Rotterdam, first time in the Netherlands...

Thinking about winter 2017, remember my self as a girl who wanted to go abroad and experience something new...

After some research, I thought that studying abroad would be a great choice for me... and then found Erasmus university, and my dream was to start studying there... *I end up somewhere else, but you never know, where I will end up later!

So that's prety much, how I found my self from one day to the other in the city of Rotterdam.

It was the first time being alone in a foreign country, when I was just 18, so was a very intense experience from the beginning.

Arriving there, and knew noone, or what I am going to do there. I found a job, made some good friends, and left Rotterdam with a very nice memory!

Being in a new country, for me was so exciting, and quite funny, that I did so big step alone in my life!

It turned a great experience, and I wouldn't change a thing of my time there!

First day in Rotterdam, just went directly in a hostel, that turned out to be my family and work for the next few months.

For me, even the hostel was something new. Many people from different countries, students, backpackers and other travellers were staying there.

The city is the second biggest city in the Netherlands, with around 800. 000 people, but not as touristic as Amsterdam, still alive and with many options though.

The city because of the big university, has some of thousand international and dutch students that gives the city this character.

For me were all new, and I was just keen to meet as many people as possible.

Back in that time my english was worse than you think, but felt pretty comfortable, even back then, so never had problems with communication.

From the first day out and start exploring the city and see the working opportunities, why not make some new friends...

The city is not a classic dutch city, after the bombings in the second world war. The city built again with a very modern and futuristic arcitecture!

You can still see signs on the floor, where bombs did explode, all around the city.

Finding house was quite challenging in Rotterdam, as there are many people looking for apartments especially the period of the year, I went there...

I had to stay in hostels, couchsurfers, friends houses, and change three other rooms, untill I got my final room, in a shared apartment with 3 more girls...

The city is alive, but mainly during weekends, where you can go in the famous Witte de Withstraat, a street full of small bars and pubs, for all the tastes.

The city is divided in 2 parts and connects with a beautiful bridge called Erasmusbrug, that you could walk, pass by car or of course cycle.

Famous enough for that, dutch cities are known for their cycling tradition.

In the Netherlands, there are more bicycles than people, and it's really often that your bike gets stolen, even with the very expensive locker, but... you can have other ones pretty cheap, so it's not that bad...

Finding job with just English was pretty easy in Rotterdam, in restaurants, bars, and hostels. The hard thing is before that. You have to do a long process for a BSN, your citizen number in the Netherlands, but after that, everything works easy!

I highly recommend the open market there, every Tuesday and Saturday, where you can find from cheap fruits and vegetables, till musical instruments and fancy clothes. It is located in square black, where the big Markthall is, another modern building, with restaurants and delis from all around the world.

Rotterdam is a must, if you interested in fun parties, modern arcitecture and smiley people!

Enjoy this beautiful city, and I hope you will love it as much as i did...

Wish to go back soon, and remember again, all the beautiful moments i had there...

Big kiss to all my friends there!

See you in 5...

#rotterdam #wittedewitt #lekker #totziens #faystay

Fay

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