ROTTERDAM

[zootdog]

is there a rotterdam thread on here? ive been looking but i cant find one.

if not, has anyone been to rotterdam and would care to share some info on it as im slightly clueless about it yet know amsterdam well. would love to check it out, but know where to go, and if its worth it

[Popeye]

I was there a few years back. It's absolutely nothing like Amsterdam, and for the most part is pretty boring.


A bridge in Rotterdam.*


A canal in Rotterdam.

There are quite a few coffeeshops, a good shopping bit, the New Year fireworks at the river are awesome, and bits of it are pretty, but that's about it.
Have no idea why I stayed there tbh - ended up getting the train to Dam every day - was money that could've been spent better! Did end up making friends with a couple of guys from Luxembourg who were in the hostel though, so it wasn't a total loss. Got a bastard of a cough and spent a chunk of New Year's Day in my bed rattling like a bag of bottles, but that was about all that put a downer on things.

Coffeeshop-wise, I was in:

Sky High - Was the first place I visited. Was crowded with young locals - I decided since I was in already I'd just go for it. Was choking for a smoke too after the travel (from Glasgow Prestwick-Brussels (Charleoi)-Brussels-Rotterdam) so bought whatever it was, sat down and rolled away. Could feel the eyes on me, but just puffed away nonchalently, even though I was cacking myself , then headed back to the hostel at Olympic walking qualifying pace and did my smoking there for the night.

Nemo - This kinda became my 'home' CS during the trip. Would stop in there every morning for a gram or two and a few coffees. Very fresh and clean inside, is Moroccan-run, and has a bouncer on the door most of the time. The bar and smoking area are separate, and the interior is decorated in such a way that you feel like you're sitting inside a scene from Finding Nemo.
Think the weed was pre-weighed, but I didn't get a bad bit all week. They also have a pest of a parrot which can imitate the squeak of the smoking room door opening.





Pluto Not much seating in here iirc - just bought and flew a couple of times. Pretty much next door to Sky High. Can't really remember much else.

Since I was commuting most of the time, I just stuck to the shops closest to the hostel, so that's about all I know. There are a good few around though.

In short, I'd probably just stay in the Dam, unless you really like boats. There's really nothing there smoke-wise that justifies the E20 or so that a return train ticket would cost, plus a good couple of hours travelling time in total. It was freezin' too, btw.

*The bridge is awesome btw.

[spidergawd]

Hi, well popeye's given a good idea of Rotterdam. Thats the Erasmus Bridge, the locals call it the Swan. It's a big sprawling city really although thats not to say it's not worth a visit, it depends what you are into.
They have several art galleries the most important being the Boijmans van Beuningen, an architecture and design museum, and one of the main features of Rotterdam as so much of it has been rebuilt in the last 60 years, it has some strickingly visual modern and period architecture.
It's a maritime town so that history is well presented and if it floats your boat in a manner of speaking, you could take a river bus, west, past all the new docks up towards Maassluis or east up the river past all the old ship repair yards.
At night it can be a scary place if you're your own and you're in the wrong neighborhood. Which unfortunately a lot of the coffeeshops are. Like I say its a seamans rather than a tourist town like Amsterdam.
For a stoney day trip out from the 'Dam there are a lot more mooching friendly places.
My favourite coffeeshop is the Cafe Witt de With, theres nothing special about it other than it's friendly and it's always been there.

http://www.cityguiderotterdam.com/