What a year 2011 was, global chaos, financial chaos…and apparently 2012 isn’t predicted to be much better. But 2012 has been great so far me, I passed my driving theory test, have applied for a couple of internships for the summer, and I’m quite happy just writing my papers. And it’s still January! But somehow it feels like the quiet before the storm. I know for a fact that the year won’t remain like this, so I guess it’s a case of just making the most of it while I can. And that I certainly did, after having an amazing weekend in Rotterdam.
I have to say, everything I had heard about Rotterdam before I went was ”it’s so industrial”, ”there’s nothing there except big tall building blocks made in the 50′s”. Which is true, partly. Rotterdam is a harbour city, with one of the biggest shipping ports in the world, and as it was largely destroyed during WW2 around 90% of the centre had to be rebuilt during the 50′s and 60′s.
However when you look at Rotterdam, it seems to be the result of a winning combination of Dutch creativeness and efficiency, with amazing results. The hotel I stayed in happened to overlook one of the oldest harbours in the city, which was tiny and looked a bit run-down. But I like that a lot, it gives the city the ages and used look it had for centuries before it was rebuilt.
But it’s this combination of brand new shopping complexes and skyscrapers, dotted with old harbours and small streets of typically Dutch houses and markets, that make this city appealing to me, probably more than Amsterdam. There are fewer tourists (ok Amsterdam is a capital city, of course there will be more tourists, and I’m not saying I don’t like Amsterdam at all!) and it seems to have much more of a ‘lived in’ , and more of a Dutch feel to it.
And now….it’s back to working on my 3000 word paper and answering emails hehe. But I definitely love exploring new places so you can look forward to more of this!!
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