Another Weird Island In Dutch Waters – Forteiland Pampus Posted by Sten on Mar 26, 2016
Another weird island in Dutch waters! Previously, I talked about the weird “eye” in the IJsselmeer, the IJsseloog. Now, I have discovered that there is another such a weird island in the Netherlands! It is a weird oval, in the middle of the IJmeer, with a weird grey oval on top of it… Who made this island…
A Legend Has Left Us: Johan Cruijff Posted by Sten on Mar 24, 2016
Today, on March 24, 2016, one of the most famous and loved BN’ers (acronym for Bekende Nederlanders (well-known Dutch people) passed away. Johan Cruijff, also spelled as Cruyff in English, died fighting cancer at the age of 68 in Barcelona, Spain. It might be that you have never heard of him, but any Dutch person has…
The Wonders of Belgium Posted by Karoly Molina on Mar 23, 2016
In the wake of the terrible attacks in Brussels, I would like to dedicate this post to Belgium. There are many ties between the Netherlands and Belgium. Belgium is not only the southern neighbor of the Netherlands, but was also part of the Netherlands until the Belgian revolution which lasted from 1830 to 1839. Living in the Netherlands…
Book Review: The Latecomer by Dimitri Verhulst Posted by Karoly Molina on Mar 16, 2016
De Laatkomer or “The Latecomer” for the English translation by Dimitri Verhulst is a witty yet serious novel. Verhulst was born in Belgium on October 2nd, 1972 and published his first book Assevrijdag in 1994. By the time he published De Laatkomer, Verhulst had published 17 other novels, poetry collections and plays. The summary for De Laatkomer said the following: a…
Step By Step: How To Rule Dutch Weak Verbs! Posted by Sten on Mar 10, 2016
A zwak werkwoord (“weak verb” – a regular verb) is a verb that does not change in the past tense. For example leven, leefde, geleefd (to live, lived, lived). A sterk werkwoord (“strong verb” – an irregular verb) is one that does change, such as lopen, liep, gelopen (to walk, walked, walked). Then there are also “normal” onregelmatige werkwoorden (irregular verbs), like zijn, was, geweest (to be…
Problems for the Dutch Railway NS Posted by Karoly Molina on Mar 9, 2016
The Nederlandse Spoorwegen or the NS has been in the news (again) because of complaints from several organizations. The most notable of these organizations is the Stichting Consumentenclaim. This organization has been filling the NS with complaints from users because they do not have a seat on the train, and many people have to travel like sardines…
5 Ideas For The Empty V&D Locations Posted by Sten on Mar 4, 2016
Earlier this week, I explained what happened to V&D and how the company went bankrupt. A real shame, and maybe it is a bit early to think about this, but every day these buildings are closed and unused is a day of opportunity lost in many city centers in the Netherlands, so let’s check what…