Stationsplein. "Paris is still far away", you bet at least 400 kilometers or a 2,5 hr train ride with the Thalys.

Noordplein. Cooking heaven Kookpunt is rebuilding and has lots of summer festivities planned. A couple of days ago we were there when several suppliers of beautiful cheeses, wines, bread, vinegar and oil, pesto's, oysters, biological cherries, you name it presented itself. Lekker!!

Museumpark. Yesterday the travelling festival De Parade was touring for its last day in Rotterdam. After Rotterdam it will visit Den Haag, Utrecht en Amsterdam, and if you (and/or your children) want to have a good time, go visit!

Overschiese Dorpsstraat, museum Overschie. Because of the river De Schie, people have been living in this part of Rotterdam since 929. Now this typical kitchen is not that old, but I see a lot of stuff my grandparents (who by now would be up in their nineties) had.

View on the grass of war memorial Loods (shed) 24 where during WWII jews were gathered to be deported to Westerbork, Sobibor or Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Kruisplein. Cr Cr Cr Cranes talking..... (click here for the Bee Gees)

Weena. A typical saying by Lance Armstrong; pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever. The whole of the Central Station is covered by all sorts of text related to the Tour de France. Just a couple more weeks now before that circus hits our city.

Driving over the ring around Rotterdam on the A16, you cannot miss the huge orange football on the Bastion Hotel. All Bastion hotels serve a free drink for every Dutch goal. Who can predict the outcome of the match tomorrow night against Cameroon?

View on the Dutch Delta Design water hub. Rotterdam gets the National Centre for Water that will be opened in 2012 and these floating balls will be transported to other parts of the harbour to attract attention to it.

Antoine Platenkade, Restaurant Ono. I have to be quick with taking photo's of food in my family coz it will be attacked and gone in no time.

Abraham van Stolkweg. The Rotterdam animal pension not only houses cats and dogs but all species abondened. Now that the ferrets produce certain hormones they (start to) smell and for some that is reason enough to bring them to a pension. Look before you leap!

My place. We have to play against Japan this afternoon and will enjoy some orange Pringoals ;) while watching the match.

Westzeedijk. "If you cannot loose, you cannot win either" a quote from Gerrie Knetemann on the Kunsthal.

Gerrie Knetemann was a Dutch road bicycle racer who won the 1978 World Championship.
A four-time winner of the Ronde van Nederland, he also rode the Tour de France 11 times between 1974 and 1987, winning 10 stages, a Dutch record equalled only by Jan Raas and Joop Zoetemelk. Knetemann won 127 races as a professional.

Knetemann maintained an Amsterdam accent and a sharp sense of humour that made him a favourite with reporters and earned him television and radio appearances. His best year in the Tour de France was 1978, when he led from the sixth stage. Although he lost the leader's yellow yersey two days later, he won the stage into Lausanne and then the final stage on the Champs Elysées in Paris.

Abraham van Stolkweg,A teacher from the Schaats Vereniging Rotterdam is showing her pupils the exact way to position your (inline) skates when making a corner. Rotterdam no longer has an inline (ice) skate hall which is a great shame.

Heemraadspark. During the summer period there are always nice events/festivals/concerts in parcs throughout Rotterdam. I stumbled upon this group doing various fairy tales.

Museumpark. With the Tour coming up I already showed you several decorated buildings but this is from a couple of days ago when some guys were doing an "urban bike polo" demo in front of the Kunsthal.

These are some friends of my daughter this morning. It goes without saying today is D Day for the Dutch. We play our first match, against Denmark, this afternoon. Not only are schools stopping with lessons, I am guessing a lot of employers have put huge screens up for their workers. Hup Holland Hup!

BREAKING NEWS: 2-0 !!!!

Het Kasteel van Sparta. The name "Het Kasteel" (The Castle) is derived from the small building with two small towers in the stadium and is the only authentical remain of the original design built in 1916. Het Kasteel is the stadium for one of Rotterdam's finest football clubs: Sparta.

Roel Langerakpark. Playground De Speeldernis (a variation on the Wilderness) is a 'wild' playground with lots of (muddy) water, bushes, bridges, sand and 'natural' play elements. There's this fireplace for instance above which you can pop corn. A little heaven for children small and big.

Nieuwe Binneweg. I don't think anyone could have missed the World Championship soccer (we say football) starting today. As we are in group E we will have to wait a couple of more days, but this bridal shop is all ready for it.

Heemraadsplein. Tonight is the 4th and thus last night of the so called Avond4daagse. 4 nights in a row, (school) children all over the country (and their tired parents as you can see) walk between 5 and 10 kilometer per night (the same set distance each night). At the end there are flowers, a medal and maybe even a small urge to exercise more and become healthier.

Schouwburgplein. I hesitated about this photo. For about a second :) She was falling quite a bit and I was still parking my bike and all the time praying she would still be in the light by the time I had my camera out.

Another Tour indicator. The road to Paris (which usually costs a biker slightly more than 400 kilometers from Rotterdam) will cost the tour bikers 3,641 kilometers!

Willemskade. They moved the statue of tsar Peter de Great some 30 mtrs onwards on the quay. He does have a nice view now.

1e Middellandstraat. The special tram for le Grand Depart (the prologue) of the Tour de France that will start in Rotterdam this year. Also to persuade people to come to the spectacle using public transport because half of the city will be closed off for a couple of days I guess.

's-Gravendijkwal, Asparagus @ restaurant Soit. In North Western Europe the white asparagus are far more common than the green and they are eaten boiled or steamed and served with Hollandaise sauce (as seen here) or with melted butter or olive oil. A lot of Dutch people eat them with ham and eggs.

Hofplein. I usually have my camera with me while downtown, and these 2 guys asked me to take their photo while we were waiting for the traffic light. Sure, why not.

Honingerdijk. I found these flowers in the botanical garden Trompenburg a little while ago.

My place. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Suzanne van Bebberen and I swear we had someone playing on the keyboards you see behind her too: Carlo van der Put. Suzanne performed for us some more classical opera pieces from Le nozze di Figaro and Carmen, but also songs from Kiss me Kate and the musical Closer than ever. An evening worth repeating.

My place. The 1st of the the month and therefor theme day again. Today: (funny) signs.
And although not really funny, for me it is very exciting coz this is the sign I have attached to my window and which says; Opera at my house. Yes!! How cool is that!!
It's the Rotterdam Opera Days, with shows in classical theatres, but also at some stranger's place like mine; it's all depending on the weather if it's going to be my living room or the garden. Of course I will show you the photo of it tomorrow.
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