Flat Lands

The Netherlands disappointed us a little. Many years ago, in a rainy November, we had already visited Amsterdam, which had truly enchanted us. This time, perhaps because it was the most touristy time of year, it was filthy, far too crowded and therefore decidedly less appealing. We travelled around a bit and saw some characteristic corners: the ultra-modern Rotterdam, Den Haag, the Zeeland dams, Delft, the Madurodam park, Eindhoven, Scheveninghen, Breda and more besides. But the landscape really is too monotonous: once you have visited one windmill you have seen them all — meaning that even though there are different types built for different purposes, they no longer have the magic that surrounds them in the general imagination.

The idea of land below sea level is interesting, but since it isn't easy to perceive the phenomenon when you are there, except near the great dams, even knowing that they've had incredible engineers for centuries only helps virtually to keep you from getting bored in the face of the “flatness” par excellence. Despite the mussel and shrimp farms along the Zeeland, these dishes remain decidedly more expensive than in Italy. Moreover, and this was a big surprise, in many situations and in different towns or cities, we found that the inhabitants are hard to like or kind; in various public establishments we found shop assistants and waiters truly rude or surly even though I speak excellent English. Not to mention that my husband addressed them in German and, generally, faced with this language, they pretended not to understand and then answered correctly in English.

But where is the hospitable and open Netherlands?