The people of Gelderland have demonstrated their courage on many occasions. Much happened in Gelderland, the Nether-
Waal river there and IJssel here Like Maas and Rhine they grant To us a lifelong privilege: The pride of Gelderland
lands’ largest province. The Romans lived here, and Charlemagne built his castle in Nijmegen. The devil came to fetch Mariken van Nimwegen, and the Van Limburg brothers drew their beautiful biblical miniatures here. Gelderland does not only have a magnificent landscape, it also has a history to be proud of!
58
De Posbank near Rheden
0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 58
30-10-12 11:18
59 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 59
30-10-12 11:19
Riverland Betuwe, Bommelerwaard and Het Land van Maas en Waal are unique regions, each in their own right, and this is what makes this Riverland so special. De Betuwe owes its popularity to its fruit trees, characteristic villages and numerous fortresses and castles. Wedged in between Waal and Maas rivers, endless cycling trips can be made over the winding dikes of De Bommelerwaard. In the villages of Maas and Waal Land, you feel like you have gone back in time.
60 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 60
Arnhem
30-10-12 11:19
Kootwijk Sand drift Het Kootwijkerzand is Western Europe’s largest sand drift, with a very unique vegetation. It is a nature reserve of no less than seven hundred hectares. Half of the sand drifts on the wind, the other half is covered with moss and grass. After a windy day it looks like nobody has ever been here before. The wonderfully shaped pines attract the attention. They are often more than a century old, and their bare roots make them look as if they stand on stilts.
61 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 61
30-10-12 11:19
Apeldoorn Het Loo During three centuries several generations of the Dutch royal family have lived in Het Loo Palace, or they used it as summer residence. King-Stadholder Willem III and Queen Mary were the first royals to live here. Willem III bought Het Loo in 1684 and radically rebuilt the medieval castle. Visitors can look round the 17th century rooms and see their original design. The gardens are 17th century baroque style, one side mirroring the other.
Radio Kootwijk Broadcasting building A Building A is the heart of broadcasting station Radio Kootwijk. Built in 1922, the main purpose of the station was to keep in touch with the Dutch colonies, in particular with the Netherlands East Indies. The architect of this art-deco style building was inspired by the Egyptian sphinx. A thorough restoration is now in progress. The restoration of the floor is a major undertaking, finding the right tiles has cost a lot of trouble. During construction a deliberate error was made in the black and white tiles design. Only the Lord can create something perfect, was the starting point at the time. The error was not corrected by the restorers, they left it as it was.
62 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 62
30-10-12 11:19
De Achterhoek Due to its swampy nature, farmers started to develop the larger part of De Achterhoek only at the start of the twentieth century. Many hamlets and villages are still surrounded by pastures and heathland. Beautiful farms brighten up the landscape.
Water mill on the Hackfort estate
Vorden castle
0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 63
Farm near Winterswijk
Den Bramel castle
Ruurlo castle
63 30-10-12 11:20
Arnhem Sonsbeek House With no less than thirteen parks it’s not surprising that Arnhem was voted Europe’s greenest city in 2009. The Sonsbeek area, the ‘pearl in Veluwe’s fringe’, is close to the city centre. It is named after the old countryhouse on the hill, that was converted into a museum in 1986. The House excels in exhibitions and sales of modern visual arts.
Elburg Vischpoort De Vischpoort, or Fish gate, is close to the port of Elburg. Of all the gates that once were part of the city walls, this is the only one left.
Doesburg Town hall Doesburg is one of the Netherlands’ oldest cities. City priviliges were granted as early as 1237. The late-Gothic town hall dates from the 16th century. This town hall is amongst the oldest in the Netherlands, together with Gouda’s town hall. The council chamber has a 16th century fireplace. The mantelpiece reflects Solomon’s first trial. In the past punished citizens were put in a grated cage on the blue stone beside the building.
Zutphen Berkelpoort De Berkelpoort is a water gate crossing the Berkel stream in Zutphen. The gate was built in the 14th century to connect the settlements on either side of the Berkel.
64 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 64
30-10-12 11:20
Betuwe Apple, pear, cherry: in De Betuwe you will find them in large quantities. Betuwe farmland is amongst the most fertile in Europe, and fruit growers gladly reap the benefits. In the thirties a jam manufacturer from Tiel introduced a cartoon figure called ‘Flipje’ to promote the brand. This happy little man invariably treated his companions on apple juice and jam sandwiches to celebrate the end of his adventures. Flipje came to be the Tiel mascot of his day, and every year he is present during the fruit parade.
65 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 65
30-10-12 11:20
“Act normal, that’s crazy enough.” is a frequently used expression in the Netherlands. The Dutch are a down-to-earth little people. They do not go wild and are careful with their money. They have no time for nonsense and whims. The Dutch work hard. They can be relied on. Things are not the same though when the Dutch win a championship or celebrate a bachelor party. They go crazy during carnival and let their hair hang down during ice-skating races. When the national football team plays a tournament, the streets are orange-coloured, and the Dutch are completely at a loose end. So much for Dutch common sense …
94 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 94
30-10-12 11:29
‘Hang-out-the-flags-month’ Orange flags blow in the wind, hanging from strings stretched from house to house. The barbecue has been set up outside, the television screens too, of course. The entire neighbourhood is ready for the next football championships. Obviously the Dutch team will win, and even if that is not the case, the Dutch people will still give their heroes a warm welcome when they return home.
‘Living-room-stadium’ Dutch athletes do not only challenge their opponents, they also challenge their Dutch supporters. During big sporting events the supporters convert their living rooms to stadiums, with all ingredients for a victory celebration readily available: television screen, beer and orange wigs, tooters and T-shirts.
95 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 95
30-10-12 11:29
North Holland I love your pasture’s green Uitspraak over Noord and Holland Your cattle in black-and-whites reds “Niets zo Hollandsch als Noord Holland” Your fields with mills, and in May to be seen The colouring of your flowerbeds
Ask a foreigner about the Netherlands, and he will tell you about tulips, wooden shoes, windmills, canals and cheese. The province of North Holland has it all: the cheese market in Alkmaar, the house fronts on the canals in Amsterdam, the huge, colourful bulb fields behind the dunes and the windmills of the Zaanse Schans. And the wooden shoes are still going strong on many a farm!
78
0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 78
De Zaanse Schans
30-10-12 11:25
79 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 79
30-10-12 11:25
Haarlem Het Spaarne flows by Beyond the bridge, beyond the last houses Beyond the shipyards and the steam pumping-station ‌ Lennart Nijgh composed this verse about the Spaarne river, and Boudewijn de Groot sang of it. The oldest museum of the Netherlands, the Teylers Museum, and the impressive Waaggebouw, the weighhouse, are amongst the monuments on the banks of Het Spaarne in Haarlem.
80 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 80
30-10-12 11:25
Muiderslot Discover the Middle Ages at Muiderslot castle! Count Floris V had this stronghold built where the Vecht river flows into the Zuiderzee, as the IJsselmeer was then called. In the Golden Age the poet P.C. Hooft invited many of his literary friends to the castle. Joost van den Vondel and Constantijn Huygens were members of this literary company, that later became known as the Muiderkring: the Muiden Circle. Kitchen- and medicinal herbs still grow in the historic gardens. The plum-trees in the orchard behind the castle have been replanted in 2007. The Dutch owe P.C. Hooft’s expression ‘see you in plum season’, which means ‘see you sometime’, to the original orchard.
Hoorn Hoofdtoren The Hoofdtoren, the main tower, is one of the few defensive works still left in Hoorn. Hoorn is, and was, an impressive city. It was represented in the Dutch East India Company. The hundreds of monuments in this port are the reminders of these golden times. Nowadays Hoorn is just as lively. In June city festival ‘Hoornse Stadsfeesten’ is organized, and the August fair attracts tens of thousands of visitors.
0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 81
81 30-10-12 11:26
Zaandam Hotel The hotel rooms behind an outer wall of Zaandam houses refer to typical Zaandam products, such as mustard, cheese and biscuits. One suite is a replica of the working-class house where Russian Tsar Peter the Great stayed in 1697, when he began an apprenticeship as a shipwright.
Amsterdam Ring of canals The Amsterdam Ring of canals was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in August 2010. Many canalside houses have stairs leading up to the front door. That door was for distinguished guests, the door below the stairs was for servants and merchants. The bricked windows are reminders of the time that the city taxed windows. The Amsterdammers rather sat in the dark than that they had to draw their wallets.
82 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 82
30-10-12 11:26
Sail Amsterdam Clipper Stad Amsterdam Every five years a big maritime event is held in Amsterdam: Sail Amsterdam. In 2015 one of the many ships in the parade will be clipper ‘Stad Amsterdam’, with its authentic square sails and sharp bow. An immense amount of ropes and wires is needed for the towering rigging.
Amsterdam Museumplein The Rijksmuseum, the Concert Hall, and the Municipal Museum: many prominent buildings are situated around Museumplein in Amsterdam. On this square, people rest, play football or play frisbee, and every so often the Dutch assemble here to cheer. For example when the Netherlands won the European football championship in 1988.
83 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 83
30-10-12 11:26
Schoorl Dunes A century ago the area was one big sandbox, now you can take a stroll on the beach, in the dunes, the woods and on the heath. The ‘Schoorlse Duinen’ are the highest and widest dunes in the Netherlands. The footpaths cover a total length of over sixty kilometres!
Marken Horse of Marken Ice sailing Centuries ago ice yachts were a dire necessity to transport food with in severe winters. Nowadays ice yacht sailing is a competitive sport in the Netherlands. In the winter of 2010, for example, an ice sailing race was held for classic ice boats on the Gouwzee off Monnickendam.
From a distance the lighthouse of Marken and its annexes resemble a horse. For this reason it is usually called ‘Paard van Marken’: Horse of Marken. For centuries the lighthouse has defied every kind of weather. In 1971 the tower was even pushed away a few centimetres by ice piling up against it.
84 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 84
30-10-12 11:26
Enkhuizen De Bocht The backs of the houses in De Bocht, a narrow street in Enkhuizen, stand out because of their characteristic verandas. No wonder that the houses are often photographed from this side. De Bocht connects the Zuider Havendijk and Zuiderspui with eastern harbour Oosterhaven.
Ankeveense Plassen Haarlem Teylers Hofje One of the twenty courtyards in Haarlem is Teylers Hofje, dating from 1787. Pieter Teyler had the almshouses built for respectable ladies over seventy. Even today only women live here, but have they all reached the age of seventy ‌?
0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 85
The Ankeveense Plassen are the lakes between the waters of the Kortenhoefse Plassen and Naardermeer. Construction of a wildlife passage between Naardermeer and Ankeveense Plassen started in 2012. It will be the country’s largest water wildlife passage. Heath frogs, ermines and deer will pass through it.
85 30-10-12 11:26
Weather forecasts The KNMI, the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute, predicts the weather since 1854. Nowadays computer programs use complex models to make the calculations of probability, with input from amongst others weather satellites. Still there are amateur forecasters as well, and their predictions usually are not too far off.
Flip-flops At the beach shoes are substituted by flip-flops. The warm sand rubs against your feet, and when it starts to tickle you go paddling in the sea, to give both feet and flip-flops a refreshing bath. After all, it’s very easy to take flip-flops off and put them back on.
Skirt-day Dutch writer Martin Bril coined the term ‘Skirt-day’. The phenomenon can be observed by everyone every year. As if by arrangement, on the first warm summer day crowds of women suddenly appear in the streets bare legged and wearing skirts.
Rocket On a warm day many children eat rocket-shaped ice lollies. The first of these were made in 1962, inspired by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human to make a space trip.
Snow Throwing snowballs and making a snowman: children love it! A snowman consists of three large snowballs. His eyes are coals and his nose is a carrot. To prevent him from getting cold, a scarf is wrapped around his neck.
Umbrella Never open an umbrella if it’s not raining, because that brings bad luck! Supernanny Mary Poppins used the umbrella as a means of transport, but anyone else who gets wind under it stays with both feet on the ground. The worst that can happen is losing the umbrella.
0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 105
105 30-10-12 11:32
Keukenhof Spring blossoms in the gardens of the Keukenhof, when the seven million bulbs come out. The Keukenhof once was the garden of Jacoba van Beieren, Countess of Holland and Zeeland, who collected herbs here for the castle’s kitchen. That is where the name ‘Keukenhof’ comes from: it means Kitchen Garden. In memory of that period there still is a walled garden with old medieval herbs and flowers from bulbs.
93 0pmaak boek ILOVENL.indd 93
30-10-12 11:28