A Day in Rotterdam (Featuring Santa!)

Aweh, guys!

When Hubby woke up this morning he declared, “Let’s go somewhere!”

Dusseldorf and Antwerp came to mind, but we’ve seen so little of the Netherlands as it is that we decided to continue our venture… into Rotterdam! We already had a wish list of stuff we wanted to see including the infamous buttplug Santa!

We decided to start our expedition at Markthal which comprises of an arch which houses apartments and offices and the centre is a huge food market. The ceilings themselves are enough to write home about! They are composed of the most stunning colourful artwork which features fruit, vegetables, insects, fish, flowers and more. My personal favourite was the ginormous snail!

Now the tricky decision was to decide where and what to eat. They had the traditional Dutch fare like stroopwafels and haring, but also international dishes like Spanish, Italian and Indian cuisine! Well known restaurants like Jamie’s Italian abounded but something caught Hubby’s eye…

It was a place called Sumo and they have branches in Amsterdam, Den Haag and Hilvesum and they do all you can eat sushi. Not just sushi, but their whole menu (with some exceptions). It was €19 per person and we had two hours. You would get five rounds with five dishes per person with no waste that was all administered on a tablet. At ten dishes a round it was definitely more than enough!

We had some really good sushi (nothing like Wasabi back in South Africa, but it definitely hit the spot) and amazing teppanyaki dishes like grilled ribeye and chicken. My personal favourite was the mini poke bowls that were the perfect size for a tantalizing snack. Rice, seaweed, edamame, salmon or tuna… what’s not to like? We also were seated next to the window so we could appreciate the ceiling some more and we had a great view of the fish counter where we watched dishes being prepared on the fly. At €19 per person it really was value for money, so much so that Hubby felt comfortable enough to order a Rémy Martin VSOP at €6 a snifter… nothing fancy but a big deal to us.

After we were filled to the gills, we decided to put our energy into looking for the elusive questionable Santa. We only had to walk a kilometre and a half there which gave us ample time to enjoy the scenery and for my coat to fall into a puddle… We were enchanted by the cube buildings right outside Markthal and wondered what living in one would be like.

Eventually we found him, and he was ahem much larger than I imagined. He certainly seemed like a friendly enough chap with charming features and a lovely bell. His foot was worn shiny where tourists would rub it for luck… unfortunately (or fortunately) he was carrying the giant phallus that he is famous for. It was also punctuated with street art of bowing butts much to my overall enjoyment and to the horror of others.

Stouter Kabouter

Basically, the Rotterdam municipality funded the creation of the statue and once it was delivered by the artist, Paul McCarthy (not McCartney), they were horrified to discover the offending accessory. But since they paid in advance, it had to stick around… It has been moved around a few times since then, but it has definitely become a beacon for tourists and the irreverent.

On our way back we found a few more amazing buildings including the museum and watch tower. I can definitely understand the charm that Rotterdam has to offer! It has stunning scenery in terms of unconventional buildings and canals, it is easily accessible by public transport and the prices at Markthal were definitely cheaper than restaurants in Amsterdam. Should you find yourself in the area, please consider a visit and maybe give Buttplug Santa a foot rub.