Rotterdam & Delft

This day started out particularly cold... The wind made every non-covered part of your body freeze. 

First stop: Rotterdam

Rotterdam is quite modern and it is also the second-largest city in the Netherlands with one of the largest ports in the world. Recently it has also grown into a major international commercial center. 

@ city hall

On May 14th, 1940 during the German invasion of the Netherlands in WWII, there was an aerial bombardment which destroyed much of the city center. The goal was to get the Dutch to surrender by breaking the Dutch resistance and help the German troops fighting in the city; however, negotiations had been successful so there was no need for bombs but there was some failed communication on the German side.

This means you can still find some old buildings such as the city hall, yet most of them are very modern. In the picture above, outside the Museum of Rotterdam you can find a depiction of the city from 1940 - with what was destroyed and what was left.

Erasmus

modern architecture

Of course one of our stops was the Erasmusbrug. Despite all the construction around and also throughout the city, it was quite an enjoyable trip.

@ Erasmus bridge

tulips :)

More leftover time on the second day, which is why we decided to add Delft to our initial plan. There was more time for Delft than there was for Gouda - which was fortunate because we were able to still find shops and churches open for us to see. Part of the experience of a tourist is also to buy souvenirs :D

Second stop: Delft

@ bike parking

For 2€ only we were able to climb to the top of the Niewe Kerk where we got a spectacular view over the city. It was a challenge to climb all the way to the top, with very narrow stairs  which seemed to go on for ever... But we made it!

view from the Niewe Kerk

blauwe hart

Delft is know for its center being like the typical Dutch town - with canals. You can also find the Delftware (blue pottery) here. In my house there is a wall full of things that have been hung over the years from places we have visited. One of the conditions of these objects is that they can't say where they were bought but they must be able to represent something about the place. So, here I bought a small plate made of Delftware and which has a traditional picture of the Netherlands - tulips, a windmill and a girl dressed in the traditional clothes :)

1 day, 4 cities

This Saturday was pretty busy :D An idea came around a could of weeks ago concerning a visit to 7 cities in the Netherlands called Hanseatic cities. These include Kampen, Hasselt, Zwolle, Hattem, Deventer, Zutphen and Doesburg. The initial plan included all 7 cities but after realizing that it wasn't in fact a feasible option, it was altered a couple of times until we finally decidade that we would visit Kampen, Zwolle, Deventer and Zutphen - all reachable by train :)

After gathering a group of about 12 people, we left at 7:30am (with 3 of us having been left behind and catching the train 30 min later). 

A rainy weather awaited us in Zutphen where we were greeted by the IJssel after exiting the train station. 

@ market

@ city gate

First time I saw tulips besides in the market! :)

The next stop was Zwolle, the province capital of Overijssel. It is a city surrounded by the river and shaped similarly to a star. They even bake a bread with it's shape... 

@ city gate

@ city walls

After lunch we headed for Deventer. There we also made a pit stop to 'chill' for awhile... Time flies by fast when we're having fun :D

@ de Waag

@ market

A windmill!!!! Finally :) After having been mislead into thinking there was a windmill in Zwolle (it said so in the tourist maps scattered around the cities), I was hoping that we could see (and find) the windmill in Deventer. And we did! So, this is the traditional Dutch photo :P

Next and final stop was Zutphen. It was ideal to have done this after the hour change last weekend because it means that daylight lasts longer... So the whole time spent in Zutphen was done with the sun still in the sky.

The weather changed during the day, giving us some opportunities to enjoy the sun. However, since we were always so close to the water, the wind made it a very cold day...

My initial plan was to return and head to a party after dinner and after watching slbenfica vs sc braga, yet, I was able to fail this enormously because I was dead tired... It was just one of those days when I just needed to crawl into bed and sleep until there was no more sleep left. My eyes were closing while watching a pretty exciting game, so imagine...

Elfstedentocht

It's been so cold the past few weeks that the Dutch saw an opportunity to hold the Elfstedentocht (in English it is referred to as the Eleven Cities Tour). It was supposed to be yesterday but because the ice didn't stay at least 15cm thick throughout the 200km of the tour. The last time the ice was thick enough to hold about 12000 amateur skaters was in 1997. This year they were all excited but apparently it was for a short time. 

However, this does not mean there is no opportunity to have fun on the ice. 

This is what I saw yesterday afternoon :)

The research group I'm working with is divided between the Experimental Centre for Technical Medicine on campus and the Medisch Spectrum Twente in Enschede.

Today, I visited the latter. I saw a lot of the rooms where they conduct EEG, EMG and other sorts of neurophysiological tests. The hospital has two buildings and because the Dutch are extremely clever, there is a 'bridge' connecting the two. Since it's such a long distance, guess what they have?

Oh yeah! Bikes!

Totally awesome by the way :) I've always wanted to ride a bike in a building. There are lots of mirrors to help you out because the turns are kind of abrupt and you need to be careful not to run anyone over...

Temperatures are slowly rising. They are expecting snow on Sunday and rain on Monday but I'm not sure that will happen. 

Arrival & Bowling

I made it!

It's my 4th day on Dutch soil and it is very, very cold (but I think it's the warmest day so far). It was actually snowing yesterday, just a couple of snowflakes. The lakes are frozen so you can skate on the ice, like I've seen many people do or you can play ice hockey.

Due to the extreme weather, trains were chaotic during the weekend. Apparently everything freezes and all hell breaks loose. We (a group o ESN students, another exchange student, me and my dad) took a longer route to get to Enschede and after 4 hours (instead of the usual 2). But we did make it! It was really interesting to hear something announced on the intercom at the train station while waiting for the next delayed train in our route and suddenly everyone on the platform would start running. This was because at the last minute they would change the number of the platform. I'll tell you, it is not an easy thing to do when you have 2 heavy bags to move and a couple of other little things.

I've met loads of people - I think I wont be able to remember all the names. There are a handful of Portuguese students and many biomedical engineering students. Apparently they all like to come here. We've done some group things and last night there was bowling. I hadn't played in a real long time, especially the real one (Wii does not count!). Started off with a strike but it was all downhill from there...

The sun sets really early which makes it cold very early in the afternoon. If you don't have gloves, scarf, and something similar to ear muffs you'll freeze your face off.

I am also the proud owner of a bicycle :) It rides really well and reminds me of the bike I rode for 10 days last year in Leuven, Belgium. It's got to be a good prognosis...

I've been taking care of lots of paperwork during lunch times, go there, do this, sign this, pay that...Ah! I can't even sit down to have a proper lunch. On the plus side, I'm settling into the Clinical Neurophysiology research group which is nice. The people are all really friendly and I get free coffee!!! It's not like Portuguese coffee but it'll do.

I'm all settled in at my new room. It's small but it's good for the time I'll be spending there.  Everytime some asks me where I live, I either say 'the pyramids' or 'the place that starts with a 'W'. It's Witbreuksweg (I wrote it down correctly without checking if I was spelling it right!!!). I have my own bathroom and I share the room & kitchen with 8 other people. It's nice, we're all international students and 4 of us are new arrivals. I'm having a blast cooking my own food :)