Information about Netherlands


Gastronomy 

Holland is not known for its gourmet cooking, unlike France or Italy. It's known for its coffee, tulip and cheese. 

The typical dutch food is a northern cuisine and mainly composed of potatoes, meat and vegetables. It's natural, plentiful, delicious and not sophisticated food. 

There are some traditional dish like " Erwtensoep " (it's a soup with peas) or the " Stamppot (a dish of patotoes and meat).

The famous herring or " Haring" (in NL) that they eat raw, marinated, " pommes à l'huile " or smoked is dutch delicacy.  

At Amsterdam, they often add onion and sometimes cucumber. But to follow the real way of eating of a Dutchman, you must swing above your head by the tail and open the mouth very wide. Love it or don't like ... !  

Eet smakelijk  ! 

Celebration 

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Netherlands is a country where the culture has a big place in the society. The major event in Amsterdam is the Koningsdag, it's the queen's day and it corresponds with the king's coronation. For them, it's the National Day. 

That day, the orange color invades Amsterdam streets, canals, parks ...

This is a very special event, it's unique with its giant garage sale, outdoor concerts and festivals, you can't miss it if you're Dutch. This year, the Koningsdag is April 26th. 


Horticulture

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One of the most famous symbol of the Netherlands is the Tulip. This flower originally come from Turkey. A French botanist, Charles de Lécluse, brought this flower to Leiden during the mid-16th century. Netherlands was then suffering a real tulip mania : a tulip bulb cost more than a house! Around 1630 the price decreased radically, but the Dutch chose to selected the tulip as an official national symbol.

Today dutch horticulture is not only based on tulip, but also on hyacinth, narcissus, rose, orchid and lily. 

The best moment to admire the flowery fields is from mid-April until end of May.The Keukenhof is the most famous and the biggest floral exposition on the world : we can see there more than 7 millions bulbs spread on 32 hectares.


 Sports and activities in Netherlands

The national sport in Netherlands is football.

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They also invented in 1902 a sport  called the "Korfbal", which is quite similar to the basketball. The particularity of this sport is to be mixed

Speed skating is a very popular in Netherland. In winter, when it is enough fcold, most of the population go out with his ice skates and skate on all the frozen canals and laks. 

A weird dutch activity is the "Wadlopen", litteraly "walking in the mud" : during the low tide, people walk in the sludgen, sometimes sunk until the thighs.

Another specific activity is the "Fierljeppen" = "long jump". The aim is to jump over marge canal with a 8 to 12 metres length pole.The rcird is about 21m.