Tag Archives: water
What’s a Dutch Zwembad? Posted by Sten on Jun 22, 2020
Ever since I moved away from the Netherlands, there have been things I’ve missed from my home country. Not only foods, like stroopwafels and good patat, but also places to go and see. This morning, I really felt like going to a zwembad (public pool, also refers to just a “pool”). Unlike in the United States, when the Dutch…
What Are Polders? Posted by Sten on Jul 21, 2016
Does it get more Dutch than a polder? Yes, kaas (cheese) maybe… But the great difference is that polder does not even know an English translation! Pretty Dutch then, right? One great example of a polder has already been highlighted before: the Dutch province Flevoland is a huge Polder. Even though polders are explained there shortly, a lot is left unexplained, and therefore this post…
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…
De Afsluitdijk – Enclosing the Sea Posted by Sten on Oct 26, 2015
So, last week, I wrote about the Zuiderzeewerken, which gave birth to the province Flevoland. But not only that. The Zuiderzeewerken had as their goal to create more land for agricultural use, and to “tame” the Zuiderzee, the part of the Noordzee (North Sea) that protruded well into the Dutch inland. Another goal, which was pursued already centuries before the proposal…
The Dutch Province Flevoland – A Peculiar Story Posted by Sten on Oct 20, 2015
The province of Flevoland has not always existed. Not only in its name and demarcation – no, the actual land did not exist. It came into existence as the last of the twelve Dutch provincies. The northern Noordoostpolder (the top red part of the province in the map below) was added to the already existing land. The lower two parts…
A bus on water – the Waterbus! Posted by Sten on May 30, 2014
In the Dutch west, to be exact in the surroundings of Rotterdam called the Rotterdam-Drechtsteden, the people have developed an interesting, peculiar way of transport. They call it the waterbus (water bus). It is, as its name suggests, a bus on the water. It is much like a regular ferry. The waterbus uses the OV-chipkaart, so you can…