Archive for May, 2018
The Heiligdomsvaart of Maastricht Posted by Sten on May 31, 2018
Processions through the streets of Maastricht, people coming into the city from all over, and it all has a very religious feel. What’s going on in this city? Well, it is actually a quite special, long-standing tradition! De Heiligdomsvaart The Heiligdomsvaart is an event that currently runs in Maastricht for 10 days in honor of the stadsheilige (“city…
What are these mailbox stickers? Posted by Sten on May 29, 2018
If you go to the Netherlands and you walk through any residential area, you cannot really escape them: The super-obvious NEE-NEE-sticker or the NEE-JA-sticker on people’s brievenbussen (mailboxes). What are these for? Let’s dive in. Folders, folders, folders… As we have discussed before, many places in the Netherlands distribute a load of folders (ad brochures) from supermarkets and local stores every single day…
The Fountains of Friesland Posted by Karoly Molina on May 23, 2018
This year, Leeuwarden is the Culturele Hoofdstad or cultural capital. Several events have been set up by the local and regional governments, as well as by the private sector, to promote the rich historical and cultural heritage of the region. One of the planned events were 11 fountains by world-renowned artists. The idea of fountains stems from…
The Oostvaardersplassen – What went wrong? Posted by Sten on May 22, 2018
You might remember our post on Flevoland, a Dutch province that was created from scratch – literally. The land did not exist before. Part of that creation of land was also the the creation of a natuurgebied (nature reserve), called the Oostvaardersplassen. With a size of 5600 hectares (about 14,000 acres), it is an important natuurgebied not just for the Netherlands…
May is the Month of Dutch Holidays Posted by Karoly Molina on May 16, 2018
For those of us that work in the Netherlands, May is a super fun month! Three of the seven national holidays take place this month and the weather has been quite enjoyable, but which days are considered national holidays? First and foremost, the Netherlands is one of the countries with the least national holidays. For…