My kind of town

I didn't mind where to settle down except for Rotterdam. Don't ask me why, it just wasn't appealing. Of course we ended up buying a house here. No regrets.

As a result I have a remarkable relationship with our city. I've never known for sure what it is that binds us, the city and me.

This small story by Raoul de Jong is the closest to describe that feeling. It was written in a special edition of Eksit, a cultural magazine that actually doesn't exist anymore, and it's about the total lack of drama in Rotterdam.

Our city is just so normal, it's the only place where you can really be yourself. Rotterdam is a city where it's best to stay indoors because there is nothing to see outside. Dreaming about romantic places with the curtains closed.

Fries with mayonnaise, that's what our city is like!

Reading the title, Chicago must have crossed your mind. I don't know Chicago but it must be to the Americans what Rotterdam is to the Dutch. Both typical for their country. Rigid working cities. Big and ugly. Archetypes of the modern metropolis, according to Mark Twain in 1891.

Time for music.
Who else. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muPZLDBFscgc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Or else: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma9pYmfht34&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[sandra]

Precies, lekker gewoon! Al vind ik de Rotterdamse skyline steeds mooier worden

[Alison Tomlin]

Well I can't understand it but your text was very interesting. A city where you can be yourself sounds like a good place to me

[Dieter Tracey]

Can't understand a word but I do love fries with mayo :)

[Paula]

Oh I don't know, you seem to find loads of things in your area to take photos of:)

[Mek]

@smallenburg @fueast @dieter @pwallis Sorry for the unsharable photo. Sometimes you have to pollute your album for personal sake ;-) Thanks for the comments anyway!

[Peter de Graaff]

Prefer Dordrecht to Rotterdam, though has got good bookshops and department stores

[Mek]

@peterdegraaff Funny you say that. We have a saying in Rotterdam; 'hoe dichter bij dordt hoe rotter het wordt' (in English, without rhyme; the closer to Dord the worse it gets). Crossing the river Maas to Rotterdam South actually means you leave the city already. Haha.
The book- and department stores we have can be found in each big city :-) Dordrecht however has a unique bookstore dedicated to pop-ups only. I love that one!

[Mek]

@peterdegraaff You are absolutely right about the architecture though! Since Dordrecht wasn't bombed during the war it still has a gorgeous old center. Too old maybe. Many house are crooked and suffer from bad and collapsing (wooden) foundations!

[Sian Stevens]

There's a song that starts with the lyrics...' this could be rotterdam, or anywhere...'
Reminds me of that :-)

[Mek]

@sstevensrvc Oh, yes. I remember. I'll post it for the Sinatra-haters. There are a lot of them probably :-)

[Shannon Pitton]

I'm actually really surprised at how much of that I can read, or at least think I can.

[Mek]

@shantwin Good for you! I'm not very surprised though. We share a lot of words and many Dutch words are 'borrowed' from French and English. Grammar is probably much more difficult to understand but not very important for understanding the general subject...