Last week, I asked the Clogs and Tulips Facebook and Twitter communities to share with us the one thing above all others that makes them say, "Yup, I'm in Holland (the Netherlands)."The question got loads of varying responses...
Erin: Girls in skinny jeans or tights with boots and a scarf. It's the national uniform!
Nerissa: Bad manners, sadly. And what Erin said! It's so true! :D I just got home from Prague (brag brag) and no one was wearing leggings, Czech ladies actually wear stockings (or maybe pantyhose?)! Birthday cake! We eat a lot of birthday cake at work and I've never really seen it anywhere else I've lived and I LOVE it! But that's mostly because I'm a greedy cake-eater :P
Nicola: Lack of personal space when waiting anywhere or even just browsing an item in a shop and someone else just has to come and stand in that bit with you....perhaps I should just be happy people want to stand with me? :) Good thing - flower shops that are reasonably priced and biking in the countryside!
Judy: Omafietsen! I have never seen one outside of the Netherlands!
Hilary: The lack of choice. And poffertjes
Jessica: Certainly not the weather today! Warm and sunny, who knew it could happen here? :P An incredible density of both churches and bars... Sometimes right across the street from each other. That's how I know I'm in the Netherlands (not Holland, I live in Limburg), or down at the Jersey Shore. :P
Eber: wind, rain, sun, more wind - all at the same time :D
Zahoor: I agree with Nerissa, people hit you or almost walk over you and don't even bother with the word "sorry", as if you r invisible to them. When that happens I know I'm in Holland.
Susan: The drastic over-use of "possible" and "not possible." In any language.
Carol: flowers readily available everywhere; bikes going by no matter what the weather; the whim & wham of weather by the hour anywhere in the country, and specifically how the sun miraculously can appear after 5,00 p.m. to make an amazing sunset!! ;-)
Anne-Marie: There is ALWAYS someone around. No such thing as empty quiet spaces! Oh, just watching TV with my husband, and realized the BEST clue that yup, I'm in Holland: TV reality shows where I have found saying "Look at the guy in the purple vinyl suit!" is not uncommon.
@marcinerdmann congested highways, everybody biking even if it's -5 and slippery and the smell of weed everywhere;)and when you fill in your tax papers you declare your partner's sex because it's not always the opposite sex;)
@Miss_Neriss Renate Verbaan saying "maaaaaaaaar"
@sacitxn Bicycles!
@NomzillaCupcake Going to a restaurant that "doesn't take reservations" and seeing a RESERVED sign on a table. Maybe that's just Amsterdam
As for yours truly, it would have to be: couples cycling side by side while holding hands; women wearing boots and scarves in the middle of summer; and swarms of people sitting on terraces with a beer when the sun is out.
How about you? What is the one thing above all others that makes you think "Yup, this is Holland?"
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Photo: clogsandtulips.blogspot.com
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