{"id":7666,"date":"2015-03-23T11:44:14","date_gmt":"2015-03-23T11:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress72\/?p=27448"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:25","slug":"rotterdam-riddles-the-wijnhaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2015\/03\/23\/rotterdam-riddles-the-wijnhaven\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotterdam Riddles: the Wijnhaven"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Even though running just along the busiest stretch between Blaak and Beurs, Wijnhaven is a quiet area not everyone knows about. IBA student Anastasia Roor, 21, from equally hectic German Hannover enjoyed an afternoon walk with me in this urban oasis. <\/p>\n

Text and photography Kate Sytnik<\/b><\/p>\n

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Wijnhaven: an island of calm<\/b><\/p>\n

Originally Wijhnaven was a busy hub, dating back to the 17th century when it was constructed as a part of a water city plan. After the bombing on May 9th 1940, the harbor was devastated. The Witte Huis was the only building to survive. <\/p>\n

These days, the tourists tend to cluster in the adjacent Oude Haven, while locals are usually too busy shopping at Coolsingel. Thanks to this relative negligence, Wijnhaven is a perfect place to take a restorative break from the urban intensity.<\/p>\n

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Anastasia\u2019s review<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cI love Rotterdam in general. Even though it is a big city, it does not feel overwhelming. You can easily get right about anywhere without having to travel for half an hour. I also like that you can see that there is a thought put into urban planning. It is not like \u2018we\u2019ve put a building here just because we had some empty space\u2019. Buildings are always made to belong in the city. <\/p>\n

\u201cI like this harbour for similar reasons. It is 100 meters from the bustling Blaak and still feels like a village. A Dutch one for sure, though. It is the way here: take something traditional and make it modern. In Germany, we have Hamburg with almost the same story of being destroyed, but it went in a completely opposite direction. There the port was restored just as it was before. German\u2019s are more conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Would you take first time Rotterdammerts<\/i> here or is it as commonplace as it gets?<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cNext time my friends come I will definitely take them here. It is not the most obvious sight in Rotterdam, but I think it is worth visiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visitor\u2019s tip<\/b><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve got the guts and have no water sickness, try out staying at the floating H2O Hotel for a night and enjoy your breakfast on inflatable boat.<\/p>\n

Last month, we showed the Luchtsingel to Latvian EUC student Signe<\/a>. Do you want to participate and discover a Rotterdam Riddle with us, send an e-mail to erasmusmagazine@em.eur.nl.<\/i><\/p>\n

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