Look out over Rotterdam and the river, feel the salt air coming from the North Sea, and watch countless cargo ships motor by and you might just get an idea how vital the sea is to this Dutch city. And one of the best ways to get a feel for the role the sea has played in Rotterdam’s history is to visit the Maritime Museum, says Tomas Mowlam

Right on the river at Leuvehaven 1, Waterstad, the museum covers the entire port’s history.

Rotterdam first flourished as a vital Spanish port, then in the Spanish Netherlands, during the religious wars of the 16th Century.

After the long war against Spain for independence, the new Netherlands transformed itself into a rich and powerful merchant nation. The Dutch navy ranged through the East Indies, exploring strange new lands and making a fortune in the process.

Rotterdam remained a vital port, but was savagely bombed by the Luftwaffe during WWII as a warning to resisters. Today it is the busiest container port in Europe and the world’s seventh largest port.

There is plenty for the kids to enjoy, learn and play with including the museum ship, the Buffel, a Dutch Naval Frigate from 1868.

New exhibitions running include Animals on board. A look at how animals have crossed oceans, hitching a lift on boats. The family exhibition gives you a chance to “hoist a cow onto the quay, help look after the animals, play the droppings game and shell out for a dodo drumstick at meal time in the galley.”

MainPort Live brings the grandeur of the old back to the centre of the city. As the port has grown it has moved farther and farther from the heart of the city, MainPort Live brings the hustle and bustle back to the many stately ships moored in the river in the centre of town.

Glamour on the Waves exhibition looks at the classier side of life on the ocean wave, with six luxury boat interiors from the past century of luxury boat building.

Open 10am -5pm Tuesday to Saturday, 11am-5pm Sunday.

Image Credit: JeHu68

Tags: Netherlands, P&O Ferries, Uncategorized by Gabriel Grant
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All aboard, as Tomas Mowlam experiences the delights of the grand age of steam trains at Utrecht’s Spoorwegmuseum.

The Spoorwegmuseum is an immersion into the world of trains from the very start, as you enter through the restored 19th Century Maliebaan station, and buy your entrance tickets at the old ticket booth.

The first ‘land’, The Great Discovery takes you back to 1800, to the coal mines and the birth of steam engines in 1829 with George Stevenson’s Rocket. There’s even a replica of the very first steam train in the Netherland’s the Arend.

The second ‘land’, Dream Journeys takes you onboard the Orient Express, the luxurious train route that whisked the great and the good of 19th Century Europe from Paris to Constantinople.

Steel Monsters is the third land, and takes you into amongst the smoke, dust and dirt of the railway yards. It also takes you into the lives of the men who worked with the trains, like the Gommers family, who for three generations worked the Dutch rail yards as signalman, pointsman, engine driver and chief engineer.

Finally in the workshops you can see how the trains were built, and marvel at the restored locomotives. The EduTRAINERS [terrible I know] are on hand to explain things to the kids, with interesting and informative displays and talks about the engineering behind the trains.

A Royal Exhibition

From 15 April the museum will hold Royal Class, Regal Journeys, an exhibition which promises to recreate the grandeur in which European royalty travelled, with carriages that once belonged to King Louis II of Bavaria, Tsar Alexander II, Franz Ferdinand, Carl Gustav of Sweden and King Albert I of Belgium amongst others.

I’m far from a fan of trains (they’re normally late and uncomfortable) but something about the lovingly restored metal monsters was breathtaking.

Getting There

The museum is open Mondays during the school holidays, rest of the year open Tuesdays to Sundays 10.00am to 5.00pm. Parking is limited to 200 vehicles but a shuttle train runs between Utrecht CS and the Railway Museum. Check it out at spoorwegmuseum.nl

Image Credit: Marcin Wichary

Tags: Netherlands, P&O Ferries by tmowlam
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If you are sick of visiting museums where you have to be silent and constantly obey “do not touch” signs then you should try visiting NEMO. Rosie Khdir takes a look at the largest science centre in the Netherlands.

Just moments from the Amsterdam Centraal Station sits a bold, green building that looks like a ship that’s docked. Do not be fooled, for this is the famous NEMO science centre, design by Italian architect Renzo Piano.

The five floors of this museum are dedicated to science and technology, a place where people can use all their senses to discover how the world works. A trip to this museum is great for children and for the adults out there who are kids at heart.

It is a fun and educational experience to learn how bridge become so strong in the Amazing Constructions exhibit, find out how the brain works with the Journey through the mind display; you can even discover the language behind computers at the Bits & Co exhibit.

People who are more hands-on can blow soap bubbles big enough to fit a whole person inside, experiment in the Wonder Lab and find out how to make glue from potatoes. In the summer you can splash about on NEMO’s roof in the Splashing Water Wonder.

The latest exhibition to be introduced to NEMO is “The search for new life”. This interactive exhibit questions the difference between lifeless objects and living things and whether there is life beyond Earth.

The museum has workshops, games and theatre shows are held during almost every school holiday. There are cafes inside the museum but if you prefer to bring your own food, you can snack in the assigned places.

NEMO is not only a fun and educational day out for the whole family it’s also a great sight to behold for fans of great modern architecture.

Image credit: o palsson

Tags: Lifestyle, Netherlands, P&O Ferries by Rosie Khdir
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This stunning building was once home to the royals of the Netherlands and now stands as an icon of their luxurious and artistic lifestyle. Rosie Khdir takes a tour around the Royal Palace Het Loo.

Paleis Het Loo, meaning “The Woods Palace”, was bought by Stadholder King William III of Orange in 1684 with the intension of building upon its medieval structure.

By 1692 the symmetrical Dutch Baroque style royal residence was completed and in 1693 the gardens were embellished further by famous French designer Claude Desgotz.

This palace was inhabited by the Royal family of the Netherlands, the House of Orange-Nassau, from 1686 until 1975 and even though they no longer walk the halls, the beautiful and decadent furnishings, paintings and sculptures still decorate its rooms.

In 1960 Queen Wilhelmina, the last inhabitant of the palace, declared that the property would be passed on to the state after her death and has since been turned into a wonderful museum for the public.

Various rooms of the palace are laid out as if the royal family still lived there, with tapestries covering the walls, chandeliers hanging from the ceilings and elaborate fabrics decorating the four poster beds.

The wings of the palace hold museum exhibitions such as the current “Through the lens of Professor Pieter Van Vollenhoven”, which is a presentation of beautiful photographs taken by Van Vollenhoven around the palace in the last five years. This show runs from now until 5th September 2010.

The splendour of the palace itself is no doubt a sight to behold but the real beauty of the Royal Palace Het Loo lies in its gardens. The palace is surrounded by woodlands (hence its name) and contains pergolas, terraces, statues and fountains, which are always in motion. These stunning seventeenth century grounds are completely unique, and are even more breathtaking in spring or summer.

The Palace Het Loo and its gardens are open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00am to 5.00pm. Visit the official site for more information.

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Image courtesy of Holland.com

Tags: History, Netherlands, P&O Ferries by Rosie Khdir
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In 2010 we will say goodbye to the Year of the Ox and welcome in the Tiger! Rosie Khdir explores the Chinese New Year celebrations across Europe.…

This weekend Chinese communities all over the world will be celebrating the start of a new year. The Year of the Ox will end on Sunday 14th of February so for those of you, who don’t fancy celebrating St. Valentine’s Day, why not join the Chinese in celebrating the Year of the Tiger?

Celebrations will kick off all over Europe for this major event in the Chinese calendar. In Paris’ 13th arrrondissement, where the largest Asian community lives, a party will begin with the traditional procession of the dragon. A colourful parade featuring firecrackers, music, dancing and this giant serpent will take place in the heart of the Chinatown in the French capital.

In the Netherlands the festivities will begin on Saturday 13th February in the city hall in The Hague. A one kilometre log red carpet will connect the city hall to Chinatown and at 1pm a firework show and dragon parade will mark the start of the party.

For the last few months Brussels has been the host for the Europalia a festival celebrating Chinese culture. This event will end on the 14th February as the new Chinese year begins. The Hong Kong Economic Trade Office, along with various other organisations in the country, is putting on a celebration on Friday 19th February at the Concert Noble in the Belgian capital, complete with delicious Chinese cuisine, performances and prizes!

A person’s Chinese zodiac sign is based on the lunar year in which they were born. The Tiger is the third animal in the zodiac which is the sign for people born in 2010, 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962 and 1950 and is characterised by its courage, optimism, rebelliousness and vigour.

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Image credit: Dalliano0925翹鬍子周末

Tags: Belgium, France, History, Lifestyle, Netherlands by Rosie Khdir
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The Central Museum Utrecht is opening an exhibition this weekend dedicated to Alexander van Slobbe, an international pioneer of Dutch fashion. Rosie Khdir takes a look at Fashion for thought…

Alexander van Slobbe, already celebrating his 20th anniversary, has taken the Dutch fashion world by storm and the Central Museum Utrecht is celebrating his successes with a show of his works.

The exhibition, entitled Fashion for Thought, displays the designer’s unique attitude to the design process and allows visitors to reflect on the role of fashion in society. The exhibition shows Van Slobbe’s finished designs along with some of his personal archives including patterns, fabric samples, film footage and photos.

Van Slobbe is the front runner of Dutch modernism with his sleek and simple straight lines, inspired by the works of Dutch painters like Johannes Vermeer. As part of the rebellion against the industrialisation of fashion in the late nineties Van Slobbe remained intensely involved in all processes of his clothing lines, from drawing sketches, to sourcing materials to crafting his creations.

The designer graduated from the art academy of Arnhem and has, since the late eighties, had his designs admired worldwide. In 1988 he founded his women’s fashion label, Orson + Bodil and in 1993 a men’s label called SO.

He has also collaborated with Claudy Jongstra, Royal Tichelaar Makkum, Marc Mulders and PUMA and some of these creations are on display at the exhibition in Utrecht.

The exhibition opens on Saturday 13th February 2010 and ends 16th May 2010. Visit the official Central Museum Utrecht for more details.

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Image credit: Horia Varlan

Tags: Lifestyle, Netherlands, P&O Ferries by Rosie Khdir
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If you want to blast away the January blues, Maastricht is the place to do it! In February for three days everyone will stop work and party hard for the annual carnival. Rosie Khdir finds out more…

Endless street parties, colourful parades, outrageous costumes and food and beer galore; this is what is to be expected during carnival time in Maastricht.

This carnival is a celebration of life and is a time when the world gets turned upside down. It is thought that it is a historical mechanism of escape for those who feel stripped of their freedom and gives them the chance to be an individual.

The festival starts with the hoisting of the celebratory flag among sounds of cannon fire in the Vrijthof Square, all in the presence of the “greengrocer woman”, who is a traditional symbol of good fortune. Every year there is a new “Prince Carnaval” and his “Council of Eleven” who get given the key to the city.

Then the party really gets going as the hundreds of people who have adopted vibrant guises and masks, join the parade of colourful floats that weave throughout the town. Pubs and restaurants usually clear the floors so that all that is left standing are the beer taps.

Festival goers enter pubs then talk, dance, sing special carnival songs and drink with complete strangers and skip on to their next watering hole. It is an event of pure freedom and fun and is the largest in the southern region of The Netherlands.

This is a celebration of life, fertility and nature, all topical themes for a post winter period. It is traditionally a Catholic festival and in keeping with their Lent traditions, many people do not eat meat during the celebrations.

This year the festivities begin on 15th February and look set to be better than ever! Visit the official website for more details.

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Image credit: plagiarismtoday

Tags: History, Lifestyle, Netherlands, P&O Ferries by Rosie Khdir
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One of Holland’s best art museums, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag is putting on a beautiful exhibition of paintings by Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky, Tomas Mowlam reports.

Kandinsky produced some his best loved works as part of the der blaue Reiter (the blue rider) art group in Germany, before Europe disintegrated in the First World War.

Kandinsky, along with Franz Marc, August Macke, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, Gabriel Munter, Lyonel Feininger and Albert Bloch came together to form the group in 1911.

They had no central manifesto just a simple desire to express the spiritual through abstracting form and shape, and vibrant colour.

They published just one almanac packed with writings, plays, and paintings, influenced by folk art and medieval European art. Their work is part of the midpoint between the impressionist style of artists like Van Gogh and the later complete abstraction; forms and shapes are blurred, but sometimes distinguishable.

The innocence and simplicity of this art was not to last however, as the outbreak of war tore apart the group.

Kandinsky, Jawlensky and Werefkin as Russian citizens had to move back to Russia. Others fared far worse; Macke was killed in Champagne in 1914 and Marc two years later at Verdun, both serving with the German army.

Kandinsky became one of the most influential of all abstract artists, and as arguably one of the most famous members of der blaue Reiter it’s his work from the period which forms the focus of the exhibition.

Born in Odessa in Russia in 1866, Kandinsky studied law and economics at the University of Moscow, before taking up art at the age of 30.

By 1896 he had settled in Munich, a buzzing artistic city in the pre-war years, and from 1911-1914 he was part of the group, producing paintings which seem to glow with colour as the shapes flow into each other.

He returned to Moscow in 1914, but left in 1921, unhappy with the new regime’s art theory. He then taught at the Bauhaus school in Munich, during the brief liberalism of the Weimar years, until the Nazis shut it in 1933 because it produced such “degenerate” art.

He moved to France and he died on 13th December 1944 at Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Kandinsky & der blaue Reiter runs from 6th February – 24th May, 2010, at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague.

Image Credit: *clairity photo of Wassily Kandinsky’s Improvisation 26, Rowing, 1912.

Tags: Netherlands, P&O Ferries by tmowlam
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