Weena, the weather is still winter-ly though no more snow or ice are expected. Pity.

Schiedamsedijk, view on the Robeco builing used as an urban screen during the filmfestival. Only 2 more days people if you want to visit the festival. Go!!

Pannekoekstraat. As far as I know, these 2 shops have nothing to do with each other. I just thought their combined names looked funny.

Prinses Beatrixpark, Schiedam.
Apparently more and more children have no idea where their pre-packed and/or pre-cut meat and vegetables come from. My children are a bit wiser :) but still love to visit a petting zoo to feed the chickens, caress the donkeys or help clean a horse.

Weena. I have tried, but couldn't find anything on the artist behind these paper/woollen, almost life size dolls. One day they were just there.

Zwembad Oostervant.
That's my daughter ready to jump into the pool for her B diploma. As you can see, the first part has to be done with longsleeved pants, shirts and shoes. Because the Netherlands has a lot of water (sea, canals, rivers) most parents start with swimming lessons for their children at the age of 4 or 5. The aim is at least one diploma, but preferably all three ABC.
The requirements are more severe than when I was 4, because a lot of children (or parents) want to quit after their first diploma and school swimming is no longer mandatory.
Anyway, she got her diploma!!

Weena. Something simply caught my eye. Courtesy of my son Timo who shot this.

Hofplein. Can you see the guy? This is what the fountain looks like when it's on. I guess you have maintenance for everything. The Hilton in the back btw is the hotel that Michael Jackson stayed in when he did his Bad Tour in '88 and visited Rotterdam. I worked across the hotel and was amazed by the dozens of girls that would be screaming or simply sitting on the ground before the hotel, every hour of the day.
And yes, I got to see the show and it was a GREAT show :)

Schouwburgplein, big city lights. Especially the pink lit 'Doelen' home of the present International Filmfestival.

Eendrachtsplein, Santa Claus.
This statue that was made in 2001 has never aroused much enthousiasm once it was done. It is supposed to be Santa Claus with a christmas tree in its hand, but even Wikipedia is not buying that.
After endless discussions and protests from both entrepeneurs and habitants, the statue was placed last November on this square.

Lijnbaan, bookstore Donner. Not only in Washington people were moved. Obama (and let's not forget Mrs. O. whose biography is on display here) speaks to a lot of hearts and i was truly touched when i heard his speech yesterday.

The "Veerhaven' with the Erasmusbridge in the middle.

the international Filmfestival Rotterdam starts in a few days. Hundreds of movies, urban screens in the city, a horror house and lots more. Make sure to get your tickets in time!

Heuvellaan, the lounge of restaurant Parkheuvel, the only Rotterdam restaurant with 2 Michelin stars.

Central Station, men @ work.
Rotterdam Central is an important transport interchange. With 110,000 passengers a day, the station area processes as many people as Schiphol Airport. As well as the connection to the European network of high-speed trains (HSL-South), Rotterdam Central will have links to the light rail system RandstadRail. With the advent of the HSL-South and RandstadRail, the number of travellers at Rotterdam Central is expected to have increased in 2025 to around 323,000 a day.
As you can see though, we are not there yet.

Binnerotte. Who in his right mind is going to the market, buys vegetables and fruits and then thinks, hey, why not get me a wedding dress?

Kralingse Bos, the temperature is above zero these days, but when i took this shot 3 days ago, this tree still looked frozen.

Binnerotte. With the severe cold of the past week, it may take some time for your flowerbulbs to come above ground. If you don't want to wait that long, there are always tulips at the market.

Kralingse Plas. The weather has been so gorgeous these past days that thousands of people took the opportunity to skate on natural ice. It has been ages since i was able too and we enjoyed ourselves a lot.

Binnerotte, market. Somehow I saw a resemblance.

Hoogstraat. I ran into this demonstration yesterday. The Gaza-Israel to me is the center of all the conflicts between West and the Arabic world and I wish there would be peace at last.

View on the Lloyds area, with the Euromast, and the Theater building in the front

Rechter Rottekade, the winter hit us hard this year, with all the joy (such as skating) that comes with it. It'll freeze at least until Sunday and everyone is openly or secretly hoping for an Elfstedentocht/an eleven cities tour.

Beukelsdijk, the mail man's bike with a lot of elastic bands with which he keeps the envelops for the same street together.

Westersingel, this canal has been pimped with several statues a couple of years ago and gives a nice view on the sun lit Westin hotel.

Van Oldenbarneveltstraat, No it is not Summer for a long time to come, but I love this flower shop.

Breitnersingel, a frozen ornament on a bridge and skaters in the back.

Breitnersingel, Put your skates on and go!

View on the Bergse Plas with the same windmill in the middle that i showed you from another side, 2 days ago.
It's been pretty cold lately, which does give nice photo's though.

Westewagenstraat
This area, near the Veerhaven, still shows some of the ancient and rich details from the 18th century.

Today's theme is the best photo of 2008.
Apart from the theme days that always generate more traffic for me, I have looked at which photo got the most comments. I know, that definition of the best is arbitrary, but hey, it's my show so..

The thing is; these photo's ended almost equal, and for me, represent Rotterdam and its surrounding better:

The Van Brienenoordbridge

and on a totally different level, de Bergse Rechter Rottekade:



But if i am fair and follow my own rules; this photo generated the most comments:
I guess this is the top 3 then.

Want to see what the other cities have to offer? Click here to view thumbnails for all participants