Poortugaal 1

In Spijkenisse I took another metro line that after Hoogvliet went south of Rotterdam. The first stop there was Poortugaal (not to be confused with Portugal). It was a pleasant walk to the post office in a lane with big trees. The shadow was very welcome on this hot day. The post office was located in a shop that sold wool and all other products for knitting, sewing and other textile hobbies. There was also a large table with ladies knitting and drinking coffee.

Poortugaal is a village that is situated near the municipality of Rotterdam. Together with Rhoon, Poortugaal forms the municipality of Albrandswaard. The village has a long history dating back to the 15th century. It has a church dating from that period. It used to be a village of farmers growing fuit, vegetables and flax. Nowadays most people work in Rotterdam or the harbours.

The name is probably derived from Portugal. Since the coat of arms of Poortugaal and Portugal show many similarities it is thought that the inhabitants of the area got acquainted with the Portuguese during the crusades and named their new impoldered land (12th-13th century) after them. Since January 1, 1985, the village has been part of the municipality of Albrandswaard together with Rhoon. The village has a connection to the city of Rotterdam by Rotterdam Metro line D, through Poortugaal station.

The stamp I put on my envelope was the one with the 'Hollands kuifhoen' (for some strange reason in English: Polish chicken) from the chicken series of 2017, because Poortugaal still has an active poultry club.

City/town:       Poortugaal

Municipality:   Albrandswaard

Area:              7,46 km² (Albrandswaard 23,76 km²)

Population:    9.645 (2018) (Albrandswaard 25.292, 1 January 2019)

Website:        albrandswaard.nl

Post office

Lolox

Dorpsstraat 1

3171 ED  POORTUGAAL

facebook.com/loloxbylois

lolox.nl

(due to personal and financial problems the shop, and therefore the post office, closed on 10 August 2018, only a webshop for wool remains)

Date sent: 7 July 2017

Date postmark: 7 July 2017

Date received: 8 July 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 217

Spijkenisse 2

Back at metro station Zalmplaat I took the metro to the final stop De Akkers in Spijkenisse. This is a shopping center without clear directions or street names. It took me a while to find the Bruna bookshop where the post office was. After getting the postmark I bought myself an ice cream because it was getting rather hot that afternoon.

Spijkenisse is a city in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Following an administrative reform in 2015, it is part of the municipality of Nissewaard. It is part of the Greater Rotterdam area.

Archaeological research has shown that the area around Spijkenisse has been inhabited for many thousands of years. The people then depended on fishing on the Meuse and hunting in the swamps. The oldest reference to the name Spickenisse is from a source from 1231. This name comes from the words spieke (spit) and nesse (nose) meaning "pointy nose" in reference to a spit of land protruding along the river.

Spijkenisse formed as a farming and fishing village at a creek along the Oude Maas. Initially it belonged to the Lord of Putten (whose coat of arms is now used by the city) but in 1459 the fiefdom Putten, including Spijkenisse, was transferred to Philip III, Duke of Burgundy. In 1581, after the Dutch declaration of independence, the area came under the control of the States of Holland and West Frisia.

In the 16th century the village suffered several floods. In the 17th and 18th centuries it endured destructive fires which hampered its economic growth. In the 20th century, it heavily urbanised as part of the Greater Rotterdam area. Nowadays, Spijkenisse also includes the community of Hekelingen, as well as Den Hoek and Beerenplaat.

City/town:       Spijkenisse

Municipality:   Nissewaard

Area:              30,27 km² (Nissewaard 98,82 km²)

Population:    72.545 (2014) (Nissewaard 84.797, 1 January 2019)

Website:        nissewaard.nl

Post office

Bruna Winterakker

Winterakker 18

3206 TG  SPIJKENISSE

facebook.com/BrunaSpijkenisseWinterakker

Date sent: 7 July 2017

Date postmark: 7 July 2017

Date received: 8 July 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 216

Hoogvliet Rotterdam 2

The next stop on my route was only three metro stations away from Pernis: metro Zalmplaat. This lies in Hoogvliet, also a part of Rotterdam municipality. it was eleven o'clock in the morning and already getting quite warm. The streets were deserted, only in the shopping center I saw some people. The post office was located in a DA Drogist (chemist's) where I got my 25th placename.

Hoogvliet is a former village and municipality in the province of South-Holland. The eldest record of the name Hoogvliet - also known as Oedenvliet, Oudenvliet and Odenvliet - dates from 26 May 1326. It was named after Oda (Oede) van Putten, second of the three daughters of Lord Nicolaas III van Putten and Lady Aleida van Strijen, who received this land as a dowry in 1315 for het marriage to Willem IV van Horne. Until 1811 Hoogvliet remained an independent 'ambacht' (amt or shire). From 1811 to 1818 Hoogvliet was part of the municipality of Poortugaal. From 1818 to 1934 it was a municipalty in its own right. In 1934 it was annexed by Rotterdam, together with Pernis.

The territory was partially used for industry. In the 1950s and 1960s almost the whole original village was demolished for houses and shopping centers. Only the old church and a few buildings around it remain.

City/town:       Hoogvliet

Municipality:   Rotterdam

Area:              10,73 km² (Rotterdam 325,79 km²)

Population:    34.495 (2017) (Rotterdam 544.527, 1 January 2019)

Website:        rotterdam.nl

Post office

DA Drogisterij & Parfumerie De Meeuw Zalmplaat

In de Fuik 47

3192 HD  HOOGVLIET ROTTERDAM

facebook.com/dademeeuwhoogvlietrotterdam

da.nl/da-de-meeuw-rotterdam-hoogvliet

Date sent: 7 July 2017

Date postmark: 7 July 2017

Date received: 8 July 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 215

Pernis Rotterdam 1

Two metrostations away from Schiedam lies Pernis. This village is part of Rotterdam, but still has its own postcode and name: Pernis Rotterdam. It was quite a walk from the metro to the cigar, chocolate and all-kinds-of-presents shop called 't Hoekje (the Corner). It was located on the corner of a street, so the name was no surprise.

Pernis is a neighborhood and submunicipality (2010-2014) of Rotterdam, Netherlands. Pernis was a full submunicipality of Rotterdam, but in 2014 the former submunicipalities were replaced by elected 'area committees'. Although surrounded by ports, Pernis has preserved its village-like atmosphere very well.

Pernis is best known for its petrochemical industry. Refineries define its skyline. Shell's sprawling complex located there is the largest oil refinery in Europe, and one of the largest in the world.

Pernis was merged with 's-Gravenambacht in 1832. It remained an independent municipality until 1934, when it was merged into Rotterdam.

The village already had its own church in 1307, making it one of the oldest in the region to have a church. Historically Pernis was a village of farmers. In the 18th century fishing became more popular and sea fishers travelled as far away as Iceland.

After the annexation by Rotterdam in 1934 harbours were constructed around the village making it isolated from the city. There was a bus to the nearest train and tram station, but only in 2002 the metro station was built, reducing the travel time to the city center to twenty minutes.

The stamp on the envelope was issued in 2012 in a series celebrating the 60th anniversary of Madurodam, the miniature city in The Hague. This specific stamp shows the harbour of Rotterdam where Pernis is a part of.

City/town:       Pernis

Municipality:   Rotterdam

Area:              1,60 km² (Rotterdam 325,79 km²)

Population:    4785 (2017) (Rotterdam 544.527, 1 January 2019)

Website:        rotterdam.nl

Post office

't Hoekje Sigarenmagazijn & Cadeaushop

Burgemeester van Esstraat 141

3195 AC  PERNIS ROTTERDAM

(the shop closed on 1 February 2018)

Date sent: 7 July 2017

Date postmark: 7 July 2017

Date received: 8 July 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 214

Schiedam 5

To make a trip around Rotterdam a had to get on the metro network. From Maasdijk I took the bus back to Naaldwijk and changed there on a bus to Schiedam train station. There I got the metro a few stops to a cigar and book shop. Actually they sold more than cigarettes and books because outside there was a table with Turkish men having coffee.

Schiedam is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It located in the Rotterdam-The Hague metropolitan area, west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south it is connected with the village of Pernis by the Beneluxtunnel.

The city is known for its historical center with canals, and for having the tallest windmills in the world. Schiedam is also well known for the distilleries and malthouses and production of jenever (gin) - such as the internationally renowned Ketel One - so much so that in French and English the word schiedam (usually without a capital s-) refers to the town's Holland gin. This was the town's main industry during the early Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th century, a dark period to which it owed its former nickname "Zwart Nazareth" or "Black Nazareth". Furthermore, the city is known for Saint Lidwina, one of the most famous Dutch saints (her relics are located in the Liduina Basilica in Schiedam).

City/town:       Schiedam

Municipality:   Schiedam

Area:              19,86 km²

Population:    78.094 (1 January 2019)

Website:        schiedam.nl

Package point

Primera Nolenslaan

Mgr. Nolenslaan 524

3119 EN  SCHIEDAM

primera.nl/primera-schiedam-nolenslaan

facebook.com/primeranolenslaan

Date sent: 7 July 2017

Date postmark: 7 July 2017

Date received: 8 July 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 213

Maasdijk 1

On Friday 7 July 2017 I made a tour of the region around Rotterdam to get more datestamps. It was a very hot day. I travelled by bus and metro from one town to another. I started very early in the morning in the village of Maasdijk. It was the last village in my municipality I needed.

Maasdijk was named after the centuries old sea wall Maasdijk. The village is situated at the bottom of the wall. In the Middle Ages Maasdijk was a settlement of fishers. In 1238 the sea wall was erected to protect the land from the Maas river. In a land description from 1494 it is clear that agriculture had become the most important means of living, the inhabitants possessed 60 cows. In later centuries growing vegetables under glass became the most important economic activity.

Maasdijk became part of the municipality of Naaldwijk, which merged into Westland on 1 January 2004.

The post office is housed in the Plus supermarket in the center of the village. The stamp I used on the cover was from the sheetlet to celebrate the 50th birthday of King Willem-Alexander in 2017.

City/town:       Maasdijk

Municipality:   Westland

Area:              90,58 km² (Westland)

Population:    106.752 (Westland, August 2017)

Website:        gemeentewestland.nl

Post office

Plus Danse

Oranjeplein 1

2676 XP  MAASDIJK

plus.nl//maasdijk_plus-danse

facebook.com/PLUS.Danse.Maasdijk

Date sent: 7 July 2017

Date postmark: 7 July 2017

Date received: 8 July 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 212

Delft 6

The last city on my tour of the region on 1 July 2017 was Delft. This city is located in the province of Zuid-Holland between The Hague and Rotterdam. Delft is a popular tourist attraction in the country. It is home to Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), regarded as center of technological research and development in the Netherlands, Delft Blue pottery and the currently reigning House of Orange-Nassau. Historically, Delft played a highly influential role in the Dutch Golden Age. Delft has a special place in the history of microbiology. In terms of science and technology, thanks to the pioneering contributions of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and Martinus Beijerinck, Delft can be considered to be the true birthplace of microbiology. The painter Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) was born in Delft. Vermeer used Delft streets and home interiors as the subject or background in his paintings.

The city of Delft came into being beside a canal, the 'Delf', which comes from the word delven, meaning delving or digging, and led to the name Delft. It presumably started around the 11th century as a landlord court. From a rural village in the early Middle Ages, Delft developed into a city, that in 1246 received its charter.

The town's association with the House of Orange started when William of Orange (Willem van Oranje), nicknamed William the Silent (Willem de Zwijger), took up residence in 1572. At the time he was the leader of growing national Dutch resistance against Spanish occupation, known as the Eighty Years' War. By then Delft was one of the leading cities of Holland and it was equipped with the necessary city walls to serve as a headquarters. An attack by Spanish forces in October of that year was repelled.

After the Act of Abjuration was proclaimed in 1581, Delft became the de facto capital of the newly independent Netherlands, as the seat of the Prince of Orange. When William was shot dead in 1584 by Balthazar Gerards in the hall of the Prinsenhof, the family's traditional burial place in Breda was still in the hands of the Spanish. Therefore, he was buried in the Delft Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), starting a tradition for the House of Orange that has continued to the present day.

In Delfgauw I took the bus to the centre of Delft and I looked for a post office close to the train station. I found a package point in a Vivánt cigar shop. By coincidence the owner did not only have the new postmark, but also the old postmark for this location.

The stamp on the envelope is from the Mooi Nederland (Beautiful Netherlands) series from 2014 showing Delft blue ceramics. A nice matching stamp.

City/town:       Delft

Municipality:   Delft

Area:              24,06 km²

Population:    102.230 (May 2018)

Website:        delft.nl

Package point

Vivánt Delft Centrum

Brabantse Turfmarkt 49

2611 CL  DELFT

(this shop closed in October 2017)

Date sent: 1 July 2017

Date postmark: 1 July 2017

Date received: 4 July 2017

Number of days: 3

Envelope in collection: 210

Delfgauw 1

The next stop on my route was the village of Delfgauw, part of the Pijnacker-Nootdorp municipality. Delfgauw started as a small agricultural settlement. From the beginning of the 20th century the settlement developed into a village. After the war the expansion continued and more greenhouses were built around the village.

Until 1921 Delfgauw was a separate municipality. In that year it merged with Pijnacker that in its turn merged with Nootdorp in 2002. A few years later Delfgauw grew from a few hundred to a few thousand houses because the village was a location for new housing development that was the result of the policy briefing note VINEX from the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment released in 1988.

The post office is located in the Albert Heijn supermarket in the Gouden Rijderplein shopping centre. I asked for a postmark and the young AH employee Mathew started applying ink on the cancellation. When I remarked that these things ink themselves, he answered that the ink cushion dried out. That was strange for a newly issued postmark and it turned out that this was still the old postmark that was not handed in in January. Fortunately he also had the new postmark so I could have both. The stamp I used on the cover was from the sheetlet to celebrate the 50th birthday of King Willem-Alexander in 2017.

City/town:       Delfgauw

Municipality:   Pijnacker-Nootdorp

Area:              38,61 km² (Pijnacker-Nootdorp)

Population:    53.830 (Pijnacker-Nootdorp, May 2018)

Website:        pijnacker-nootdorp.nl

Post office

Albert Heijn Gouden Rijderplein

Gouden Rijderplein 1

2645 EX  DELFGAUW

ah.nl/delfgauw/gouden-rijderplein

facebook.com/albertheijndelfgauw

Date sent: 1 July 2017

Date postmark: 1 July 2017

Date received: 4 July 2017

Number of days: 3

Envelope in collection: 208