Holland-Netherlands?-An introduction

Introduction

Hotels in Amsterdam

Restaurants in Amsterdam

Amsterdam dancings, discotheque and Amsterdam Plage!!!!

Amsterdam
History

Amsterdam
Visits 1
Rijksmuseum
Red Light District
Cannabis museum

Amsterdam Visits 2
Jewish area
Jews history
Nieuwmarkt
Zuiderkerk
Diamonds
Rembrandt house
Waterloo plein

Amsterdam's Visits 3
Prinsengracht
Noordermarkt
Anne Frank museum
Westerkerk, 
Van Gogh museum
Stedelijk museum
Concertgebouw
Sarphatipark

Amsterdam tour, far from the madding crowd

Amsterdam and Jews

Amsterdam tour, far from the madding crowd

-----God created Earth, except Holland who was created by the Dutch---
I don’t remember which writer said that but it is very true in my opinion.

Earth and water, originally confounded, finally found each their own place and seem to keep it that way.The Dutch are a very special people, maybe unique in Europe. Maybe it's because of their tumultuous history, fighting against major nations like Spain, Austria, France and England in earlier times. Maybe because of that difficulty of water and earth to be together, their constant struggle to tame the sea, being constantly on guard that the Dutch people acquired that obstinacy, that methodic spirit, its taste for reflection and liberty. Democracy is sacred here. The right to difference is probably the one the Dutch are the most attached to. Who can blame them for that?
And what about that eternal question:"What is it now? Holland or the Netherlands?" Well no, Holland is not a country but the name of 2 provinces,  South and North Holland. Since they are the most visited if the 12 provinces it is universally assumed the name of the country is Holland.
And another mainly accepted idea which is a legend: the capital of the Netherlands is AMSTERDAM and not THE HAGUE  even if all government offices, parliament, embassies, etc…are located in The Hague. It's in Amsterdam that the crowning ceremonies of the Dutch monarchy take place.
Netherlands in a nutshell?
---Surface: 42.000 square kilometers
---Capital: Amsterdam, 725.00 inhabitants.
---Main cities: Rotterdam, The Hague (seat of political powers,
    international Court of Justice and residence of the Royal
    family)
---Regime: constitutional monarchy
---Head of State: Beatrix I (since 1980)
---Head of government: Wim Kok (since 1994)
---Religions: Calvinist, Catholic, Jewish, Moslem…                   .Hotels in Amsterdam
    Population: 15.5 million.
The local money is the Euro.
Next post I will start with general considerations about Amsterdam, I live 1.30 min from and visited certainly as much as Paris. But it’s a total different city;-).

Bibliography

Holland, by Adam Hopkins (Faber and Faber, 1988), Penguin Guide to Amsterdam (ed.Vincent Westzaan, Penguin 1990), Guide du Routard 1998 (ed.Hachette), De Nederlandse Realiteit, by J.Oostkamp (own folders).

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