I Heart Holland

September 10, 2009 by Santana Caress · Leave a Comment

Amsterdam is one of the biggest tourist spots in the world, luring in millions of art aficionados, party animals, and of course, ganja lovers seeking their Mecca, but the country has another gem to offer the world: Rotterdam. It’s a fabulous city in its own right, boasting exotic cuisine, a bangin’ nightlife, to-die-for scenery, and beautiful people.

A bonafide melting pot, Rotterdam is home to significant Dutch, Surinamese, Turkish, Cape Verdean, Antillean, Aruban and Moroccan populations. And, they know how to have fun. The Caribbean community puts their heritage on full display every year during the last weekend in July at the Zommer Carnaval (Summer Carnival).

Find the dude licking his girl's nose...lol

Summer Carnival is an annual 3-day Caribbean festival in Rotterdam’s city centre. It resembles Brazilian and Trinidadian carnivals, but on a much larger scale. Every year 900,000 visitors come from all over Europe to dance to Latin beats, munch on authentic Caribbean cooking and check out the intricate costumes and amazing floats in the big street parade. The party goes on all weekend, with people hanging in the streets until the wee hours of the night.

If you love good food, fun and fabulous people, the Zommer Carnaval should definitely be in your top 10 places to go.

For more information on Rotterdam, check out these sites or visit a travel agent near you.

http://www.rotterdam.info/uk/

http://wikitravel.org/en/Rotterdam

http://www.zomercarnaval.nl/nl/English