The Netherlands at Its Best

The Netherlands

at Its Best

There is nothing like seeing a country through the eyes of another person – and this becomes even more exceptional when you get to see it through the eyes of a photographer.

For this issue of The XPat Journal, I was taken on a tour of ‘s-Grave land by Frans Lemmens, a resident of this village that is home to a modest 1,250 inhabitants – in contrast to his citizenship of the world, as a photog rapher for National Geographic. The photographs that accompany that article are also part of his photographic collection. Among the books that show the Netherlands through Frans’s lens are Still Holland, that takes you to the quiet corners of the country, home to animals we rarely get to meet, such as roe deer, kingfishers, flamingos and foxes. Though the Netherlands is relatively small and houses 17 million people, there are still pristinely untouched areas to be explored, as this book will show you: majestic rivers, golden dunes, green meadows, rolling hills, and the ever-changing skies that hover above them. Another is Holland, Winter Wonderland; ordinary and extraordinary sights seen

‘It takes you to the quiet corners of the country, home to animals we rarely get to meet, such as roe deer, kingfishers, flamingos and foxes’

through the lens – this time – of winter. The cold, crisp air and a blanket of snow can transform any scene into something magical and can even render a place as familiar as your own village completely unrecognizable. In a country that has 7,650 km2 of water area, this means that – when winter is good and cold – the country has an additional 16% of surface to explore on foot, skate, sled or ice yacht! On April 1 of this year, an updated version of Frans’s The Netherlands at Its Best will

appear, with 100 new photos, more pages and a new concept. It brings us some of the best aspects of Dutch culture such as life on the ice, architecture, the flower fields, religious structures, rare animals, aerial views of castles, fields and villages, still and busy waterways, breathtaking nature – but also stunning photographs of ships, the Delta works, a storm-battered pier, old factories, new and old-style windmills, and the people of this country, dressed up for festivals, celebrating national holidays, cycling, windsurfing, sailing and enjoying daily life. In short, beautiful testimony to the diversity of this nation and its people. If you are looking for inspiration on what to explore in the Netherlands, or want to reminisce or simply share, these wonderful books are an absolute must!

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We are a close-knit and welcoming community of students, staff and parents. We all approach life from a different culture and background and with the languages we know. We fi nd each other in our common goal: to create a stimulating learning environment in which everyone feels at home.