Today we had yet another early morning. We got up to ride the train to Rotterdam, but as usual, things didn’t go as planned. This must’ve happened so that this blog post will have a more interesting plot. My 8am cranky self, however, did NOT agree that this was the case. We got on the direct train and minutes later, it was announced that it had been canceled, so we walked to another train and our arrival at Rotterdam ended up being very delayed. These challenges with public transportation made me realize just how privileged I was to be able to take my car and drive wherever and whenever I wanted without having to coordinate my schedule with that of a larger system.
As soon as we arrived at Rotterdam, I noticed how different it was from Amsterdam. First of all, it’s more sunny here and second, the buildings and overall vibe of the city is much more modern and urbanized compared to Amsterdam. We learned that this was because the entirety of Rotterdam was destroyed by bombs during the Second World War. It was really interesting to see how the architecture showed so much about the history of the area in such a subtle and implicit manner.
Once in Rotterdam, we visited a floating farm, which is a farm that sits on the water. This was by far one of my favorite company visits because I thought that the idea was very creative and innovative. As you may be able to guess if you’ve been following me along my journey here, the theme of sustainability continues. This farm is not only a cool and iconic spot that could be considered an attraction (because cows on a boat-like structure is quite the scene), but also contributes greatly to moving towards a more sustainable environment. The engineering and design of their facility was well thought out to achieve this goal of sustainability, from its roof being a series of arches to collect rainwater to use for irrigation for their vertical farm to their solar panels floating in the water beside the farm because they are cooled there and therefore give more energy to power the facility.
In terms of the business aspect of things, the floating farm approaches the idea of concept to consumer in a circular fashion. In other words, the products they produce on the farm (mainly dairy products, but also some fresh produce) go to the consumers in the city and some of their waste, like beer broth from the local brewery and potato peels from restaurants, then goes back to the farm to be used as feed for the cattle and so on. This is not only sustainable because it reduces waste, but is also a win-win situation from a business standpoint because it reduces costs on both ends; the consumers don’t have to pay to remove their waste and the farmers get free feed for their cattle.
We ended the day with a much needed dinner and it was SO delicious. We ate at a restaurant called Hotel Bazar and it had food with Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influences. I loved the blend of freshness and spices. The complementary flavors and textures exploded in my mouth. Needless to say, I scraped my whole plate clean.
