Rotterdam

Port of Rotterdam

• Posted by Rob (#1) on November 27, 2007 16:49 CET

Yeah, yeah, we all know that Rotterdam has a large port. Perhaps not the world's largest in tonnage anymore, but definitely the largest in Europe. And it looks amazing in Google Earth.

Let's begin with a parking lot, just to make sure you have a familiar frame of reference:

That was the ECT parking lot. ECT is a company that deals with a few containers:

A few? Okay, maybe more than a few:

Definitely more than a few. But ECT is just one part of the port, there is plenty of room for coal/bulk cargo and refineries as well:

And that's just the (reclaimed) Maasvlakte area of the port.. the indusry actually stretches out to downtown Rotterdam. Which is all the way to the right, more than 20 miles/30 kilometers land-inwards:

Nice.

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• Tags: Rotterdam, Google Earth, port, ECT
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Enter Shikari tonight

• Posted by Rob (#1) on June 26, 2007 14:16 CEST

Going to the pub last night (and Sunday, and Saturday, and Friday) might not have been such a brilliant idea because I'm rather knackered and Enter Shikari is playing at Waterfront tonight so I won't have a chance to get much sleep.

Sucks to be me! ;)

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• Tags: Rotterdam, Waterfront, pub, Enter Shikari
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Information on Nighttown bankrupty

• Posted by Rob (#1) on July 27, 2006 19:50 CEST

Is Rotterdam club Nighttown bankrupt? Yes, definitely. But there's talk of a possible restart, so rock enthousiasts need not worry if (like me) they have tickets for one thing are the other. Good news!

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Happy 666!

• Posted by Rob (#1) on June 6, 2006 06:06 CEST

It's 6/6/6! Reason for a party, especially over here: Rotterdam turns 666 today. However some people take 666 a bit too seriously:

Yvonne Colon-Stewart, who is nine months pregnant with a boy, didn't give the date a second thought, until a friend brought it up. "I think it's only natural that parents wouldn't want their baby born on the day that's marked for the Devil," said Yvonne.

Aw. Poor woman. Tonight it'll be 666Fest at the Melkweg for me, with Alexisonfire and more music of the devil aka rock and roll.

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• Tags: Rotterdam, Melkweg, Alexisonfire, Satan
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Rotterdamist

• Posted by Rob (#1) on March 14, 2006 17:02 CET

I should write more about Rotterdam developments. Cranes for new highrise buildings appear throughout half the city while other huge redevelopment plans are underway as well. Such as an extension of the subway to the northwest, to be fully integrated with the The Hague tram network. A new central station which also links Rotterdam (and Amsterdam) to the high speed rail network offering faster (rail) travel times to Brussels, London and Paris. New clubs, restaurants and coffee houses (read: coffee, not marijuana) are rapidly appearing.

Maybe I should read Londonist more closely again and work on a multi-user journal system (again) where friends and myself can post similar news and events on Rotterdam. It's an idea I can't seem to let go, even though most of the time I don't seem to be willing to put effort into it.

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• Tags: Rotterdam, RandstadRail, HSL, Londonist, Rotterdamist
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Sparta Rotterdam 3 - Willem II Tilburg 2

• Posted by Rob (#1) on February 25, 2006 21:50 CET

Superbly played by the Rotterdam side even though they should've converted more chances to secure the win way earlier than the 85th minute. A win despite a last minute goal against, putting Sparta clear of the competition and relatively safe. Good chance the team won't have to play the relegation playoffs! And with Excelsior still doing well in the 1st division there's might just be three Rotterdam teams in the premier league again next season.

Wicked. And time for another Irish coffee!

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"The war has started"

• Posted by Rob (#1) on November 15, 2005 03:25 CET

A case of French-style arons in my home town:

The Telegraaf newspaper reported that masked youths shouting slogans in Arabic were behind the firebombing of cars in the Vreewijk and Hillesluis areas of Rotterdam South.

Locals told the conservative daily that the youths had shouted in Arabic, 'The war has started.'

Police reported no arrests and would not speculate on whether Moslem youths were behind the incident.

Ten cars were destroyed and a further 11 damaged. The Telegraaf reported that firebombs were also thrown at houses. Broken beer bottles used to make the firebombs littered the street, the paper said.

An unnamed eyewitness told the paper that around 25 youths were involved.

I know very well that these were probably just a bunch of bored youths with copy-cat behaviour and that large scale rioting is not likely here, as has been proven by the absence of incidents the past two nights. So I don't really care about that.

What I do care about: why does a bunch of bored youths yell "the war has started". As if they like the tensions that became visible after the murders of Fortuyn and van Gogh. As if they like the violence between cultures that became so visible on 9/11 and many times since, although existing long before.

What I do care about: why is it that "National public radio ignored the incidents." when such behaviour, copy-cat or not, should be exposed and terminated?

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• Tags: Rotterdam, radicalism, riots
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Weekend musings

• Posted by Rob (#1) on May 1, 2005 21:57 CEST

Last March I rolled around in a foot of snow after a gig. As much fun as that was, I'm glad this weekend delivered plenty of warm weather instead.

On Friday I went to see Alexisonfire and Rise Against at Nighttown. The former were absolutely fab and I ended up buying a hoodie of theirs. Having wasted most of the cash I brought on beer, I actually paid for it with British pounds. I'm always trying to pull off something special, I suppose. Not that I actually pulled a bird, maybe because I am becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the Dutch punk rock scene. Guys and girls are really going over the top with their appearance as if rock music is all about fitting in with a subculture. Don't get me wrong, I like piercings, tunnels, tattoos, dyed hair and all that - I'm guilty as charged for three of them. But when every single person in a crowd is starting to look the same it is becoming somewhat lame. At least bring some individuality to the floor! The audience was not alone in exposing "been-there, done-that" behaviour though: Rise Against could not resist throwing in some anti-Bush sentiments into their performance. That too is getting a bit tiresome, folks. I probably would have yawned even if my political interests had not given me a more nuanced opinion than "war is bad, even when it spawns democracy".

Little criticism of government on Saturday: half of Rotterdam was dressed in orange, paying tribute to our unelected head of state for Queen's Day. Highlights of the afternoon were almost ending up in the middle of some small riots between violent drunks and the police at Stadhuisplein and seeing a lot of immigrants wearing orange head scarves. Cute. Went out for a quick drink at night but didn't stay out for too long: the forecasts for Sunday were good so I had to be up at a reasonable hour to work on my tan, which I did. Ended the weekend with some shopping: a book, a DVD and some groceries.

It's dark again outside, but my skin is still glowing from the sunshine. Can't wait until next weekend and I hope it will provide the same amount of fun, beer and sun!

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• Tags: Rotterdam, Nighttown, Alexisonfire, Rise Against, Queens Day, tanning
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