Rotterdam

Off to Rotterdam we went to go to an event called Distorted Hardcore. The only reason we were going to this out of the way event was to see Hellfish. He was pretty much of our last DJ to cross off our wish list. One of the UK's biggest industrial producers, he makes music like you would NEVER have heard before, I promise you. He creates such a unique mash up of tracks influenced mainly by industrial, hip hop and drum n bass that he makes music I can only truly categorise as "Hellfish's sound". Each track is produces is strikingly different from the last that we were really excited to see how he in the world he was going to pull off a well mixed DJ set!

Although, before seeing Hellfish we did spend a few awesome days in Rotterdam. We booked a different hostel this time as we both remembered the last time we were there and how much of a downer was put on our mood because of the dodgy neighbourhood we were in!

We booked "Hostel ROOM Rotterdam" which is run by two women who got the inspiration to start a youth hostel when backpacking in Australia. Each room has a theme relating to The Netherlands and we got a private room called the "Historical Room" which was cute and spacious. The hostel itself was really homely, they had a dog called Lexie who was really sweet and placid except for she tried to bite my finger once :(

The first day we arrived it was POURING rain but because it was a Sunday we had to walk for 15 minutes to the closest supermarket that was open in order to get some food. I got an 18 pack of Bitterballen haha my new favourite dutch food. They are crumbed deep fried balls, the inside loooks and tastes like mushed up Shepards Pie but I'm not sure what is actually in them - delicious though and it only cost me 79 cents! Haha.

The next day was windy but nice so I dragged Smicy out for a morning stroll around Rotterdam. For some reason a lot of shops are closed on Mondays too so it was pretty quiet. We walked where we didn't get to go last time, over a big bridge towards their port. I have to say I don't know much about ports but it's the largest port in Europe which is pretty big deal for small sized Rotterdam.

A lot of Rotterdam was destroyed in World War II so on our walk there was no escaping their abundance of modern yet slightly wacky architectually designed buildings. There is something strange about walking through such a modern city that is so quiet. It feels like you're walking through a giant open air modern art gallery...that is the best way I can describe it haha.

Back on the other side of the Bridges we found ourselves close to the "Cube Houses", the cube houses are 3D cubes and the insides of them are completely furnished...I guess so people can see how they would be able to live in a cube? They have actually put a hostel in most of the cubes now so people can really stay there.

Soon enough we ended up in the bustling shopping district and then back to our hostel. Rotterdam is a very contrasting city and in my opinion, that makes it very liveable.

TIP: If you need something to eat and you're in one location for a few days - MAKE CURRY. It was our dinner every night in Rotterdam & a nice break from pasta.

That night it was "Dutch Delight" night at the hostel where you get to sample traditional Dutch treats. They love caramel & ginger so we sampled caramel & chocolate pudding, ginger cake, caramel waffles & ginger biscuits. We spent the night talking to a nice guy from America called Ben who was really tall. We were sitting on stools that were too high for me and I had to slide off mine to get down...pretty embarassing. The receptionist asked us to mind the bar while she had a cigarette so Smic poured himself a few beers - good minding skills! I also had a go at this Dutch game where as far as I could tell you slam wooden pieces along a board & try to get it into the hole, like table hockey. Then I left Smic and Ben to chat and went to sleep.

The next day we went to "Blaak Markets" which is probably the biggest market we've been to in Europe. You could really pretty much anything there but we paid attention to the cheap fruit, chocolate & lollies! We walked around it 3 times & purchased all 3 things. I also saw a top I bought for 20 Euro there for 6 Euro :( For lunch Smicy had his Dutch favourite - Frites with ketchup and I tried a spinach & feta cheese pancake with salad, garlic & chilli sauce. SO GOOD and dirt cheap.

The following night we went to Distorted Hardcore. It was in the same club as Pokke Herre and took us AGES to get there. We forgot to validate our train tickets so Smic ran to do it while I waited on the train...of course, the train decided to leave Smic behind as he tried to wedge the doors open lol. Thank god I had found out about 2 minutes beforehand what stop we were getting off at as I didn't have a single thing on me eeekk. So scary!

It was about midnight when we got there and Hellfish vs. Brian Fury was just starting. They played for two hours and I am so glad I brought earplugs for us. The people controlling the sound must've been deaf, seriously my whole body was vibrating which I really don't think is good for you. Regardless, their set was as I expected - skillful & unique. The only thing I didn't bargain for was how impossible it was to dance to their set, everyone was just standing their watching which was kinda awkward. The rest of the night, we just hung out in the main arena...after about 4am we resided to the lounge chairs and I had a bit of a nap. Lol, keep in mind this was a Wednesday night and the club was pretty dead. We were just kind of keen to go home. On the way back to the train station we saw this large creepy looking rabbit and then a couple of cute rabbits. Every mode of transport we needed was running late so we didn't get back until 9am in the morning. Then we slept :)

Things we love about Rotterdam:

Modern architecture is normally surrounded by pollution & mass population but Rotterdam isn't.
VERY green, not much litter etc.
Great shopping district
Quite multicultural = cheap & diverse food
Youth art culture is very strong = Makes the city more colourful, good bars to accomodate such youth!
Stones throw away from any rave, festival etc yet much cheaper than Amsterdam
DUTCH PEOPLE ARE JUST SO NICE!

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