The price of two human beings ...

... is lesser than that of putting up a fixed structure to display the advertisement

Pictures from the sky - IV (Canals, Convoluted highways, Water-filled paddy fields, Slums and the Western Ghats)

Canals in Amsterdam

Highway network in Amsterdam

Water filled paddy fields in Dibrugarh

Water tanks for irrigation ( Dibrugarh, Assam, India )

Slums near Santa Cruz, Mumbai, India

The New Jetty

Global Village - Delhi

An African dance troupe

A date juice seller from Sharjah

All the wonders of the world ..

Just outside the Thai complex

Rotterdam - the City of Architecture 2007

'Rotterdam is increasingly to architecture what Paris is to fashion or Los Angeles is to entertainment.'

Rotterdam has always been known for its architecture. In 1898, when the White House was completed, it became the tallest building in Europe.

It was devastated completely by the Germans in the second world war. The bombing of the city which hardly left anything left made the Dutch surrender in one day. The city was totally rebuilt after the war and it took almost 25 years for the same.

One of the most famous architecture of the city - Kubuswoningen or cube houses.

Architect Piet Blom was commissioned to create a bridge between Blaak and the Oude Haven in an unusual way.

He came up with the Cube Houses. Initially 55 Cubes were planned, however, only 39 were built later on request of the construction company. Each of the cubes is a three storied house with people actually staying in them. One of them is set up as a museum and can be visited for 1.8 euros. One of these houses can be purchased for 200,000 Euro (250000 euros for one with a proper view).


One of many nicknames for these buildings is "blaakse bos" which means "Blaak woods". The name comes from the nearby Blaak metro/train station and the form of the houses wherein the cubes on top of poles look like trees. This also gives it its other nickname - "Paal woningen" meaning ‘Pole dwellings’.

Schouwburgplein

Flanked by the municipal theatre, concert hall and central station, Schouwburgplein occupies a prominent site in the centre of Rotterdam.

The square itself consists of a mosaic of linear bands of wood, perforated steel panels and epoxy resin coated concrete - all of them reflecting traditional Dutch field patterns.

However, most spectacular of all are a quartet of 35m tall hydraulic lighting masts, lined up along the east side of the square. Inspired by the cranes in Rotterdam's huge docks, these red oxide structures are fitted with spotlights at the tips of delicately tapering cantilevered arms. The position of the lights was originally controlled by inserting a coin; now they contort at random, like inquisitive robots.

"De Zwaan" (The Swan)

The Erasmus Bridge is a 2,600-foot cable stayed bridge linking the north and south of the city.

It is held up by a 138-meter tall pylon with a characteristic bend, earning the bridge its nickname "De Zwaan" ("the Swan").

The same bridge from down under

The Metro station at Blaak -

The roof is suspended from a massive steel arch into which two colours of neon light have been fitted. If blue is on, then the train is travelling in the direction of the river. If it is green, then the train is heading for the city.

Rotterdammers have nicknamed the station ‘the kettle’.

Bibliotheeken and 'The Pencil' in the background.

The Central Library consists of more than the largest library in Netherlands - it has amusement centres, restaurants, and shopping centres.

The yellow pipes are for supplying fresh air to the inside and they stand out agains the white walls. These pipes have earned nicknames like 'vacuum cleaner' and 'tube baby'.

The building in the background ('Het Potlood' or 'The Pencil') is also a famous work of architecture.

A little further is the old harbour (Oude Haven).

Covering 105 square kilometers, the port of Rotterdam now stretches over a distance of 40 kilometers :-O. It is the largest port of Europe and from 1962 to 2004 it was the world's busiest port (Shanghai holds the honour now)

Westersingel - the high class area.

LijnBaan - the first pedestrian only shopping road in Europe.

There is a popular local saying - "Amsterdam to party, Den Haag (The Hague) to live, Rotterdam to work"

= = = 

Addendum: There is a rumour that during WW-II, aparently, the German aircrafts mistook Rotterdam for Amsterdam. It was only after they pounded the city completely, and return home did they realise their folly.

I however think that the Germans were not mistaken - Rotterdam is right in the middle of land everywhere & Amsterdam is besides a big sea inlet. As an invading country, I would have kept the best city for myself and bombed the second best city to coerce the country to submission. 

What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail ?

Deodorant for HIV protection

(1) Spray deodorant to (2) change attitude and thus (3) prevent HIV

If only it were so easy !!!

Amsty Damsty

I amsterdam

I amsterdam is the slogan of the city and the people of Amsterdam.

It is a proud expression for all the benefits, opportunities and dimensions of excellence that make Amsterdam the city of their choice.

The symbol “X X X” which is seen all over the city of Amsterdam does not have anything to do with the RLD in the city centre.

They are actually the three crosses of St Andrews and they represent the constant struggle of the citizens of the city with the three dangers which have traditionally plagued the city:

flood, fire, and pestilence.

Schiphol Amsterdam is the fourth largest airport in Europe and the tenth largest in the world.

Measured by international passengers, Schiphol is the third busiest airport in the world.


The city of bicycles: Bicycles parked outside the Central Railway station.

The population of the city is around 750,000 people.
And there are about 700,000 bicycles in the city ( Almost one bicycle per resident :-O ).
Each year, about 80,000 of them are stolen and 25,000 end up in the canals.

Speeding bicycles is one of the major safety issues for tourists.
Bicycles enjoy a dedicated lane in almost all roads and speed along at very fast speeds.
What I found most surprising was that most bicycles did not have any brakes and yet they sped at very fast speeds.

Transportation by car is discouraged by the local government, with initiatives such as Autodelen and Meerijden.nu being sponsored, and steep parking fees and a great number of streets are closed off for cars in the city centre.

Tourists scuttle to one side of a ferry on the Prinsengracht Canal (Prince’s canal) while it crosses Anne Frank’s residence.

During World War II, Germany invaded the Netherlands and installed a Nazi civilian government that cooperated in the persecution of Jews.

However, a minority of people in Amsterdam helped the Jews in hiding and suffered persecution themselves in doing so.

More than 103,000 to 105,000 Jews were deported from the Netherlands to concentration camps, of whom perhaps the most famous was a young German girl, Anne Frank.

Only 5,000 Dutch Jews survived the war.

In the last months of the war, communication broke down, and food and fuel became scarce. Dogs, cats and raw sugar beets were consumed to stay alive.

And most of the trees in Amsterdam were cut down for fuel.

After the break with Spain in the 16th century (eighty years war), the Dutch Republic became known for its religious tolerance, except towards Catholics who had to worship secretly.

Jews from Spain and Portugal, prosperous merchants from Antwerp (economic and religious refugees from the Low Countries still controlled by Spain), and Huguenots from France (persecuted for their religion) sought safety in Amsterdam.

Moreover, after freedom from the Dutch, a lot of people from these former colonies migrated to Amsterdam. People and therefore cuisines from all parts of the world are thus very common.

In the beginning of the 17th century, in Holland, the tulip was starting to be used as a garden decoration in addition to its medicinal use. Botanists began to hybridize the flower. They soon found ways of making the tulip even more decorative and tempting. Hybrids and mutations of the flower were seen as rarities and a sign of high status. In the months of late 1636 to early 1637, there was a complete “Tulipmania” in the Netherlands. Some varieties could cost more than an Amsterdam house at that time. Even ordinary men took part in the business. They saw how much money the upper class made in the commodity and thought it was an easy way of getting lots of money with no risk. The bulbs were usually sold by weight while they were still in the ground. This trade in un-sprouted flowers came to be called “wind trade”.

People started selling their businesses, family homes, farm animals, furnishing and dowries to participate. Finally, the tulip did not appear to quite so rare as to justify such high prices. Over-supply led to lower prices and dealers went bankrupt while many people lost their savings because of the trade. This is referred to as the “Tulip Crash”.


Trivia:

* Although Amsterdam is officially designated as the capital of the Netherlands, it has never been (save a brief period between 1808 and 1810) the seat of the supreme court, government, or parliament of the Netherlands, which are all located at The Hague.

Amsterdam is also not the capital of the province in which it is located, North Holland, whose capital is located at Haarlem.

* The Amsterdam Stock Exchange (AEX) is the world's oldest stock exchange.

Mussels in Brussels

Rue des Bouchers is a narrow cobbled street near Grand Place which is lined with somewhat expensive restaurants. On this narrow, gastronomic street, the restaurant doors are always open and, at the first sign of sun, tables and chairs line the alley.

On display lie mussels, lobsters and oysters, all nicely decorated, awaiting hungry tourists.

Also adding to the beauty of the road are elegantly dressed waiters (one from each restaurant) who try to entice customers with details about the gastronomic delights being served inside.

The Atomium represents a unit cell of an iron crystal (body-centred cubic), magnified 165 billion times.

The 103 metre tall structure designed by architect André Waterkeyn for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Expo '58) was initially planned to last only six months.

It consists of nine steel spheres 18 metres in diameter connected via tubes with escalators as long as 35 m (These are amongst the longest escalators in Europe).

One of the original ideas for Expo '58 was to build an upside-down version of the Eiffel tower.

The sun is too bright at night ?

Or is the umbrella for the moon that I see in the background ?