Old Port (Oude Haven), the oldest in Rotterdam.
Rotterdam is much more than the Erasmus paradise that every student dreams of going to. It is true that in its lively streets the youthful atmosphere is palpable, but it also has buildings with remarkable architecture, restaurants where you can surrender to adult pleasures and rooms – today terraces and gardens – where live music is not the excuse, but the objective.
**ARCHITECTURE CLASS**
To begin with, good news for Greta Thunberg: to this city of 623,000 inhabitants can be reached by train. ** From London, it takes less than four hours; from Paris, in two hours and 40 minutes; from Brussels, in one hour and ten minutes; and from Amsterdam, in 35 minutes (if it is from the airport, the journey is reduced by half).
And what a way to get to a city! Rotterdam Central Station, Co-created by Benthem Crouwel Architects, MVSA Architects and West 8, it appears to be about to take off into the sky. It is the stylish statement of intent of a place with a very particular sense of design. Not to mention its parking spaces (attention, Greta): 750 for cars and more than 5,000 for bikes.
Spectacular architecture of the Rotterdam Central Station.
South of downtown Rotterdam is the Ahoy Arena, a covered stadium with capacity for more than 40,000 people and whose journey by public transport from the main central station does not exceed 20 minutes. It usually hosts some of the most important events and concerts in the city, but for now, until normality returns, they have decided to transform into a ParkNBike where you can rent bikes and scooters to move freely and safely on two wheels.
Very close to the place is a small and discreet walk of fame. It shows the footprints of the hands or feet of legends of all kinds. The range of 'celebrities' goes from footballer Johan Cruyff to rockers Scorpions and our own Julio Iglesias.
Imposing industrial facade of Maassilo Rotterdam.
Also striking is the impressive industrial facade of the Maassilo. His very name reveals his past. It was an old corn silo, a barn that has replaced cereal with people giving everything inside. Specifically, 5,000 souls enter the enclosure. For now, and until further notice, they have had to settle for offering concerts from their roof as part of the Operadagen Rotterdam initiative, the international festival of contemporary opera that is being held virtually this year.
IN KATENDRECHT
Maassilo is also very close to one of the most interesting areas of Rotterdam. The port area of Katendrecht, formerly a ghetto for immigrants and prostitutes, it is now a foodie temple with wonderful views.
At De Matroos en Het Meisje (The Sailor and the Girl) the menu is a surprise. It has a good reputation with food critics and customers, so maybe you should trust it. In De Kaapse Brouwers are ready to prove to you that they have the best beer in town and, without leaving the area, you can find a very particular hotel, the SS Rotterdam, which is a ship.
across the harbor there is a gastronomic market, which also shares space with a Spanish hotel, the Room Mate Bruno. It is an area that ensures good views of the Erasmusburg Bridge.
Modern and endearing decoration in the De Matroos restaurant in Het Meisje, in Rotterdam.
THE CENTER
If we cross the Erasmusburg, we enter the center of the city. The LGTBI + zone is located within the multicolored triangle that form the streets Churchillplein, Westblaak and Mauritsweg.
In Ferry it used to be customary to go for drinks,** but now it is their lunches, based on hamburgers, tacos, burritos and salads, that attract attention to their terrace. **The mythical Café KeerWeer has also set up almost an outdoor stage and, near the same area, Rotown, the live music temple is already adjusting its concert schedule for the fall and winter months. Meanwhile, you can also eat or drink in it or enjoy a good brunch in the morning.
Mauritsweg street is one of the liveliest streets in the center of Rotterdam.
Another institution, near the train tracks, is Bird, which sounds like jazz, funk, soul and electronica. If it is so diverse, it is because in the past it welcomed and entertained the sailors who arrived in the city, loaded with influences from other places. Tickets for their summer events are already flying, like the Silent Disco that you will offer in your garden next July 18, but you still have time to join the musical events of the month of September.
Instead, the Toffler Club, conveniently located in what was once an underpass, bet on house music and techno. The one that on May 30 they had to broadcast through a radio program to celebrate their well-known Toffler Festival in a somewhat peculiar way: selling, instead of tickets for the concerts at the Roel Langerakpark, picnic boxes made in collaboration with Zalmhuis, so that everyone could take them wherever they wanted (or could) to the rhythm of music mixed live by Toffler's DJs.