Rotterdam! What a sweet little city. I had all intentions of visiting this place last year when we spent time in Amsterdam, (being only an hour away by train) but I ended up running out of time. Which is probably a good thing because this time around we had a nice long weekend to spend exploring and much more time to spend with some very lovely “locals”.
This is the breakfast we ate nearly every day at an adorable cafe called Picknic, who also did great coffee! Hurrah!
And these are the lovely locals we met in Rotterdam that I mentioned earlier. I stole this photo from Trudys’ amazing blog because the only photo of them I had from our trip was not blog worthy. But Tom has an equally great blog too, where he writes about both their travels, life in Rotterdam and all sorts of lovely things like that. I suggest you check them both out, be inspired and suffer a little jealousy.
And speaking of Rotterdam locals, another reason I wanted to visit Rotterdam was to see Lisas‘ super cute little shop, Elle Aime!
And it didn’t disappoint, this cute little space was choc-full of adorable little things made by locals and far away creatives! And Lisa was such a lovely person, I am so glad I had the chance to met her in person.
Here’s another little peek at the rest of the little shops in the Rotab Style Centre. Each space gets a little ground floor “shop” area and above that they have space for storage, a sewing space, a desk or a studio. It’s such a great little setup, I only wish it existed in Sydney.
While we happened to be in town, the World of Witte De With Festival was happening, a sort of street event with arts, music, food and special events. We went to one of the night street parties happening on Witte de Withstraat, and it was a little crazy to say the least!
I don’t think I’ve ever walked (shoved, struggled my way) through such a huge crowd in my life. It seemed everyone in Rotterdam had shown up for a beer and a dance. So much fun!
As part of the street party the shops and galleries were open till late. It was great being able to meander through the streets and see everything happening. How great are these cat chairs that in no way could come home with me!?
The last day we spent in Rotterdam we borrowed Trudy and Toms’ bikes and went for a ride around the city.
Trudy recommended we visit Het park, which was SO incredibly pretty. They had cute little chair swings, biking paths and greenery galore!
We met some ducks and visited this cute little house.
And on our way out we spied some crazy people dangling from a tower!
Another Rotterdam highlight was this cute little cafe right near central station that we visited called
Lebkov, who did ridiculously good sandwiches and coffee.
And finally these amazing cube houses were a sight to see! It’s kind of crazy seeing them in the middle of a huge intersection. Apparently the people who live in them get vertigo and could you imagine trying to arrange furniture! I’m exhausted just thinking about it. Kx
Katie says:
Love these pics Kel! Look like you had a wonderful time in Rotterdam. Those cube houses are INSANE! And I love the little mini shops with the work spaces on top – I wish we had centres like that in Australia! Such a brilliant idea. Thanks for sharing your travels, so I can live vicariously through you! Haha :)
Trudy Florence says:
I can’t believe I only just saw all these! Love seeing Rotterdam through your eyes! It was so fun hanging out with you guys. Brissie or Sydney next time! xxx