Rotterdam – my favorite city

Last October me and my sister went for the first time to Rotterdam and we fell in love with this city instantly. I’ve never been to Amsterdam, and already two times to Rotterdam, weird right? We checked in at Ibis Rotterdam City Center, and I really enjoyed our stay at Ibis – quiet, clean, cozy, breakfast included and mostly because it was situated in the city center and it was accessible to the majority of the main attractions.

One thing about Rotterdam that caught my attention was its architecture, the architecture is absolutely fantastic. All the new buildings with interesting shapes create an impression of sophistication, innovation and creativity for Rotterdam. The Markthal in the city center is worth to be mentioned. It is one of the new buildings, where you can stroll the many numbers of food boutiques, with the most diverse type of dishes and exotic fruits. We enjoyed our lunch there on the first day of our trip, but still if you are not hungry you should go there. Believe me you will end up trying something, I bet will be sweet waffles or cheese 🙂 Beside the Markthall there are of course other tall and unique buildings, also the Erasmus Bridge also called “The Swan” because of the shape – one of the Rotterdam’s icon. The way the architecture in Rotterdam is presented is breathtaking, you cannot miss this. Did you know that Rotterdam is the Netherlands Manhattan, and they even have the region known as “Manhattan on Maas”.

Considering that our trip was on the last days of October, the weather was nice and we were lucky to have many days of sun and warm breeze, despite of everything I heard about the dutch weather. On our first day we went to visit Euromast and the park nearby. I totally recommend to take a tour at Euromast, and it offers one of the most spectacular view of Rotterdam.

As a water sign of the zodiac I feel very comfortable around the water, and Rotterdam has plenty of it, speaking of  -Rotterdam has one of the largest ports in Europe. So there was no way I would miss a boat tour to the port. And I must say: what a view? All the cranes and big machines, like some robots from the future were perfectly aligned.

I don’t know which are the dishes of the dutch cuisine, if there are any, but I really enjoyed the food in the Netherlands, especially the fries and waffles. We ate a couple of times at Markthall, some quick snacks. Beside that on our second evening we found this restaurant/cafe next Beurs metro station, called Baek Food and Drinks. It has this hippie style, very welcoming ambiance and a great atmosphere to either go out for dinner, or drinks with friends. On another trip to Rotterdam, beginning of December, I think I was eating there everyday 🙂

I also had dinner at Vessel 11, which is a boat restaurant. This was my first experience to have in a boat. Enjoyed all the dishes, and the highlight was the bread with butter and herbs, I cannot have enough of those, and also soups, the goat cheese salad, and … everything else :). When I am looking at this picture below I think they have a great terrace as well, I will try it 🙂

Also while eating at Vessel 11 I discovered that they have the so called Hot Tug, which a small boat as a Jacuzzi with hot water, and you can rent it for how long you want and you can drive on the canals and in the same time you take a shower. Saw many people doing this, I think is a lot of fun to rent it with your friends and have some relaxing time.

The trip to Rotterdam was simply amazing, I was happy to walk around the city with my sister enjoying the sunny weather and collecting all the memories that will last forever. It is a dynamic city with beautiful architecture, delicious food, and unique vibe. I don’t know exactly what made me fall in love, could be the buildings, or the waffles, or the people’s attitude, or maybe everything together. Rotterdam offered me an unforgettable adventure, and I was happy to be myself and have some quality time with my sister, to go running on the Erasmus Bridge with a beautiful view, to meet people and make friends. Everything was so perfect. Rotterdam is my favorite city so far, and I will always go back hungry for more of whatever this city gave me once.