Fine with sunny periods early, clouding over and dull with drizzle later, 19-24deg.
The predicted thunderstorm for yesterday afternoon finally arrived at 4am this morning cooling the place down . The locals, like us, were pleased about that, although they did come out in droves for various water-sports and to worship the sun yesterday.
Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe and one of the worlds busiest. It started life as a Dam on the Rotte River and was settled in the first century. The metro area has a population of around 1.2 million. It's called The Gateway to Europe because of its delta of the Rhine/Meuse/Scheldt Rivers giving shipping extensive access throughout. It was bombed to oblivion in 1940 when the Dutch refused to surrender to the invading Nazis. The city was rebuilt between 1950 and 70 so it's quite modern. They left plenty of parks and gardens to the extent that it's now the greenest city in Holland.
We started our foot tour of the city about 9am and finished about 1pm. Sunday is perfect for this as there are very few people around to get in the way of a potentially good photo. Unfortunately the sun stayed behind the clouds most of the time giving the photos a wishy washy look . However even a dull photo is better than two old farts (well at least one) trying to remember what they say and when. Nevertheless we had a fascinating few hours seeing plenty of boats (both old & new), canals, ports, bridges, interesting architecture, parks and gardens, street sculpture, towers and one lonely church. Compared to the many we have seen previously on this tour the church was relatively small and modest. It does have the oldest (1622) bronze statue in Holland within its forecourt. It's of Erasmus, from Rotterdam, a famous 15th century humanist philosopher who has come to symbolize the city of his birth.
It was then back to our room (they had moved us into an aircon one while we were out) for a cuppa, a LLD and watch the finish of Stage 15 of Le Tour. An exciting finish, if only Jack Bauer, NZ, could have held on for another 50m. But that is typical of Le Tour, lead for 200km and get beaten on the line.
Dinner was our normal simple Sunday night affair, pizza/fish & chips.