ROTTERDAM.
When The Partytrail visited Rotterdam for the first time the two words that came to mind were “post-modern” and “artistic”.
When in Rotterdam, one cannot help but feel like they are walking through a “museum of contemporary art”.
This is in stark contrast with Amsterdam (Rotterdam’s more famous sibling city) which is renowned for its canals, cobbled streets, and antique architecture.
Rotterdam got its post-modern renaissance due to the fact that it was ruthlessly bombed by the “Luftwaffe” (Germany’s air force) during the Second World War.
The city subsequently got blitzed again by allied forces trying to drive out the Germans at the turn of the war. As a result, Rotterdam was left in almost complete ruin.
For you history buffs “Bombs Away!: The World War II Bombing Campaigns Over Europe by John R Brunin” might be a good resource, the result of this was that Rotterdam along with other cities that had been decimated during the war had to be re-built from scratch.
From our observation, it seemed like the Dutch saw this as an opportunity for a renewal of the city and decided to throw up some of the most “trippy, artistic, and post-modern” buildings we have to yet to come across in all the European cities we have traveled to thus far.
Rotterdam is also one of the largest commercial ports in the world, due to it’s strategic location and access to the North sea.
It is often referred to as “the gateway to Europe”. It’s identity as a port city also adds to the outer-worldly feel that can be used to describe Rotterdam.
Just like Amsterdam, there is a lot of nightlife, bars, café’s, restaurant’s and Coffee-shops to choose from. While bike culture is also a staple here, we would postulate that this city had more automobile use than the other cities we visited in the Netherlands.
For all the nightlife options that we were presented while traveling through Rotterdam, one street in particular seemed uniquely and strategically placed to ensure a visitor to the city had a good time.
In “Partying in the Netherlands (VIII)” we will give you all the info we got from our experience hanging out on this street so stay tuned…….
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