Rotterdam
Rotterdam is many cities.
That's the slogan used to promote the Cultural Capital of Europe 2001.
And it's true, Rotterdam is a melting pot of all kinds of culture and entertainment.
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City without heart
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by Ossip Zadkine
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In the Second World War the 'heart' was bombed out of the city and of course a lot of the rest of Rotterdam was badly damaged as well. There was not much 'old' left and it was a good opportunity to modernise the city.
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The White House
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(survived war)
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Rotterdam has always been known as a city with renewing ideas, like building the first high-rise building in Europe, but became especially famous for its modern architecture after the war.
We also had the first spacetower and the first shopping mall in Europe and people came from all over to see these 'wonders'. Later we had one of the first underground rail systems in Europe, that was the first in the Netherlands, and recently we built the first shopping 'tunnel'.
And of course there is the worlds largest sea port in terms of trans-shipment that made Rotterdam even more famous all over the world. It's very interesting to make the special boat trip (Spido) and see how it works. Also the Maritime Museum is really worth a visit, especially the open air museum where you can visit ship repair workshops, an old sea ship etc.
The rebuilding after the war and the harbour gave the city its 'hard working' image.
(The yearly award for the best Rotterdam company is a statuette of a shirt with rolled up sleeves).
Sadly, along with that came the image of being a boring city but I can assure you that this is absolutely not true. There's a lot to see and do in Rotterdam.
There are several (free) yearly festivals like the Caribbean street parade, Poetry International, Dunya multi-cultural festival, the Harbour weekend etc. There are also a lot of museums on all kinds of culture like (modern) painting and sculpture, history of Rotterdam, architecture, world population etc. And there are some small museums like a school museum, a public transport museum, a tax museum etc. Not to forget the Zoo, an 'animal friendly' display in a park that imitates their natural habitat.
Rotterdam is fairly close to the sea and has several beaches nearby but it also has a few small lakeside beaches within its boundries. The one in Kralingen is the most famous as this park was the site of the Dutch 'Woodstock' in the sixties.
Like in every large city there are a lot of different theatres, bars and restaurants for (evening) entertainment. As Rotterdam also has a University both 'young' and 'old' are provided for.
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