the Netherlands

The Netherlands, the country I love.

Beautiful ever changing country side, a nation of grumblers, however - at the same time - we are the tallest as well as the most content people in the world. And on top, we do have very loveable cows. Who needs a bucket list - every day's life is great as is!

Dutch Cities

The Dutch and Water

Dutch Constructions

Dutch Museums

Most of my visits to Dutch Museums is linked to one of the other topics but there are some exceptions. The exhibits do deserve to be shared and as we know 'exceptions proof the rules'; hence, some detours have been taken now and again. Although even those detours can be linked to something on the website. For example: the  of the clothes in the previous century carry beautiful embroideries of hieroglyphs.

As every other country the Netherlands can boost on a considerable amiount of historical cities. Some of those will be visited in the light of 'The Dutch and Water' or Dutch Constructions. However, this specific chapter 'Dutch Cities' the six cities I lived in in the Netherlands are in the spotlight: Medemblik, Deventer, Warnsveld (Zutphen), Haarlem, Amsterdam en Lelystad. For me surely a nice trip through memory lane.

De bekende gevels van de grachtenhuizen in Amsterdam, de grote hoeveelheid Nederlandse kastelen en paleizen en natuurlijk de verscheidenheid aan (water)molens zijn de bouwwerken die Nederland maken zoals we het allemaal kennen. Maar hoeveel verschillende gevels zijn er ook al weer en waarom heet een bovenkruier een bovenkruier? Verfris je geheugen in dit deel van de website.

The Dutch learned to live with water and maximize the benefits. When invasions took place by foot, the dikes were stabbed in the Middle Ages to stop the enemy armies. To increase land to live on water has been pushed out. We are renowned for our dredging abilities; we played a roll in protecting New Orleans against a second Catrina and we shaped the islands for Dubai's coast.

The Netherlands - a first introduction

The Netherlands do have a rich history in sailing the seas and  conquering countries, either in a physical sense or virtual via music (André Rieu), paintings (Vincent Van Gogh) or sports (Johan Cruijff). The introduction will take you through our 12 provinces,  a bit of history on the country and its produce (tulips,  and clogs) and famous Dutch people. Furthermore the close connections to Belgium and England will be explained. This place is an excellent starting point to ge to know my home country. I love to hear from you if you get inspired.

Our cows are often used on the ceramic tiles from Friesland and many products of Royal Delft.