The Stairs (De Trap) outside Rotterdam Central Station
Rotterdam has a new sight, right outside of the Rotterdam Central Station. The Stairs, which were temporary built in honor of the 75th anniversary of
the reconstruction of the city of Rotterdam, will be staying - after an
extension of a week - until 19 June 2016. You can still get on the stairs for free, daily from 10:00 until 22:00.
I went there on a rainy day and going up wasn't really as exhausting as I thought. I had more trouble controlling my fear of heights. >_<
The steps of the stairs are made of wooden plates and with every step I took, it wobbled a bit. The rain also made the steps a bit slippery, so the thought of falling off the stairs kind of crossed my mind for many times. Needless to say, I didn't make it to the top. I think I walked up around 3/4 of the stairs and I already consider it as a major accomplishment since my heart was beating really fast the whole time.
For the brave who do make it up the roof of the historic building, the Groothandelsgebouw, awaits - besides the amazing view - a variety of movies, debates, and performances in the former movie theater, Kriterion, a place to sit and eat, and an information desk with all the info you need about the "Rotterdam viert de stad!" campaign, which celebrates the 75 years of development of the city.
Even though I was only standing on the stairs at 3/4 of its full height, the view was already very beautiful. For the first time, I discovered that there were pyramid shaped windows on the roof of the Central Station building!
From that high up, people looked like ants and the trams looked like the model trains I used to play with as a child.
This is how the Rotterdam Central station building looks like from the front. The pointy shape actually looks a bit like the hair of Ran from the manga Detective Conan.
The stairs are located on the left of the Rotterdam Central Station building (on the right when you exit the building).
Not too far away, there is the Schouwburgplein, which has large, red crane like lampposts, which refers to the cranes in the famous harbor of Rotterdam.
In the back, you can see the artwork "De Nieuwe Rotterdammer", which is a statue of a giant baby. It represents the birth of another new Rotterdam citizen and new developments in the city.
At the Schouwburgplein, there is also a potato fries stand, Schipper, which has won the prize of the best fries in Rotterdam in 2015 and 2016, awarded by the newspaper, het Algemeen Dagblad. The fries have a nice crunch - not soft or soggy from the oil - and a different oil flavor than I am used to, but I wasn't blown away by it. It could be that I normally eat a lot of good fries or that they mainly won the prize because of their consistent quality. There weren't any burned pieces and every piece was perfectly fried golden brown without any too hard or too soft parts.
I went there on a rainy day and going up wasn't really as exhausting as I thought. I had more trouble controlling my fear of heights. >_<
The steps of the stairs are made of wooden plates and with every step I took, it wobbled a bit. The rain also made the steps a bit slippery, so the thought of falling off the stairs kind of crossed my mind for many times. Needless to say, I didn't make it to the top. I think I walked up around 3/4 of the stairs and I already consider it as a major accomplishment since my heart was beating really fast the whole time.
For the brave who do make it up the roof of the historic building, the Groothandelsgebouw, awaits - besides the amazing view - a variety of movies, debates, and performances in the former movie theater, Kriterion, a place to sit and eat, and an information desk with all the info you need about the "Rotterdam viert de stad!" campaign, which celebrates the 75 years of development of the city.
Even though I was only standing on the stairs at 3/4 of its full height, the view was already very beautiful. For the first time, I discovered that there were pyramid shaped windows on the roof of the Central Station building!
From that high up, people looked like ants and the trams looked like the model trains I used to play with as a child.
This is how the Rotterdam Central station building looks like from the front. The pointy shape actually looks a bit like the hair of Ran from the manga Detective Conan.
The stairs are located on the left of the Rotterdam Central Station building (on the right when you exit the building).
Not too far away, there is the Schouwburgplein, which has large, red crane like lampposts, which refers to the cranes in the famous harbor of Rotterdam.
In the back, you can see the artwork "De Nieuwe Rotterdammer", which is a statue of a giant baby. It represents the birth of another new Rotterdam citizen and new developments in the city.
At the Schouwburgplein, there is also a potato fries stand, Schipper, which has won the prize of the best fries in Rotterdam in 2015 and 2016, awarded by the newspaper, het Algemeen Dagblad. The fries have a nice crunch - not soft or soggy from the oil - and a different oil flavor than I am used to, but I wasn't blown away by it. It could be that I normally eat a lot of good fries or that they mainly won the prize because of their consistent quality. There weren't any burned pieces and every piece was perfectly fried golden brown without any too hard or too soft parts.
