That’s right. Bond. As in, James Bond.

I am a huge Bond fan, and take every opportunity to see a spectacle put on in it’s favour. My friend Karolina knows this, and found out there was an exhibition on all about designing 007 in Rotterdam, so we got the train over there.

It was a temporary exhibition, so there is probably little pointing in reviewing it, aside from the fact that it’s travelling at the moment. In this case, if you happen upon it, I would definitely say GO AND SEE IT. It’s brilliant… Cars and costumes galore. It’s beautifully laid out, and has a lot of clips from the film to go with its’ displays. I would upload photos but they asked that no photos be taken. Adds to its mystery, I suppose.

I believe it’s moving to Madrid in May: http://www.007.com/designing-007-fifty-years-of-bond-style-heads-to-spain/. On another Bond note, I went to see the Bond in Motion exhibit in Covent Garden in London last year and would thoroughly recommend that as well (if you like cars, that is!) It’s still on, and funnily enough, the weekend after next there are celebrations going on, including a Bond themed Q and A. It sounds amazing!

Anyway, as that isn’t a typical aspect of Rotterdam, I will move on. The exhibit was at the Kunsthal, which was superb. We bought a ticket to the place as a whole, and could wander freely throughout. It was great getting to see so many exhibits and not knowing what we would see when we walked through each door. If I lived nearby I would probably be there every weekend. Even if you don’t necessarily know what’s on, if you’re in Rotterdam it’s worth a visit! Even as we were walking out of the hall, we were greeted with a installation in the form of a hallway filled with glass rain drops. A lovely, slightly magical surprise.

After this, we wandered through town to a little bakery called Jordy’s Bakery which I would thoroughly recommend (http://jordysbakery.nl/). It’s busy, but that’s a good sign. We sat in, and had toasted sandwiches with a cup of tea. They didn’t mind that I asked for milk, which I liked. Also, it wasn’t too expensive. We even brought cheesecake brownies on the way out and bread (sourdough, as is traditional). There isn’t much else in that area itself, but keep walking, it will be worth it.

On all of my travels I seem to be picking up food that I want to make at home as a result. It almost always seems to be pastry/cake based.

Mind you, when it comes to food, Rotterdam Food Market is the place to be. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I used to work on a Food television show. It’s huge, as in, ginormous. (An excellent measure of size, I know). I shall attach pictures to this to give you an idea, but to describe in words, it’s shaped like a tunnel, and on the outside are flats with windows looking over the centre floor, which holds (I would guess at) at least 100 stalls of every food you could ever want. It was very busy, and not the kind of place you would necessarily go to sit and eat, but still a great atmosphere and experience. Not everyone has this view, of course, and it might not be to everyone’s taste, but there definitely is a variety to keep you amused. http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2014/oct/02/-sp-rotterdam-markthal-superdutch-market-mvrdv

It takes just under 2 hours to get to Rotterdam from Amsterdam by train, so we didn’t do much else other than wander round some shops and eat. We did walk past the Cube Houses on the way to a station, which are basically houses on their side. I still don’t quite understand how people live in them, but from an architectural standpoint it’s fascinating.

Then the next day was our last, though definitely not least!

I must say a huge thank you to Karolina for planning everything we did, sometimes it’s fun to be a tour guide in your home country and she did it fantastically. All of the places we went to were found by her, via a blog/recommendation from a friend/past experience.

I also feel the need to say at this point, that I know my blog isn’t necessarily ground breaking, but it isn’t intended so. It’s from the stand point of an English girl travelling within limited budget, and trying to share and hear stories from other people of their travels, so if you have anything to share or any recommendations for me, please do so! I’d love to hear.

My next trip planned is Croatia, where I will be doing a road trip in April/May, so any past experience of dos/don’ts would be fab!

Anywho, tomorrow is another day, and with it should bring the last of my time in The Netherlands (thus far!)

Love

Abi

x

@abipageaustin

P.S. Yes. It was still cold this day. VERY VERY COLD. And windy. If you go in December, bring all your coats and socks and hats and gloves.