Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

☰

Amsterdam and London — 9, Rotterdam and Hook of Holland

2012-02-28

On our last day in Amsterdam, an icy wind was blowing, and we trudged unhurriedly, albeit shivering, toward the central station. It was a pity to part with such a cozy cycling city, but a ferry trip awaited us ahead (an adventure in its own right).

And it was supposed to lead us  into the massive center of the financial world, the capital of the United Kingdom of Great Britain And Northern Ireland, the birthplace of Sherlock Holmes and Big Ben, of prim ladies and polished yuppies — London.

A wet city street with tram tracks stretches into the distance toward an old clock tower, framed by shop buildings under an overcast sky.

But for now we're still walking through Amsterdam

The corner of an old red-brick building with white decorative inserts and a bay window engraved with the year '1919'. A large bell hangs above 'The Old Bell' neon sign, with a 'Rembrandt Plein' plaque on the right.

The corner of the building isn't 90 degrees, but cut off — it's prettier this way

A red telescopic forklift stands on a city street in front of a massive multi-story stone building. The building is decorated with large windows, niches, and light blue overhangs above the shop windows.

Awesome tractor, stared at this photo for a long time

Many animal skulls with horns are displayed in a shop window. The interior with a person's silhouette shines through the bright reflection of a building facade with windows and the sky.

Horns are sold for cuckolded husbands, to match the look

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Amsterdam girls look cute-retro  on their own, even without sepia

An old brick arched bridge with three spans crosses a canal dotted with fallen leaves. Two women are walking across the bridge, and city buildings and part of a barge are visible on the left.

Bridges, bridges

A view of a city canal under an overcast sky with a white drawbridge in the distance and brick buildings along the banks. In the foreground is a dark metal fence inscribed with 'HENDRICK JACOBSZ STAETSBRUG'.

A cool drawbridge

A black-and-white photo of a city canal with a moored barge in the foreground, historic buildings and leafless trees along the banks, connected by a drawbridge.

A white wooden drawbridge with chains and superstructures against the backdrop of a traditional brick building in overcast weather. Pedestrians are standing on the bridge, one of whom is wearing a gray jacket and a bright yellow backpack.

The bridge up close

A man in glasses and a red-and-white knitted earflap hat takes a selfie against the backdrop of a canal, while another man in glasses and a gray sporty hat stands next to him. Pedestrians and historic brick buildings of a European city are visible in the background.

Punk glamour-style

The facade of several buildings, including the Italian restaurant 'DA DIEGO' on the left, with a central entrance boarded up and painted with graffiti featuring two stylized figures. A wooden barrier entirely plastered with advertising posters stands in front of the entrance.

Graffiti again

A busy Amsterdam square filled with pedestrians, featuring the historic De Bijenkorf department store buildings on the right and ABN AMRO on the left. In the center, a crane with a worker in a basket is visible, maintaining streetlights or decorations.

Dam Square again

A wax figure of a woman in a bright red dress with a high slit, a hat, and boots is displayed behind a shop window. The 'Madame Tussauds' and 'Rolex' signs, along with a street scene with pedestrians, buildings, and an American flag, are visible on the reflecting glass.

 

A tall gray stone monument (stele) with bas-reliefs and sculptures at its base, surrounded by a group of people. In the background is the "Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky" building under an overcast sky.

The interior of a large railway station with a high arched roof made of metal and glass, several tracks, platforms with people, and a train in the distance.

You can tell right away that the station is old and venerable

Why? because it has a train shed(a canopy over the tracks)

The facade of an old building in sepia with six openings decorated with delicate wrought-iron grates. The year '1882' is visible on one of the top grates, and part of a massive metal structure with rivets can be seen on the left.

The gates are intricately decorated

A yellow-and-blue double-decker passenger train stands on the platform of a railway station. A high dark roof with numerous glass skylight windows towers over the platform, where passengers and railway tracks are visible in the foreground.

The train we're going to take is a double-decker

A cityscape of Amsterdam on an overcast day, featuring a view of a canal, pleasure boats, a tram passing on the left, and buildings in the background. A tall streetlight with multiple projectors stands tall in the right foreground.

A last look at Amsterdam

We bought the tickets at a ticket machine, Unfortunately, making a small mistake. The thing is, you have to buy them all the way to the final destination right away, even with a transfer. You have to do this because our ticket gets refunded at the port ticket office when boarding the ferry. It's all because the combined train and ferry ticket bought online works that way. But we bought two tickets, one to Rotterdam, and from there — to Hook of Holland.

They only gave us our money back for the last leg of the trip, and it's short and cheap. I had read all about this on the useful site https://seat61.com/, but forgot, since there were already enough hassles on the trip.

A yellow-and-blue double-decker passenger train stands on the tracks at a platform against the backdrop of a modern gray building.

Such a cute little yellow train

A minor mishap happened on the train — we sat on the second floor, and what's more, we walked into the second part of the carriage, where the seats are wider. As it turned out, this was first class, and our tickets were for second. A strict elderly ticket inspector gave us a disapproving look, but didn't scold us, just said that we needed to move to second class, which we did.

Modern high-rise buildings with mirrored glass facades against an overcast sky, in front of which a yellow multi-directional road sign is installed.

Rotterdam

The blue building of the Rotterdam Centraal railway station under an overcast sky, in front of which stands a pole with a clock and streetlights. On the right is an informational poster in Dutch about the construction of a transport terminal.

I like the Rotterdam station

At the Rotterdam station info booth I immediately figured out how to get to the Hook of Holland port, and which station to get off at, but by evening I forgot everything, and buying the next ticket turned into long deliberations, because we were buying it right on the platform at a machine, and the info booth was closed.

Modern city skyscrapers with dark mirrored glazing under an overcast sky, in front of which a tall pole with a street surveillance camera is installed.

There are skyscrapers in Rotterdam

A modern silver RET tram of route 20 "Rotterdam Centraal" turns on the rails on an overcast day against the backdrop of tall city buildings and autumn trees.

Took a little ride on the Tram, looked at the surroundings

A large black statue of Santa Claus holding an anal plug towers over a city square. Pedestrians, old buildings, a bicycle, and a streetlight under an overcast sky are visible in the background.

Strolled along the central shopping street

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A cute detail on the left in the foreground.  Europe!

 

A dark classic Citroën DS car is parked on cobblestones in the evening, against the backdrop of illuminated shop windows and other cars.

Stylish rides

A tall multi-story building made of gray brick and concrete with long rows of zigzagging balconies recedes into the distance under an overcast sky. Tree branches with autumn foliage are visible on the left side of the shot.

Different buildings

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The clock is bigger than ours and the color suits the building

A top-down view of a busy city pedestrian street at dusk, surrounded by modern buildings, including a tall glass skyscraper. Many pedestrians are walking down the street, which is decorated with festive lights and temporary barriers.

Futuristic curves

A busy shopping street under a twilight sky, decorated for the holidays with garlands, lights, and hanging gift boxes. Pedestrians walk past shops, and a modern skyscraper with blue glazing can be seen in the background.

The prices, though, are not for us

Another story happened at the station. The ticket machines accept debit cards, coins, and all sorts of other things. But they refused to deal with my “Visa Classic” credit card. Usually there is at least one that eats it, in Amsterdam there was even more than one. But in Rotterdam, for some reason, out of probably a dozen machines, not a single one would eat my credit card. Almost like Japan, where they say European cards are hardly accepted anywhere, except at the post office and Citibank.

Two open hands cupped together, holding several euro coins of various denominations.

In the end, I think we bought the ticket at the ticket counter using banknotes, barely had enough money

An illuminated blue sign with the inscription 'Hoek van Holland Haven' on a railway platform at night, surrounded by darkness and lit by a lone streetlight.

Here's the final stop, boarding the ferry is next

Our station is called Haven, the town and port are there. While the final one  is Strand, which is just a beach. It would've been a laugh if we had gotten off at the beach at night, and had to run for kilometers to the ferry. Luckily, we met a young guy on the platform in Rotterdam, and he explained everything. The world is not without kind people — that's one, you should always ask and double-check everything with everyone, even if it's scary and you're shy — that's two.

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