The Netherlands Story

You know how when you think about one place, there's always one picture that pops up? Like the picture of Eiffel Tower when you think of Paris, or this emoji 💃🏻in 3D when you think of Barcelona? About a month ago, my picture for Netherlands, for some reason, was the logo on the can of Milkmaid -- which was so wrong 1) because that woman's not Dutch and 2) while her outfit's Dutch-ish, it lacked the high peaked cap, the clogs, and the Holland tulips. Plus the windmills at the background haha.

(Maybe it's just me but) I think people don't know much about Netherlands and it is relatively less popular compared to turista staples like France and Spain. I actually added it as first stop on my 3-week Euro trip last month only because I wanted to visit my cousin Mitzi who's now based there. And also Amsterdam. I must say that though I was most excited about Amsterdam, I liked many other things about Netherlands more.

First, Zaanse Schans. This neighborhood is like a one stop destination for anything Netherlands. There's one area with windmills, another area for cheese and stroopwafel tasting (and hoarding!), and also another area for clogs-making.

These windmills are working, and they are not all alike. There's a windmill for wood sawing, a windmill for oil, flour, and spices milling, a windmill for... something else haha I can't remember.

Sun worshipping face. She was just too happy that the sun's out
because the weather's so gloomy when we got to NL.

This was taken inside a windmill that mills spices.
You have to guess the spice by its smell.

I guessed it right! But how could I not, it's just ginger hahaha.

The neighborhood obviously comes with houses, but I'm not so sure if all are still inhabited by living, breathing Dutch people. I saw one outside his house wearing what looked like a traditional Dutch costume and watching over his sheep but my cousin said that it was just for show.

Chicks of the same feather?

Zaanse Schans got its name from the river Zaan. And where
there's a river, there's a boat. And where there's a boat, there's me hahaha.

My favorite part -- cheese tasting! Come hungry 👅

So many cheese, so little time

Cheese + truffle? Take my moneyyy!

Gouda - popular cheese named after a city in NL

Kris and I really liked the goat cheese with herbs

I also liked this one with lavender,
though it's verging on tasting like soap :))

The stroopwafels area. I'm not a big fan of it though,
the syrupy  filling in the middle is too sweet for me.

The clogs-making area was probably most photogenic in Zaanse Schans. We just had to take photos wearing these huge bright yellow clogs!

Second (thing I liked more than Amsterdam), Maastricht. Stepping into this cobbled old town is like stepping back in time. You can just hang at one of the quaint cafes, walk around the place at your own pace, and do as many photo retakes as you want because it's not very crowded.

Hell's gate. Prisoners used to be kept in this tower.

Now Claudia Schiffer aka Kris uses it for her photo shoots :))

Sint-Janskerk and Servaas Basilica

Sint Servaasbrug, the oldest bridge in Netherlands

When you see an old water wheel and smell bread, you'll know you're in Bisschopsmolen. It is a bakery slash restaurant but what's interesting about it is that the flour mill that supplies the bakery is still powered by the water wheel.  

When in Bisschopsmolen, ordering spelt bread's a given.
But they have yummy limburgse vlaai (pie, for short) too.

Nevertheless, don't be fooled by Maastricht's throwback vibes because this city is forward-looking. They even had a 13th century Dominican church converted into a modern bookstore and cafe *cue photos of us fake browsing the book shelves and reading haha*

So this is the cafe. This used to be the choir area.
And yep, the table's cross-shaped.

There's also a rainbow colored pedestrian lane. For someone who has gay best friends, I appreciate anything that supports gay pride and gay rights (at least I think that's what the rainbow colors stand for -- someone, I won't name which one, said that it's Olympics-related haha)!

Third (thing I liked more than Amsterdam), the biking culture. A lot of Dutch people (kids, pretty girls, moms with kids, moms with kids doing their groceries...) got around by bike. I guess it's partly because they are very health conscious, e.g. they don't have gravy at KFC! --although I noticed this in KFCs in other parts of Europe as well. And I heard they're not huge fans of fast food -- at least my cousin's office mates aren't, so she has to keep her trips to KFC a secret haha! 

This bike was just on display in Maastricht.
The ones they actually use are less dressed up. And less pink haha.

But that is not to say that I did not enjoy Amsterdam. I did and I think everyone should still see it at least once. And I'm not talking about the red light district only, but even the 'rated G' parts of Amsterdam. I particularly enjoyed the canal tour and I'd go as far as to say that it's more entertaining than the Venice canal tours.

The Anne Frank House involved a lot of climbing. But they're telling
an interesting story, and I was actually listening to the audio guide haha.

Oldest boat house in Amsterdam

Posting because our guide asked us to take a photo of this,
so this must be an important landmark haha

Legend has it that couples who kiss under the Skinny Bridge will love
each other forever. This is the part where we all "awww"ed because, look! Awww. 

There was a bit of a 'picture with the canal, the bridge, and the bike or it never happened'-situation that went on hahaha:

Take 1

Take 2

One more time with friend

The red light district was a different experience altogether. Let's just say it's like a peep show -- you get 2 euros' worth of entertainment and then everything's a blur ;))

If you see this in front of an old church,
you know you're in the right place

See there's more to Netherlands than high peaked caps, clogs, and legalized sex clubs and "coffee shops". All in all, I thought it was a great intro to Europe. I found the mix of laid back feels, sights, experiences, and culture underrated. I'm sure other cities like Rotterdam, Haarlem ('coz I never got to see tulips!), and Utrecht would have so much to offer as well. I hope I'd get to see them in the near future (and another seat sale comes up soon hahaha)!