things to know things to do - MIEKE

Netherlands

Things to know:
· You have to pay at least 25c (euro) to go to a public toilette... even if theyre really scungy.

· There are animal ambulances. Apparently one time, at the end of someone’s street there was a goose dying. The ambulance arrived and desperately tried to re-animate the goose, but it didn’t quite work and so they covered it with a white sheet and carried it away!

· Cars give way to each and every cyclist. (Australians worst nightmare!) They have to. I can’t get used to it and the drivers keep getting angry at me for giving way to them. (you have to ride your bike fast, never give way or look around, and just ring your bell for people to get out of your way... eek)

· Don’t come to Holland for its beaches. (unless you’re in Zeeland... still not as good as Aus though.) They’re always windy and the water is all shades of brown; pollution brown. Out to sea all you can see are cargo ships and heaaaaaaaaaaaps of wind turbines. The one good thing is they have nice cafes and sorbet shops right on the sand. Aussie beaches are definitely right at the top somewhere!

· Europeans are mad about soccer, if you didn’t know already. (and REALLY competitive while playing)

· They cook delish meals! (lekker is good, heerlyk is reallly good.) and they are just as hospitable. They definitely know the meaning of “gezellig” .. which we dont have in english, bit its a sort of combination of the following: cosy, inviting, opposite of depressing, good feng shui, warm, friendly, you want to live thereeee....

· They call things Australian to sound exotic.

· The weather: Unreliable. It is probably quite intelligent of you to pack an umbrella at all times! And a funky one to make you feel good

· The dutch/Europeans know their ice cream.



Things to do...as of 27/7/10

· Main thing: Hire, buy, borrow, (steal or build if necessary) a bicycle. It is a MUST, MUST, MUST.

· Canoe through the canals of small villages. (we went through Wormer) When the Dutch go canoeing/kayaking/boating they like to go out into wide open spaces, the lakes and through the marshes. They sort of think canoeing through the village is yuck (for want of a better word.) Buuut if you want an eye-opener into the Dutch culture, well summer culture, there is hardly any better thing to do. The houses and their small gardens border onto the canals, which are about as wide as roads. Huge old willows hang over and dip their leaves in the waters. In some places white and pink water lilies sprawl halfway out. The gardens are really well tended, neatly trimmed hedges and pruned trees, but the colourful flowers run riot. Every house has been kept in the same (old) dutch style. Peaked tiled rooves, all small brown brick, white trimmings. In Australia this would sound disgusting, but here everything is synchronised and there is so much greenery it looks beautiful. The houses are all quite small but every single window you look in, is inviting and spacious. It is normal to never close the curtains, so people can look in and see everything. This makes the community “gezzelig” (close-knit).
The best time to go canoeing would be summertime..obviously. Oh and another cool thing is that in winter all the canals turn into natural ice skating rinks!

· Have “frites met mayonnaise” or fritesausse! And kroketten met mustard! And and and.. So delicious! They have vending machines (sort of) that you can put in your coins, open a little door and pull out a fresh whatever! Sounds like magic, I know, and definitely tastes like it. With the frites (chips) they pile them into cones and pour a huge amount of mayo on top. Yumm! Now I know why I love mayo so much... its in my genes

· Also cones and bags of licorices and packets of stroopwafels. Dutch are the royalty for sweets.

· Visit Alkmaar. Its heaps smaller than Amsterdam but quite similar. It has canal tours, cheese markets and so many old buildings ie. 1520 etc. Cathedrals are dotted here and there and about 500 shoe shops..joking. but every second shop is a shoe shop..not joking. There are also lots of guys clothes shops, which have really good style and makes me wish I was a guy or had brought my boyfriend along! Alkmaar is fairly touristy though.

· Drive along routes that take you through all the small towns and villages. This is best done at a leisurely pace, with a flexibility to end up anywhere. (unlike Papa.)

· Markets. Cheap markets. Ooooh so cheap. 10 big apple pastries for 5 euros. Fresh stroopwafels the size of your dinner plate for 1 euro. Fresh fish, mountains of summer fruits, beautiful flower stalls, bicycle parts, funky clothes, everyyything.