Interviews and Enter-Zoos

By 17:30 (5:30) on Thursday afternoon, I would have gone straight to bed, if I could have. I held three interviews, with three different people, in three different locations. And by the time I had biked (in the rain) or trained, and then questioned, noted, and recorded for each of them, I was pretty fried. 

Fascinating stuff though - I continued my conversation with the Rotterdam city planner about a process of working with residents of the Noorder Eiland in the port area. This island is not protected by a primary dike, and at high risk for flooding, but most residents are totally unaware of this fact, so the city works with the residents to plan adaptive strategies to address their situation.

I also spoke with a researcher at Deltares, the country's delta management research institute. He has worked on a long-term international process between the Netherlands and Flanders (north of Belgium) to plan for flood management in the Schleldt estuary they separates the two countries. This map shows the plethora of dike systems that protect the area. 

So after a relatively early bedtime (it doesn't get dark until 11pm, so anytime earlier than that seems childishly early), I got up early to get back to work before heading out for another trip day. 

The hard working Dutch rain took a coffee break for a while today and Katja and the three boys and I headed to the Rotterdam Zoo (Diergaarde Blijdorp). 

Rotterdam is a modern city by European standards, and this is due to the macabre fact that the city was essentially destroyed in WWII, so most all historical landmarks were obliterated from the city's landscape. So a new city was built. 

And as locals describe it, a new city is essentially rebuilt every 20 years or so as the place re-establishes its identity. Its brand though is that of PORT- until 2002 it was the world's largest port, and still today it is Europe's busiest port. 

But we came for the zoo, which also has an internationally infamous reputation as the zoo where about 10 years ago a gorilla jumped his fence and mamed a woman who smiled at him.... On that cheery note-

We had a fabulous visit to the Amazon,

And hob-nobbing with alligators.

After a lunch of Dutch poffertjes (tiny, pancakes smothered in butter and sugar),

We traveled to the bottom of the sea,

And back to the bright lights, big city.

Tonight the boys have a sleep over a Katja and Peter's to join their kids at school tomorrow. And I will make a presentation at the Deltares Research Institute about my own work.