Rotterdam, once the biggest port in the world (now just the biggest in Europe) sports 127 different nationalities, had the first ever Chinese restaurant in The Netherlands (in the Thirties, Red Light District), is called the 10th island of Cape Verde because we host the largest group of Cape Verdeans in my country. It was the city many Dutch used as a spring board to emigrate to the US, Canada and Australia (with the HAL, or Holland America Line).
We are often compared to New Yorkers, straight to the point, no-nonsense, hard working, big mouth and big heart. We will always be the second city behind Amsterdam. Hard core Rotterdammers never pronounce that city by its name but simply refer to it as '020' (the area code). Rotterdam is proudly referred to as '010' because it was the first city in The Netherlands to get a telephone system.
The city centre was completely demolished by a Nazi bombing in 1940 and that probably is the reason why the architecture keeps inventing itself and is world renowned. (Rem Koolhaas).
I was born here and I will die here.