The Netherlands is world-famous for its spectacular flowers. This beautiful display can be found at Lisse, in the western part of the country. Lisse is in the flower-producing region of the Netherlands and is the home of the State Bulb School and Laboratory. There are impressive gardens around De Keukenhof Castle, where a flower exhibition is held in the summer.
Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, is over 700 years old. A major port, Amsterdam has always depended on its link to the sea, and it is not surprising the entire city is crisscrossed by a network of canals (originally for easier access to and from the port area). At last count, there were 165 of them, and 1,281 bridges!
Starched linen headdresses like this one, along with wooden shoes, are perhaps the most recognizable items of traditional Dutch clothing. Although it’s rather uncommon to see people dressed like this (who aren’t in the tourist business), there are some areas where traditional clothes are worn out of respect for the past.
Over the centuries, the tulip has become almost universally associated with the Netherlands. The Dutch began cultivating tulips in the 1600s, after they were introduced into the country by Carolus Clusius in 1593. Soon the entire nation was in the grip of tulip fever: a single bulb could bring the equivalent to $2,500! Today, the Netherlands is one of the top flower-producing regions in the world, producing 9 billion bulbs (tulips, lilies and narcissi) per year.
Alkmaar, in the western Netherlands, is famous for its cheese market, held on Fridays in front of the Weigh-House. The Weigh-House, once used for (surprise!) weighing cheese, is now the home of the local tourist office and the Kaasmuseum, or Cheese Museum.
The Netherlands exports over 400 million kilograms (that’s 880 million pounds) of cheese per year, more than any other country in the world; the most popular varieties are Gouda and Edam. These porters at the Alkmaar cheese market are dressed in traditional costumes: the color of their hat indicates which section of the cheese porters’ guild that they belong to.