Secret places in Amsterdam that you won't find in a typical guidebook. Send luggage to Holland (2) Transfer items to the Netherlands
It all started with meeting a Dutchman in a chat and his offer to visit Holland. He offered to meet me at the airport and stay at his house. The proposal was made on the first day we met, so it was a little alarming. But having secured a promise from my friends that if they didn’t receive news from me within two days, they would start looking for me through Interpol, I decided to take a risk and go. For two weeks…
My boss, an experienced traveler, asked: “What will you do there for so long? There's only Amsterdam and that's it...”
I’ll say right away that my Dutch friend turned out to be a wonderful host who loves and knows his country. He had a variety of booklets and brochures ready at home so that I could choose what I wanted to see. He decided to take a vacation and travel a little with me. So Interpol was not needed. And in Holland there was not only Amsterdam...
I arrived in Schiphol on the morning of Friday May 14th. I got safely lost in a huge airport, which happened to me for the first time in all my travels. I joined the queue of transit travelers at passport control. It turned out I was in the other direction. There was no queue there, only the border guard was bored in the booth. The border, luggage, a friend patiently waiting for me and here it is Holland! White cumulus clouds in the blue sky, green fields with yellow spots of dandelions and fat, sleek cows, sheep and other living creatures, picturesquely located against this bright background. Toy houses along the road, surrounded by greenery and flowers..
The city in which I was to live for the next two weeks is called Woerden. A very nice and cozy town. It is 20 minutes from Utrecht, 40 minutes from Rotterdam, 45 minutes from Amsterdam. The central square of the city resembles a piece of Amsterdam - a canal, yachts, similar architecture of houses, a restaurant on the pier. There are many canals in the city. One flows right in front of my friend’s house and a family of ducks swims peacefully along it, fed by all the neighbors. And the neighbors' cats lazily watch the ducks and don't even try to eat the duck when they come out to sit on the grass in front of the house... Peace and quiet! It's good to live in such towns. There is no such dominance of Turks, Moroccans, etc., as in large cities. The result is safety. And for entertainment, go to Amsterdam or Rotterdam or... Fortunately, the country is small, everything is nearby!
We traveled by car. The undeniable advantage of such a trip is that there is no need to rush anywhere. You are not tied to a tour group and a strictly defined time of arrival/departure. There is time to walk through the parks, see everything for your pleasure, sit in a cafe and relax. I'll try to write about the places we visited and give some prices for entrance tickets (for adults). If someone gathers, you will know what to count on.
On Saturday morning we went to see the first attraction. Castle De Haar in the town of Haarzuilen.. Castle of the 19th century, built on the site of an old castle in the countryside. I am more attracted by the appearance of castles and their parks, so I didn’t go inside. And if you want to take a gorgeous photo of yourself / loved one against the backdrop of the castle, then don’t be lazy, go around the pond along the path through the park, and from the other end of the pond you will get a wonderful view of both the castle and the pond with swans swimming in it, all framed luxurious green park. And here you are sitting on the grass in the midst of all this splendor.
Enough for Saturday, because... In the evening we are going to Rotterdam for a techno party!
The party starts at 10 pm. Face control and body search (i.e. search) for drugs... They didn’t find anything on anyone, but after 2 hours everyone was high, including me... This was my first experience of smoking dope. Unsuccessful I must say..
The first impression of the party is - Mom, where am I? And I’m in one of the premises of the former warehouses of the port of Rotterdam. Concrete floors, iron walls and roof, some kind of metal structures everywhere..., a huge screen on the wall and color music lights. The party continues until seven in the morning. As the hall fills, additional rooms open. In total, about three thousand people gather by morning. The music is light at first, but the further you go, the cooler it gets. The head already works separately from the brain. I mean, the brain has switched off, and the head is trying to nod to the beat of the music... No one talks to anyone (you still can’t hear anything), no one pays attention to anyone, everyone is busy, whoever likes what - they drink, smoke, kiss, They are dancing, someone is already vomiting right on the floor. Yeah, that's why the scenery is like this! Of course, why would there be a carpet on the floor in this situation? A concrete floor is sufficient.
I don’t know, maybe someone will enjoy it, but I didn’t like this kind of party. She lacks soul. By the way, the entrance ticket is 35 euros. Food and drinks are available at an additional cost. According to friends, on average such a fun night costs 100 - 150 euros per person.
For obvious reasons, Sunday fell out of the schedule of trips around the country - there was a break...
On Monday we go to the Keukenhof flower park. This was the last week the park was open. The tulips have begun to wilt... And yet the park is magnificent! Some varieties cannot even be called tulips until you read the label. A wide variety of colors and sizes. Some petal edges look like fringe cut with scissors. And black tulips seemed the most unusual to me. They were bred to show off the beauty of black. So, black is a beautiful color!
In addition to tulips, the park has pavilions with lilies, gladioli, orchids and other flowers. Throughout the park you can see miniature sculptures - a kind of exhibition of avant-garde artists; there is a pond, fountains and a mill where you can go and go up to the observation deck. It overlooks the tulip fields and you see a multi-colored striped carpet below.
After a walk in the park, it’s nice to sit in a cafe by the fountain and drink a cup of hot chocolate while snacking on small, walnut-sized pancakes. They are prepared in front of you, without filling, or with strawberries, apples, etc. Place a piece of butter on top and generously sprinkle with powdered sugar. Death to the figure, but sooooo delicious!
From the flower park we go to The Hague to the Madurodam miniature park. There are similar parks in many countries. I saw one in Thailand. But the Dutch one is characterized by the fact that it contains small copies of only Dutch landmarks. Feel like Gulliver! The park became a kind of guide for me - I looked at several models that I later wanted to see in the original.
A short trip to The Hague was limited to a trip to the Binnenhof - the seat of the Dutch parliament. In general, the center of The Hague looks deserted at the height of the working day. Life is in full swing only on the shopping street and on the beach of Scheveningen. You can go there just for a walk along the seaside boulevard or sit in a cafe on the shore. For lovers of the underwater world - the largest marine aquarium in the Netherlands, Sea Life. All! Home! Tomorrow - Amsterdam. I already understand that Holland is not only Amsterdam... And yet, without visiting it, you cannot say that you have been to Holland. I was looking forward to this meeting. The expectation was justified. I fell in love.
I will not describe the beauty and architecture of the buildings; this has already been done many times and better than I could. I can only repeat the epithets “toy”, “gingerbread”, “unusual”, “fairytale” houses... Yes, it looks like Venice (in that it stands on the water). It looks a little like the Czech Republic (in the gingerbread architecture of the buildings). It is similar to Paris with its summer cafes and a large number of blacks on the streets. And at the same time, it is unlike any other city I have seen so far. Something in the atmosphere... it cannot be conveyed, it must be felt.
We arrived in Amsterdam early in the morning, intending to spend the whole day in the city. We parked the car in a huge garage next to Dam Square and drove towards Museum Square. The path passed through shopping streets, still quiet at 9 o'clock in the morning. Museum Square is distinguished by trees without leaves. I don’t know if they dried out, if they were specially pruned, or if the type of tree is leafless, but it looks unusual and is quite appropriate for the place - the Van Gogh Museum is nearby, also an unusual place. In addition to Van Gogh, paintings by Gauguin, Monet, Chagall, Malevich and others are exhibited.
On the same square are the State (with collections of old Dutch masters) and City (modern art) museums.
From the Museum Square it is close to the Vondelpark. A good resting place for tired tourists - you can lie on the grass by the pond and gain strength for your further journey around the city. The atmosphere is very relaxing - families come for picnics, students read something with a smart look, someone just sleeps on the grass, rollerbladers and cyclists ride along their paths. Despite the large number of people, the park is quiet, only birds break the silence.
We return to Dam Square. She is no longer as quiet as in the morning. A regiment of tourists has arrived. The steps around the column-monument to the victims of the war are dotted with people sitting and lying down. This is a gathering place for tour groups, a meeting place and just a great opportunity to sit and watch the people and life of Dam Square. Here are the Royal Palace and the Church of St. Catherine. As in the squares of almost all European cities, there are horse-drawn carriages waiting for their clients to take a walk around the city and moving sculptures - actors.
If you're tired of walking around Amsterdam on foot, take a boat trip along the canals. An hour-long tour costs 6 euros. The story about the sights passing by is conducted in English and French. So the day passed wandering through the streets and canals. Evening. It's time to go, you know where. Well, it’s impossible not to visit the Red Light District when you’re in Amsterdam. I don't know why I was so attracted to this place. Maybe I myself am vicious by nature and I carefully hide it, but I felt at home there - calm, cozy, relaxed. I looked at the girls in the windows. Ours are immediately visible - the most beautiful. They have different images - a teacher, a snow queen, a vamp, a shy woman, a lolita, etc. They blow-dry their hair, chat on the phone, read books, sit with friends... live their lives “behind the glass.” Behind closed curtains, life is not for the public; business is already going on there. If you want to look at this business from the outside, go to a live show. There are plenty of them here. Photos of actors and scenes from the play are posted on the street as advertising. In the words of one of my friends, “this show shows how boring sex can be.” But Japanese tourists came out with wide-open eyes and blissful smiles. I probably liked it. The friend turned out to be an expert in this area and showed us its furthest corners. The main street is more for the view, but there was more action there! Narrow streets between shop windows, two people can only separate if they press closely to these very shop windows, behind which live goods await hunters for paid love. According to information from a friend, they charge 50 euros for 15 minutes. There are whole streets there of only white women, Asian women, black women, old women, ugly women...for all tastes and perversions. And the sweet smell of marijuana in the air.
Once upon a time, my friend visited Amsterdam and showed me a photograph taken in the sex museum - she was sitting in an embrace with a huge penis. I wanted the same photo. We went to the sex museum to look for a penis... We didn’t find it. We watched obscene but funny cartoons. But the penis was still found in another museum, not far from Dam Square. So now I have the photo and none of my friends who saw it left anyone indifferent!
Having emerged from the quarter of vices for a while, we go to a Thai restaurant for dinner. There are restaurants here for every taste. On average, a dinner for two without wine costs 40 euros. The portions are large. If you can’t afford a restaurant, then McDonald’s, Burger King and others like them will help out.
After dinner we return to the red lanterns. I remember my first bad experience of smoking marijuana at a party in Rotterdam. It becomes curious, what do people find attractive about this? I didn't like it. Maybe you haven't tried it? I decide to repeat. Let's go to the coffee shop. I smoke a joint, giggle for a few minutes, then want to sleep. No buzz. So it's not mine. With that I calmed down and quit using drugs.
Time to go home. We go to the garage to get the car. Red Light Street is sold out! A crowd of people, the light of shop windows and restaurants. An insinuating voice from somewhere in the darkness “Do you want something?” This is a seller of “heavy artillery” - heroin, cocaine... Another, looking like a bank employee, in a suit and tie, a young man, quickly walks through the crowd, repeating quickly as he goes, “Heroin. Heroin. Heroin.” Outside the neighborhood it is already deserted. My first acquaintance with Amsterdam took place.
Taking a break from traveling on Wednesday, we go to the Apenheul Monkey Park on Thursday. At the entrance to the park, you are given special bags for packing hand luggage. Monkeys know these bags with tricky locks and don’t go into them. You need to keep an eye on unpacked items! Monkeys steal everything that is poorly hidden! Yes, they move freely there along the trees and paths, approach the audience and allow themselves to be petted. This only applies to small breeds. Large monkeys sit in enclosures stylized to resemble their original habitats. In addition to monkeys, there are many squirrels, ferrets, gophers, and interesting birds. Children really like this place.
Not far from the monkey kingdom is the Het Loo Palace. Favorite summer residence of the royal family from 1686 to 1975. Since 1984, after restoration, it has become a museum. The palace itself and the park with fountains and flowers are beautiful. For lovers of palace life, it will be interesting to see the interior decoration of the rooms, stables and other premises of the palace.
On Friday we are going to a place called Kinderdijk, not far from Rotterdam. This is the area of windmills - one of the symbols of Holland. The mills are working, but you can go into one of them and for 3 euros see how this thing works. From the small pier you can take a boat ride and explore the surrounding areas. Peaceful, beautiful scenery of village life.
And our path lies to Rotterdam. It's time to get acquainted with the second largest city in Holland.
Rotterdam is recognizable by the Erasmus Bridge, which spans the Meuse River.
You can climb Euromast (similar to the Ostankino TV tower) - a wonderful observation deck, from where the whole of Rotterdam is in full view. The view is amazing! You can go into a cabin that rises to the very height of the tower - 185 meters - and slowly rotates around it. And you sit and enjoy the panorama of the city.
There is a restaurant on the 4th floor, which also offers a beautiful view of the city.
There are also fun cubic houses in Rotterdam. The prices for apartments there are very high due to the unusual shape of the houses. But I don’t know what’s inside. But it looks cool from the outside.
Rotterdam suffered greatly during the war. Some of the sights were destroyed.
But you will definitely enjoy a walk along the embankments or along the shopping streets of Rotterdam!
It rained on Saturday. I had to stay at home and prepare for the trip to the dolphinarium, planned for Sunday.
So, we are going to the kingdom of the most intelligent and charming inhabitants of the seas and oceans. Located in the town of Harderwijk.
Dolphins, fur seals and lions, walruses - they are all artists here with their own shows. Just be sure not to get too close to the pools during the show. A cute walrus, weighing a ton, spat some water at the spectators - a wave covered the first 3 rows... There are also pools with stingrays, which you can pet by dipping your hand into the pool. Perhaps I was the only tourist there. This is a holiday destination for Dutch families, a real holiday for children.
I am also a child at heart. Well, I love amusement parks! Disney Land in France. Port Aventura in Spain. What about in Holland? Six Flags!!! So, on Monday we are leaving for the whole day to Six Flags in the town of Biddinghuizen! There are many attractions, cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops at your service... This park is not as large as the two above. But I have never seen such a concentration of roller coasters. There are 8 of them there. I got dizzy! What I liked the most was the Goliath slide, the highest of all. For lovers of free flight there is a bungee.
Children's attractions are located on the territory of Bugs Bunny - he is the symbol of the park. There, in the summer theater, he shows a show with friends and takes pictures with children.
The park has an open-air cage with kids. You can go to them and feed them a special treat, obtained from a feeder for 50 cents. Parents are simply going broke here, because... Children really like to feed animals, and this requires coins.
There are a lot of tasty treats in the park. I tried waffles with cherry jam and cream. It's very sweet and you won't eat much. I liked the donuts with raisins and powdered sugar better. Yummy!
Monday turned out to be a good day to visit the park. There weren't many people. Queues for attractions are no more than 5 - 10 minutes. On weekends and during school holidays there is nowhere for an apple to fall.
The next 3 days were devoted to shopping, due to the fact that my friend was busy at work, and I needed to sleep, digest my impressions and buy souvenirs and gifts for family and friends. The shopping streets of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Hague and Wouden were examined for purchases. The product is almost the same everywhere. In small towns prices are lower than in Amsterdam, spoiled by tourists.
Still, I wanted to return to Amsterdam once again to say goodbye... We're going by train on Friday. The train is clean and cozy, just like Holland itself.
Amsterdam Central Station is located near Dam Square. From the outside it looks no worse than any palace. You can’t immediately tell that it’s a station until you get inside. We go to the square to drink coffee, and then to Madame Tussauds. Downstairs, everyone is photographed with Pierce Brosnan, and upon leaving, the photographs are given as a gift. The museum cannot be compared with the London museum; it is clearly smaller. But the “scary” part is fun, I squealed a lot! Nothing special, just disguised actors very successfully pretending to be motionless statues and starting to move when no one expects it. Or they suddenly jump out of the darkness in creepy costumes and makeup. At the same time, something rumbles, the floor shakes, and a bright light unexpectedly blinds your eyes and you don’t understand which way to run away from it all.
We spent the whole day wandering the streets of Amsterdam again. This was my last day in Holland. Dinner at an Argentine restaurant, last walk through the lively Red Quarter. On Friday there is a massive arrival of British people here. Large groups of drunken English gentlemen shout throughout the entire block, sing songs and loudly greet their friends with jokes and applause as they leave the girls’ rooms... They have fun with all their might before returning to prim England for the start of a new work week.
Two weeks in Holland turned out to be not enough. There is also Ef Telling - a fabulous amusement park. Cheese market in Alkmaar. House of Peter 1 in Zaandam. Open air museum Zaanse Schans. Fishing village Volendam. And there are also many parks and zoos...I'll probably have to go back and check it out.
The next morning I flew home. The long flight and the landscape outside the taxi window - bare yellow steppe and a lonely shabby camel on the way from the airport (I'm from Kazakhstan) - is a sharp contrast compared to the Dutch landscapes. But...It's just happiness - the way home!
And my boss, after looking at the photos and listening to the travel story, said: “I didn’t think that such a small country could be so interesting!” This was a month ago. And yesterday he told me how wonderful he had a walk in Amsterdam...
Happy travels and pleasant impressions to everyone!
PS: Entrance ticket prices (per adult)
Castle De Haar - I can’t remember exactly, the only thing I didn’t keep a ticket for as a souvenir... something like 9 euros...
Keukenhof Flower Park - 12.50 euros
Madurodam Miniature Park - 12 euros
Van Gogh Museum - 9 euros
Apenheul Monkey Park - 14 euros
Het Loo Palace - 9 euros
Euromast in Rotterdam - 7.75 euros
Dolphinarium - 19.50 euros
Amusement park “Six Flags” - 24 euros
Madame Tussauds Amsterdam - 25 euros
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commendable
Well done girl, it was easy to film and I had fun
Amsterdam, how many days to go? What to see in Holland
Keywords: What to see in Amsterdam, routes, Sights of Amsterdam.
Many who are going to Amsterdam for the first time ask questions like “How many days are enough for a trip?”, “What to see in Amsterdam?”, “Is it worth renting a car?” etc. and so on. You will find answers to all questions in the main topic Amsterdam from A to Z (this is for those who came here from a search engine), and in this topic we will see what interesting things can be found outside the glorious city of Amsterdam.
We hasten to assure you that the surroundings of Amsterdam are no less interesting and no less colorful than the capital of the Netherlands itself. And if you have the time and funds, take a trip around Holland, you definitely won’t regret it! The distances are small, all interesting places can be visited in a couple of days, any town can be easily reached by public transport (quite troublesome, of course) or by excursion buses. But it is better, of course, to rent a car. Then it will be quite easy to get out to Bruges for a day, it’s only a 2-hour drive from Amsterdam :)
But let's return to our sheep attractions. You can always look at where and what is located in Amsterdam and beyond on our map. Descriptions are given for all marked objects; you can easily create your own route.
If you are planning a trip between mid-March and mid-May, then it would be a real crime not to visit the Royal Keukenhof Tulip Park
By the way, if you rent a car, a trip to Keukenhof can easily be combined with a visit to The Hague, where the Royal Palace and Mathurodam Park - “Holland in miniature” - are located. At the same time, along the way you will admire the endless fields of tulips, an impressive sight!
On the outskirts of Amsterdam, in the north, there are two wonderful Dutch villages. Or rather, these are museum towns, a kind of tourist paradise in Holland. But the obvious tourist focus of these places does not take away from their beauty and attractiveness; on the contrary, you can have a very good time here, especially if you are going to Holland for the first time.
The first town is called Zaanse Schans. Here you will see real mills, visit a working cheese factory and a workshop for making national Dutch shoes - wooden shoes, which are called Klomps here.
By the way, if you wish, they will take your measurements and make real clamps right away. A most interesting spectacle! :)
Here you can try real Dutch herring and there is also a really awesome attraction: your family or company will be dressed in national clothes and have a photo taken as a souvenir while you pretend to be busy, solving everyday problems in a real Dutch home. You'll want to laugh! :)
In the south, about forty kilometers from Amsterdam is the town of Utrecht. Not only is the whole of Utrecht a monument of Dutch architecture and simply stunning with its tranquil beauty, literally a couple of kilometers from here is the largest and oldest castle in the Netherlands - Castell de Haar.
This is where real beauty and majesty hides! And what a park there is around the castle... Definitely try to go here!
First 5 steps you will find in .
I'm just clarifying the sending procedure. 3 people are enough to complete the procedure. The main thing is to get in line before filling out the documents. This will save you time. Before you go to apply for your pass, you need to visit KLM cargo (if you are sending through KLM). There you will be given documents and sent to apply for a pass. I didn't show the ticket. It's better to have your ticket with you. At the KLM cargo, the guy asked when I was leaving and noted something in the papers.
In all the windows where they will stamp you and give you papers, they ask for your passport.
One very important point is the toilet. It is located in the building where you visited the office on European countries (see Anna Krylova's story). The toilet is located in the part of the building where imports are processed. If you are entering from the parking lot, go left.
Each time you pass a checkpoint, you need a pass and a passport.
Next steps:
Step 6
You pass through the checkpoint with a pass, showing your passports and the presence of cargo. You will actually be sent to warehouse No. 5. There you leave the boxes (for example, with the driver). It took us about 30 minutes to figure out the following:
From warehouse No. 5 you go to warehouse No. 17. After you have been given a stamp (in addition to it, they also give you a document, something like permission to inspect things). The window for submitting documents at warehouse No. 17 is only open until 18:00. Lunch from 13:00 to 14:00. Submission of documents for cargo release after 18:00 is carried out at the window in warehouse No. 5. If you think you won’t make it in time, take 2 queues at warehouse No. 17 and No. 5.
Step 7
From warehouse No. 17 you need to return to warehouse No. 5. There they scan your things and put a stamp on your piece of paper. At this time, let someone from those with whom you arrived stand in line at the inspection window.
The window for examining things is not located next to the point where things are scanned. When you enter warehouse No. 5, there are 4 windows that you DO NOT need on the left. The ones you need are on the right. Another identifying mark. Next to the window you need is a scale for general use.
As soon as it’s your turn, the lady from the window at warehouse No. 5 checks your things (I wasn’t asked to unpack my bags, but others did). Then the aunt fills out the paperwork and asks about the contents of the luggage. Number of things, what names, etc. You better be mindful of what's in your bags. She gives you the pieces of paper and asks you to make copies of 2 sheets in the administrative building and bring them to her. After that, we hand over the things to the warehouse. The place where things are handed over is located further than the point where things are scanned. You will go forward. There you stick stickers and weigh the load. You will also receive the coveted stamp. Bags or boxes are packed at the point for candling (mostly covered with film).
Step 8
Then from warehouse No. 5 you go to warehouse No. 17. There is also a cash register there. Submit the papers there. From the ticket office you are directed to the main building. There you need to pay customs duty. 250 rubles and kopecks. Then you return to the cash desk in warehouse No. 17. You hand over the pieces of paper (all windows require a passport). There they give you a pink piece of paper stating that you have paid. They will give it to you instead of a reservation application.
Step 9
After this, you need to take a turn at the window where you were given permission to have your things scanned. Still the same warehouse No. 17.
Step 10
Go make an air waybill. For those who send KLM - go to KLM cargo. It is located in the parking area before the checkpoint. For Sheremetyevo-cargo, you need to return to the main building and get an invoice at the windows 11-14. Or apply for an invoice to the airline whose services you used to send the hag.
Step 11
You return to the queue at warehouse No. 17. At the window you receive permission to release the cargo.
Step 12
Head to room No. 119. There you will be asked to make copies of 2 documents (they will tell you which ones). Make copies in the main building. Then return to room No. 119 of border control. You give the photocopies, get a stamp and head to the main building.
Step 13
In the main building in windows 11-14 you pay for customs services or I don’t know what. We paid about 450 rubles. This will include payment for packaging the cargo and for photocopies. Then you pay for the cargo itself. The lines are crazy everywhere.
P.S. For those who have not filled out reservation applications. No problem. They can be filled out on site. Forms can be obtained from the office for European countries. Sher cargo is open 24 hours. The KLM cargo office is open until 18:00. Try to get the Air Waybill before closing.
Besides the red lights and “coffee shops” of Amsterdam, there are things about Holland and the Dutch that are sure to fascinate you. What surprises tourists in the Netherlands?
1. The Dutch are stingy and thrifty
The Dutch are known to be stingy people, so they have difficult relationships with other people. During the holidays, it is customary to bring your own food so that the organizers do not incur additional cash costs. There is even a phrase “let’s do it in Dutch”, which expresses the desire to split the bill equally among everyone.
One of the items that proves that the Dutch are mega thrifty is the so-called “bottle scraper”. This traditional kitchen tool is designed for thoroughly cleaning the entire contents of elongated bottles. So that nothing goes missing.
2. Bicycles are ubiquitous
There are more bicycles than people in the Netherlands, and the population is over 16 million. Every resident has at least two bicycles: one for daily use and the other for walking. The Dutch love their bikes, some use 2-3 locks to prevent the vehicle from being stolen.
It's fun to take a bike tour around a Dutch city and see some amazing local sights. There are special bicycle paths marked with white signs.
3. Passion for puree
The Dutch love to make puree (eten prakken). Not just from potatoes. They grind any products. The best example of the Dutch love for puree is the traditional dish stamppot. It is prepared from greens and various vegetables. Everything is boiled, then ground and topped with sausage. Some Dutch even turn pasta and French fries into some kind of mush.
4. Chocolate chips
We're used to chocolate chips on ice cream or donuts, but in the Netherlands this sweetness is sprinkled on bread, washed down with a glass of milk. Such shavings are called Hagelslag here and are eaten not only by children, but also by adults. Hachelslah comes in a variety of colors and flavors. The Dutch love to sprinkle this on their peanut butter sandwiches.
5. Abbreviations
If you want to speak and understand Dutch, there is one thing that will complicate the process: abbreviations. The Dutch love their abbreviations so much that sometimes they seem to speak with them. Trying to understand their speech is akin to trying to crack a secret code. Foreigners often experience disappointment, especially when they have to fill out some paperwork. For example: a.s. (aanstande), meaning "upcoming" or "next"; a.u.b. (alstublieft), which means "please".
6. Wide open curtains
In the Netherlands, curtains are either wide open all day or not at all. Do the Dutch always want to see what's outside? Trying to let more light into the living room? Or they just don’t want to buy curtains? Whatever the reason, it is clear that the Dutch are open-minded. But don’t even think about looking through the windows at what they’re doing. This cannot be done.
7. Dutch Birthdays
When you're invited to a Dutchman's birthday party, you'll be surprised by something other than food and unlimited booze. It is their custom to congratulate every person who comes to the party. Be prepared to hear a lot of "Gefeliciteerd" or "congratulations" addressed to you at other people's name days. You will feel like the main “culprit” of the celebration, as if it were your birthday.
8. Rhinotillexomania (nose picking)
This is true. They don't care about the presence of other people when they are cleaning their nose. A study showed that more than 90% of Dutch people pick their nose and only 50% of people consider this action disgusting. Strange habit.
9. Spontaneity and directness
The Dutch always talk about what's on their mind. It may sound rude, shocking or offensive, but such directness is considered a truly Dutch trait that is not tolerated by foreigners. They simply value honesty and sincerity. In fact, many Dutch people think that English and American politeness is a sign of pretense and hypocrisy.