The Venice of Holland
- Thread starter Darryl Hattenhauer
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FNG
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That's cool! I would love to go to Holland. Those Dutch are some engineering mofos...
Darryl Hattenhauer
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Those canals were all dug out by guys named Piet shoveling peat. Quite a feat. Especially with wooden shoes on your feet.
JerryR
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Its my favorite country for mountaineering :mrgreen:
Darryl Hattenhauer
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You can stand on a 6-pack of Heineken and see the whole country.
JerryR
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Darryl Hattenhauer said:
From dyke to shining dyke :mrgreen:
FNG
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Jerry could even rent a girl friend there... :shock: :shock: :lol:
JerryR
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FNG said:
Hmmm - I've been to Amsterdam....... :wink:
Darryl Hattenhauer
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IMHO, Amsterdam might not be the best place in Holland anymore. I saw it in 1969 before it got ruined by drugs. Back then, it still had a lot of features that were quaint and picturesque. But by 1986, crime made it dirty and dangerous. I hope they reversed that trend.
For big cities that are more like what Amsterdam used to be, try Utrecht, Rotterdam, and Den Haag. For a small town, Zwolle was my favorite.
Again, this is imho, and I'm speaking only as a tourist who has been there only three times.
For big cities that are more like what Amsterdam used to be, try Utrecht, Rotterdam, and Den Haag. For a small town, Zwolle was my favorite.
Again, this is imho, and I'm speaking only as a tourist who has been there only three times.
Walter Broes
Enlightened Member
Meh, I don't agree with that, compared to any major American city Amsterdam is still about as safe as a little village. Just don't go into certain neighbourhoods after dark, but doesn't that go for every place that can call itself a city? Amsterdam is still a happening place for anyone into any kind of culture.Darryl Hattenhauer said:
Utrecht is really nice and has those beautiful little canals too - Rotterdam? Mostly concrete, not what I'd call picturesque.
Not talking about the inhabitants of Rotterdam btw, I have a couple of good friends there, it's just been bombed so bad in WWII that the architecture is just...not very nice at all...
The Netherlands have changed on the whole, and is not the extremely inviting, extremely tolerant country it used to be, but that's a politicial issue I'm not getting into on here - and you could say that same thing about a lot of European countries.
Darryl Hattenhauer
Venerated Member
Definitely happenin'. And definitely safer than the US. And if it weren't for the cold, I'd rather live in Amsterdam than any place in the US, but I'd rather live in Den Haag and visit Amsterdam on occasion. I was just comparing Amsterdam the last time I saw it to the first time I saw it. (I must be confused about Rotterdam and thinking of another town in the area because I remember one over there that was very well preserved.)
Darryl Hattenhauer
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I just looked on a map. It must have been Delft or Haarlem, not Rotterdam.
JerryR
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Darryl Hattenhauer said:
I've felt safer at night in many US cities and even Mexico City than in many UK cities where knife and gun crime are rife, and there are drunken brawlers everywhere
JerryR
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Darryl Hattenhauer said:
Plus fries with 'fritjuis' (Mayo)
adorshki
Reverential Member
Maybe hire a bodyguard?:JerryR said:I've felt safer at night in many US cities and even Mexico City than in many UK cities where knife and gun crime are rife, and there are drunken brawlers everywhereDarryl Hattenhauer said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw1EIRsjnyI
Darryl Hattenhauer
Venerated Member
Ross,
How do they decide the date of liberation? The last enemy soldier leaves? A new government forms? I'll bet there was a lot of violence for many months between former collaborators and the resistance.
And speaking of Toronto, I knew a Dutch family in Sacramento who had gone to Toronto after WWII. The father, Huibert Knoester, had fought in the resistance. I don't remember what he said about Holland after the war, but the resistance during the war was grim.
How do they decide the date of liberation? The last enemy soldier leaves? A new government forms? I'll bet there was a lot of violence for many months between former collaborators and the resistance.
And speaking of Toronto, I knew a Dutch family in Sacramento who had gone to Toronto after WWII. The father, Huibert Knoester, had fought in the resistance. I don't remember what he said about Holland after the war, but the resistance during the war was grim.
Ross
Senior Member
Hi Darryl:
The date was the surrender of the occupying German forces. It is officially marked on May 1, not April 29 as I stated above (I should know better, my dad was one of the allied soldiers).
The date was the surrender of the occupying German forces. It is officially marked on May 1, not April 29 as I stated above (I should know better, my dad was one of the allied soldiers).