Ciao y’all!
My name is Gracie, I am from Austin, Texas, and I am a Fashion student in Milan, Italy! I recently went to Rotterdam, Netherlands, and I wanted to share info about my trip in case anyone was interested. I went with no plan and this is what I ended up doing.
FTC Disclaimer: This is in no way sponsored but I do need money so hmu!
I chose Rotterdam because I almost went to TwitchCon to see Kayla Sims (aka @lilsimsie) but I didn’t bite the bullet because I wasn’t sure if she was going to be there. She was, but I made other weekend plans in Milan instead. However, I still wanted to go to the city, especially since lilsimsie made a video on the Cube Houses. I mean come on, how cool! I am a big Sims lover so I am very interested in this kind of modern architecture.
I came from London, so I took the Eurostar Rail straight to Rotterdam Centraal. It was an easy ride. I took a little snooze and I was basically there. I booked it through Rome2Rio.
When I got there, I set down my stuff at my cubicle hotel. I utilized everything Google Maps had to offer and made my way to some parks to view the city. I loved all of the modern architecture, street art, public arts, parks, and more! There is a surprise around every corner. Rotterdam is small enough to get lost in. I never used public transportation while I was here.
I went to the Museum park and read a book I bought at Boekhandel vanGennep. I bought A Room with a View by E.M. Forster. I wanted a light read in order to not look so awkward traveling alone. It is about a girl from England on a trip to Italy and I thought it was fitting to my life experience, haha.
Once I got hungry, I went on Google Maps and found a restaurant called Vegan Junk Food. I ordered the Tipsy Unicorn — a cocktail with Smirnoff Vodka, Blue Curaçao liqueur, lychee juice, blueberry puree, and fresh lemon juice. Overall, it was a very sweet drink but it was refreshing and I enjoyed it and would recommend it if you like those kind of cocktails.
I also ordered the Iconic Rainbow Loaded Fries — French fries, crunchy Fly Wingz strips, crispy Bacon bits, rainbow sauces. My review: I have been wanting a vegan Whataburger for so long. Whataburger is literally the only fast food I miss since turning pescatarian. The Fly Wingz strips were honestly not that bad and I have been looking for a chicken nugget replacement for so long! Veggie chicken nuggets were my favorite snack in the US and you just can’t get them accessibly in Milan. And of course, I hadn’t had veggie bacon in SO long! Pretty sure it’s just Morning Star veggie bacon. I made this all the time in the US.
Just for fun, I ordered the Cripsy Mac & Cheese Betterballs: filled with macaroni & Cheeze served with VJFB™ sauce. There are just some things you cannot make yourself that tastes the same like fried food. I do not cook with a lot of fried things, but this was fried and it was made for me. Truly vegan junk food at its finest.
Here are my notes on the restaurant in general if you wanted to go, since it is a chain. I don’t know what food at the original location tastes like, but it tastes like the chef themselves was not vegan. There are SO many different ways to spice up the vegan alternatives, and these are just prepared the way they are. It’s not bad per se, but if I were cooking for myself (which I often do with plant-based alternatives), I would throw in a bunch of different spices — literally just pepper could do the trick! Overall, great meal and loved that I didn’t have to make something vegan myself. However, if you are not vegan, this place really is just not for you. If you cannot accept vegan alternatives, like veggie bacon or veggie chicken nuggets or vegan cheese, then I wouldn’t suggest it unless you are open to trying it. Just know that vegan alternatives are hit and miss. I’ve tried nearly all of them from Whole Foods, Target, Lidyl, and Carrefour. This restaurant serves some of the better alternatives, but at the end of the day it isn’t meat so if you are not vegan/vegetarian/pescatarian/have-dietary-restrictions in general, manage your expectations, haha.
Then I went home, slept in, and explored more of Rotterdam the next day.
I could definitely live in Rotterdam. It has very similar vibes to Austin and San Diego. It is a city meant for young professionals in their early 20s/30s. There is a lot of industry here, and the city is basically a product of Millenial and Gen Z trends. The city was bombed in the World War, so everything is clean, modern, and more Americanized compared to the rest of Europe. I’ve traveled to many urban cities in the US: LA, NYC, Miami, Vegas, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, New Orleans, DC, Annapolis, etc. Rotterdam is the most similar of the cities I visited in Europe thusfar. The city is completely walkable and accessible, unlike many cities in the US that I’ve visited. They really know how to live in the Netherlands.
I decided to go to the Remastered Exhibit near the Erasmus bridge. I found it on Google Maps. When you enter, you are allowed to color/draw an image and they would upload it to the interactive projector display. It was so cool to see people of all ages enjoying coloring again. I drew my signature unicorn that I drew all the time as a kid because I couldn’t think of anything else, haha.
I really enjoyed the Remastered experience! There were people of all ages — many of whom were families, but I don’t think this is necessarily meant for kids, if you know what I mean. If you are a fan of modern art, there are a lot of motifs of the Northern European Renaissance, Dante’s Inferno, Van Gogh, etc. (I saw a family leave because of the memento-mori imagery “scaring” or “corrupting” their kids.) If you love Dante’s Inferno, like me, then you’d appreciate all of the references throughout the experience. It is an hour long; you walk from room to room until you reach the final room that is about 30 minutes long. I ended up just sitting down and taking in the experience. I like computer-generated art, so I found it fascinating to watch. I feel like it could go above the heads of many, but the artist is profound and I would recommend this experience for those that are interested.
Next, I took a walk through town to do to the Cube Houses!
I came here because of lilsimsie’s video recreating the houses. As a big Sims fan, I LOVED walking through this concept of a house! I always say I could live happily in a tiny house, and I could definitely live like this. It was 2 euros with my student ID to tour!
From there, I decided to just get lost in the city and make my way back to my cubicle hotel, CityHub, to do some work. I, of course, walked through Markthal. It so nice to see a city invest in architecture like this. You hear about things like this in concept, but it’s really cool to see it in real life. I am so glad they made it just because they could. Perfect concept for art lovers.
I went to this coffee shop, Chocolate Company, at two locations because I just wanted to try artisan coffee again — a fav hobby of mine in the US. I usually ask the barista to make their favorite coffee with oat milk. They are taken aback at first, but they get excited and want to make sure you like it. The first coffee I had was just an Iced Caramel Latte with Oat Milk. She was right, simplicity is better.
At the next location, I also ordered from their “specialty menu” and got the Campfire Mochaccino — Cappuccino with chocolate and toasted marshmallows for a true campfire adventure. The barista looked at me like I was a child, but I thought it was marshmallow syrup and not actual marshmallows! Regardless, it was great, especially for smores/chocolate lovers.
And that was my trip to Rotterdam! Leave a comment down below if you have any comments, questions, concerns, critiques, or recommendations!
P.S. I mentioned that I stayed at a cubicle hotel earlier — let me know if you would like a full review on it! I really enjoyed it!
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