The famously cute and sweet side of the Netherlands — with its canals, windmills, and tulip fields — is indeed a delight to experience. But to see how big-city modern Dutch life is lived, visit the no-nonsense “second city” of Rotterdam.

Mighty Rotterdam has a gleaming skyline and Europe’s largest port. Locals say that while the money is spent in Amsterdam, it’s made in Rotterdam. They boast that shirts in Rotterdam are sold with the sleeves already rolled up.

Once, Rotterdam was quaint and cozy like Amsterdam — but then it was leveled by the Nazis in World War II. Hitler ordered a systematic bombing of the city, and its center was, quite literally, flattened. Following the bombing, a fire raged for three days, consuming what was left. When Hitler threatened to do the same thing to Utrec

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