Rugby, Rotterdam & Beer

What to do when you are on the other side of the world and feeling sad?  Go to Rotterdam on a Saturday, of course.  So we went, on an overcast Saturday morning, to look at the architecture of Rotterdam and (we thought) to see, close-up, one of the seven wonders of the modern world, the sea-wall defences of Rotterdam’s harbour and beyond.  These things allow the marine wetlands to remain marine, but can be closed in times of storm-surge to protect the land from the worst of the North-sea fury.  Fury indeed – in 1212, a storm-surge flood killed 60,00o people here.  Since the ninth century, there have been twenty-eight major flooding events, each one killing thousands of people.  That’s nearly three times per century.  The last biggie was in 1953, with 1800 deaths.

So we were keen to see first-hand what the Dutch have come up with to protect themselves and the natural environment at the same time.  Alas – our research was inadequate – we arrived in Rotterdam at ten AM to find out that the defences are actually 96 km from Rotterdam, and that the next public transport opportunity would have us arrive at three PM.  And that the whole shebang is closed to the public at 5:30 PM.  We also found that they all-day guided tours of all of the sea defences, but only on a Wednesday!  (Oh well, we will plan a break later this month and go there on a Tuesday evening, do the tour on the Wednesday and carry on to Belgium to visit Brugge and Antwerp and maybe Ghent.)  So, what to do next, in Rotterdam with no other plans?

We had a coffee, then went to an information centre where we found that there is a Matariki exhibition of Maori artefacts in one of the main centres.  What a fine irony, we thought, let’s go there.  Bugger – one has to make an appointment two days in advance.  (Sigh) – add that to the plans for the return visit.

OK, that leaves the architecture.  When the Nazis invaded the Netherlands in 1940, they gave the Dutch an ultimatum – surrender or we’ll bomb Rotterdam into oblivion.  The Dutch, knowing what the Germans had done in other countries, and without air defences, did the wise thing – they surrendered.  The Nazis went on ahead and destroyed Rotterdam anyway, with no apparent reason other than to demonstrate to the rest of the world that they could.  After the war, Rotterdam was rebuilt in a modern style.  Now, there are two ways to do build large-scale in a modern style.  One is to do it as cheaply and unimaginatively as possible – that’s what the Belgians did in Brussels, a town so ugly that the French coined the term “Bruxellation” to mean any very ugly urban reconstruction.  Brussels in not in our Belgium “must-see” list.  The other way is to insist on high standards in both aspects of architecture – functional engineering and art.  That’s what they did in Rotterdam.  And in their own way, the buildings of Rotterdam are as admirable as the fine old buildings of our beloved Haarlem.  We saw, we marvelled, we photographed, until we grew hungry.

On a whim, we turned away from the complex of buildings close to the station, toward the centre of town.  On the way was an Irish pub called O’Sheas Rotterdam showing the Bledisloe Cup match on a huge screen.  We had a table with a great view of the action, ate lunch and had a couple of drinks – dry whites for my Darling and pints of Guinness for me.  Served in plastic glasses, for heaven’s sake, as there was a Carribean summer carnival beginning in town, and the police didn’t want drunken hoons using beer or wine-glasses as weapons.  While we were there enjoying the food, atmosphere and the game along with a group of very happy Kiwis and some very quiet others (Ockers, perhaps?), four armed police arrived.  One stood outside while the other three went through the bar to ensure nobody was drinking from a glass.  The All Blacks triumphed over the Wallabies, to our great pleasure, and on screen Graham Henry raised his arms in delight while Robbie Deans frowned.

It feels very satisfying, to be half-way around the world and and able to watch the Bledisloe, especially when you did not even know it was on at that time.  And especially when the ABs win.

Tags: AB's, All Blacks, Bledisloe Cup, Bruxellation, Carribean Carnival, celebrations, Irish Pub, north Sea, Ockers, Rotterdam, Rugby, sea-wall defences, seven wonders of the modern world, Wallabies