West Kruiskade Rotterdam

Being a port town, there is one word that can easily describe Rotterdam: diversity. And if you would like to understand Roffa's diversity in one street, I have the one for you: West Kruiskade. Located a couple of hundred meters from Centraal Station, West Kruiskade is one of the preferred destination of the town's foodies... both hipsters and not. You can see some of the old facades that survived the bombing in the '40s and most of them are filled with food business -- let that be tasty restaurants to interesting tokos (grocery stores where you can buy whatever you need to cook yourself an international meal).

I felt really at home the day I went into a toko owned by a Pakistani to find Mexican products. And then, in the butcher's shop next door, I can always talk a mixture of Spanish with Portuguese with some of the vendors, while I listen to an infinite number of other languages.

When you get to the West Kruiskade, walk slowly. Let your ears and your eyes savor the colors and the tones. Let yourself wander in the international supermarkets on both sides of the street: discover food you had never seen before. Eat an ice-cream. Greet a senior. Listen to a conversation. Buy a flower. Experience the city. Sometimes it only takes a street.