A Pink Drink Stop...

The following day, Opee hared a pub crawl in Rotterdam for a Dark Side of the Moon Hash. 

I was very excited that our plan worked to take the pack up to the temporary rooftop placed on the architecture museum that Jimmy and I had visited earlier in the month. 

Opee concocted his own version of Tequila Rose, the pink cocktail that we had first tried in Glasgow. We had planned to do a drink stop on top of the pink rooftop, but it was too busy to do it discretely, so we had our shots back on the ground. 

The Art Depot made it easy to get a group shot...

…and a corny heart pic.

These hearts weren’t corny, but Little Sissy Pants definitely was.

I fell a bit behind the group when I stopped to admire this beautiful mosaic wall and one of the church members explained to me about the community project that built it. 

As we were a bigger group, we needed two tables at Tai-Wu, where Just the Tip had booked us for another amazing Chinese dinner. 

 

Spotted in Rotterdam...

Seeing a new Ox-Alien mural always makes me smile.

Flowers for You

These sculptures also made me smile. Heart Work Heroes was the biggest open-air exhibit for healthcare, showing appreciation for healthcare workers in a positive and colorful way. The hope was that this would help inspire young people to consider a career in healthcare.

Turquoise by Proxy

Pax

Apollo

Rotterdam

Joni Kling

Patatja Roffa 

 

More Rooftops...

While World Trade Center Rotterdam’s big green elliptical tower was built in 1986, the low-rise exhibition complex below the tower was finished just before being damaged during the the bombing of Rotterdam on May 14, 1940. Its copper roof has more than 21,000 round windows.  

It was cool to see the Markthal from yet another angle...

...as well as the Erasmus Bridge.

How nice that we found someone to take a photo of the four of us.

In addition to lots of displays about renewable energy, there were various sculptures...

…a rooftop garden...

…and a giant undersea mural.

It was surprising to see a tree sticking out of a car’s sunroof before learning it was a moveable piece of art designed to teach about the necessity of greenery in public spaces. 

After descending the final staircase, we headed over to Aloha for drinks and appetizers on the terrace.
 

Rooftop Reflections...

The World Trade Center Rotterdam, built in 1987, made for some interesting photos.

These small flower turbines were quieter and smaller than traditional wind turbines. 

These solar panels were more efficient by being placed above a green roof because the water retained by the plants help to cool the panels. And the panels helped to promote biodiversity by providing shelter and shade for small creatures.  
 

Crossing the Coolsingel...

The one area where we had to wait was to enter the 195-foot (60-meter) crossing over the road. A maximum of 300 people could be allowed on it at once, but they kept the numbers much lower. 

I took most of these photos on my camera and definitely kept a tight hand on my phone when I used it.

In the distance you can see the crowds starting to gather for Gay Pride.

The views were pretty great over the usually busy road.

 

Rotterdam Rooftop Walk...

Immediately following checking out the view from the sky bar, we headed to Rotterdam to meet up with Sally and John to visit the Rotterdam Rooftop Walk as part of the Rooftop Festival. I was thrilled to be able to get tickets to walk up the giant temporary staircases and across several rooftops. We were very impressed how well it was organized to process large crowds as 204,000 visitors made the same walk over the 32 days the walk was open.   

It was fascinating seeing the most spectacular segment, the sky bridge 97 feet (29.5 meters) above the Coolsingel, from several different angles before we climbed any stairs. 

At our designated time, our tickets were scanned and we started climbing stairs.

The route eventually ended on the Bijenkorf (a fancy department store) parking garage, where another large temporary staircase brought us back down to the street.