Magical World #24: Join me on a tour through the largest port of Europe

Unique Selling Point

Netherlands is full of water. A lot of the land lies below sea level. And our city of Rotterdam has the largest port in Europe. Which is rather special, and today we went on this little outing to learn more about it. So we did a tour by boat, which took us out of the city center and into the port area. The weather was wonderful, and because it was late afternoon, the lighting perfect. I'll share some of our experiences of the day and hope you'll be enjoying them too!

Waiting to go on board. Husband in the black shirt.

I liked the structure they had put up where people get on the boat, with the triangular shapes. The company we went with is Spido, located just beside the Erasmus Bridge (white one in the back).

Erasmus Bridge

After we got on and found ourself a decent spot on the top deck (swapped seats two times to avoid noisy families - some people are just really loud), the boat took off and we first headed in the direction of our home. We crossed below the Erasmus Bridge, and I thought I'd get to take a close-up of our house which is just next to it. But the boat started turning even before we were out of arm's length from the bridge. So no nice pictures of our home. But I did get to take some shots of the Erasmus Bridge from a fresh perspective.

Bridge from below!

And from even more below.

Moving out of town

As we headed the other way and out of the city center, I was moderately interested in taking pictures of the view from the water. I enjoyed watching the scenery, but most of the more remarkable buildings and views I've tried taking pictures of before. And I was looking forward to the port area and taking pictures there. Still, some of these images turned out rather nice:

Hotel New York and construction work on Katendrecht

Modern architecture and the Euromast in Delfshaven area

What I like about tours or outings like this, is I always learn something new about my city. For instance, I learned that the green domes on either side of the river Maas are the ventilation shafts for the traffic tunnel that lies below the river. Apparently this Maastunnel was the very first car tunnel built in Netherlands, built between 1937 and 1942. The ventilation shafts are 60 meters high, of which 26 meters below and 34 meters above ground (if I remember correctly, coudn't find any info online to confirm this).

One of the green dome ventilation buildings

And I now finally know where our Rotterdam beach is located. And I now also know what to expect of it, lol. Because it's tiny, but well yes, it is a beach. Historically this area is where people were kept who came back to Europe from overseas, carrying contagious disease. Now those barracks are artists' ateliers.

Rotterdam's quarantine beach

At last we were getting close to... the Port of Rotterdam

Companions

Before sharing about the main topic of this post, I have to introduce you to some of our fellow travellers on board. I don't know why their owners took them along. I don't know how pleasant boat rides are for dogs. But they actually seemed really fine with it, and they were two fabulous animals!

The white dog was huge

Didn't seem tense about the trip. At all

This one had such a beautiful face!

Port of Rotterdam

Then we got to the port area! And it was all that I had hoped for! So many colours and shapes and impressive industry and huge sized ships and massive tools for working on the ships and their cargo.

When we turned the corner and went into the harbour, first thing we met was this huge ship. Seemed to be pulled by the little boat in front, see the pulling line?

Back of the same ship, too large for in one shot ;)

When you see them like this, you tend to forget the size of those containers. But I've been to photography expo's held inside units like these.

Machinery

In the port area, there is so much to see. It's not just the ships and their cargo, but also all the containers sitting around, the machines used for (off)loading the cargo, the installations used for repair. One of the first things we passed were the dry docks. For a ship to be repaired in one of these, they first pump it full with water so it sinks low enough for the ship to enter. Then they pump the water out, moving the ship upwards, ready for repair.

One of the dry dock stations

They told us that every year, 300 million ton of cargo is being moved through the Port of Rotterdam. Around 125.000 sea ships and 155.000 inland ships come and go per year. All of that requires some equipment, of course.

The blue unit has a mechanism to lift a container, transport it along the rail, then drop it in the back

Close-up of the container grabbing machine

Here you can see the container being lifted, with a different kind of mechanism.

Size matters

To move that 300 million ton of cargo every year, it's not just that equipment is required. There's a lot of equipment required. As we were moving through the port area, I was impressed by the rows upon rows of machines. And we were there in the weekend, afternoon turning into evening, but the work was going on. The harbour is a 24/7 kind of workplace.

So many machines...

... and more machines...

... and more.

Details

As usual, for taking pictures, I was holding our Canon G7X. Husband was using the Nikon D90, and eventually a stronger zoom lens and captured some nice port area details.

Tiny submarine on the back of one of the huge container ships

The sign says this machine can lift 40 ton in weight 40 meters high, or 60 ton upto 25.5 meters high

Close-up of the control room

Detail of the on-deck storing mechanisms

And, of course, containers

Husband working on the close-ups. Had put on his sweater by then. The sun was out and the temperatures were fine, but the wind was strong and chilly.

SS Rotterdam

After touring around through the port area for a bit, we headed back in the direction of the Erasmus Bridge. Before getting there, we made a small detour to have a closer look at the SS Rotterdam, the biggest passenger ship Netherlands ever had, no longer in use now except as a hotel and restaurant and tourist destination. I've been on deck of this ship before. But again, it's nice to have a different perspective: from the water it showed again how huge this vessel is.

228 meters long, weighing close to 40,000 ton. View from the back.

10 decks, with a swimming pool on the top

For an impression of its height. Of course, the bridge and buildings in the back are farther away, so little out of perspective. But that tree is a high tree - and the ship is higher.

View from the front

Closing in on the city center

We were now getting close to the end of the tour, heading back into the city center. The view from the water allowed for some really nice city skyline shots. I'm very sure that many of my Steemit friends live in places with skylines which are way more impressive. But for Netherlands, the skyline of Rotterdam is one of the best we have ;).

Just before rounding the final corner to go into the city center. The green dome is the ventilation building I told you about before.

After rounding that same corner. This picture has Rotterdam's three most famous bridges in it: the white one is the Erasmus, the red one the Willemsbrug, the green one is the Hef.

The buildings are in an area of town called Kop van Zuid

Time well spent

I really enjoyed the tour, perfect way to spend the (late) afternoon. If you ever get to visit Rotterdam, I'd recommend something like this, so you get to see the city from the water's perspective and you'll get some idea about the port and what happens there. Hope you enjoyed the port area as much as I did, thanks for reading!

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Magical World Series

This is post #24 in the Magical World Series. With these posts, I hope to add a little happiness and light-heartedness to your day. There is magic in every little corner of the world. And if we share it with each other, it does really brighten up the place!

Some earlier posts in this series:

• The natural wonders of the Caves of Hotton
• Where are and fashion meet, Viktor and Rolf in de Kunsthal Rotterdam

All content is created by me (with a little help from my husband for photography), and Steemit original. Camera's: Canon G7X and Nikon D90. Thanks for your support!