). The style is exactly the same, though, and even though the letters were designed to fit in with the 1950s building that came before they actually look quite fetching with the new structure. Also, just before they tore down the old building they’d rearranged the letters into the words “TRAAN LATEN” (shed a tear).
Awww. Thanks for sharing this! The letters really do fit in well. Proof that good design is timeless, I guess!