When you say, " I'm headed to Holland " most people think " Cool - Amsterdam huh! " but if you say that to a Dutchie, they may get offended (a bit like when you say you're from Oz and people are like: Cool - Sydney? ... ahhh, no - a bit further north than that).
There's just so much MORE to the LowLands than thier crazy/beautiful capital city ... In my 3 years of being here on and off, I've discovered more about life here. Yep, it's true - there really is more to Holland than Amsterdam ;0)
While Amsterdam has it's highlights (Westerkerk tower overlooking the city & my personal favourite, the Jordaan area) , it's lowlights (canals at night - so perdy, which serves as a bit of a contrast to their day time muck look) and it's redlights (yeah, that) ... Like is the case with many cities, you don't quite get a proper feel of a country or its people just by visiting it's capital. Amsterdam, however, is pretty darn fun. But it is a party town, so for a more quiet soul like me, I prefer to call he political capital of this nation, home. For two of my 3 years here I've lived in The Hague. It's got the beach (not that the north sea is all that appealing), it's got the typically dutch european old school architecture, it's far more clean than A'dam, it doesn't quite have as many tourists, but I'd say there's just as many foreigner's living here - many of us aupairs ;0) But to stay on track with the title, I feel I need to share more, because there's even more to holland than it's two capitals - believe it or not!
Yep, The Netherlands just has so much to offer it's visitors ...
the south has a genuinely Dutch feel ... warm and welcoming. The north is less 'cute' but still worth a look. Other cities - mainly somewhere in the middle, are all essentially the same - except for Rotterdam. It's the 'new' one, student city, another party town I guess. Enough about the geography though ...
there's nothing you can't move on a bike & there's no type of weather that will stop you using a bike
cutomer service doesn't exsist - as if people in stores are paid to WORK ... no no, they're just there to socialise
foreign services are ALL in Dutch - yes, beacuse all foreigners speak dutch - not
cheese, clogs, a lot of flat green open spaces (with resident sheep & cows), oh yeah and some with beautiful tulips
tall people, and their national airline offers less leg room than most other airlines out there - go figure
they're always right and better than anyone else - don't believe me ... just anyone of them - a possible reply might be: if it's not dutch, it's not much
hmmm, what else ... ahhh, stroopwaffels & suwesebolen (sticky cinnamon bun - best eaten fresh and in the south), that's about the only food I feel is worth a mention - personally I can live without the bitter taste of endives as a veggie and boerkool which literally sticks to your insides when you eat it.
So there you have it - my thoughts on why there's more to holland than the obvious. So when you gonna come check it out!?
