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Note:
Are you, like so many other people, puzzled by the dual terms
"Netherlands" and "Holland"? Well, Netherlands means literally "lowlands".
It is the collective, national term for the states, called
provinces by the Dutch, which make up their tiny country.
"Holland" is a constituent state, but its name has been
associated with the area since the Middle Ages and is still the one most
commonly used by foreigners.
Our full-time,
professional, European Tour Director will meet you at the Amsterdam
airport. After checking into
our hotel, your bags will arrive outside your room door (that's something
that's also taken care of for you at every hotel -- no need to haul your
suitcase yourself).
After some rest and
relaxation, we are off to board a glass- roofed boat for a guided
sightseeing tour of the "Venice of the North". This is perhaps
the best way to view the 90 islands which form the center of Amsterdam
with its medieval buildings, the old port, the earliest and prettiest
canals, and the 17th-century gabled merchants' houses.
We end the tour at the Hortus
Botanicus, one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world.
It was established in 1638 as a "Hortus Medicus", a herb
garden for physicians and pharmacists. The ships of the Verenigde
Oostindische Compagnie (East India Company, the VOC) not only brought
useful and edible plants such as herbs, spices and delicacies from faraway
countries, but also extraordinary, exotic, ornamental plants from from
South Africa, India, Indonesia, Australia and Japan.
The Hortus is a "living museum" conserving approx. 8,000
different species of plants. One
of the specimens is an Eastern
Cape breadfruit tree; it's more than 300 years old and one of the oldest
potted plants in the world. It enjoys the company of a female specimen of
approx. 250 years of age.
Before our included
dinner this evening in the hotel, we have arranged to have a get-acquainted
meeting to get to know our other traveling companions.
At the same time, our Tour Director will give a short orientation
talk and tell us the program for the next few days. [Breakfast in-flight,
Dinner]
The intriguing "Dutch
auction" system using a clock is an entirely different principle. This computerized auction allows 3,500 growers to offer their
products to 2,000 registered buyers, with the cut flowers at the disposal
of the buyer within 15 minutes of the actual sale. You will marvel at this fascinating segment of the
international flower business.
This magnificent display
of flowers is so overwhelming that you'll just have to see it to believe
it.
Since the diamond trade
was introduced to Amsterdam in the 16th century, the city remains one of
the world's most important diamond centers. The largest diamond ever found
(the "Cullinan") as well as the smallest (0.00012 carat with 57
facets) were cut here. We take a tour of a diamond factory and admire the
craftsmanship of diamond cutters at work.
Later in the afternoon
we visit a farm where they make Edam cheese the old-fashioned way -- by hand. The whole
process is explained, and the samples taste simply delicious.
Little farms, lush pastures, windmills with their spinning sails,
and locals wearing their colorful style of dress ... all provide a rustic
picture to delight the eye, a memory to cherish forever.
While
we're in the area, we'll stop at a wooden shoe maker to watch a
craftsman turning out klompen (the Dutch name for wooden shoes).
Dutch farmers, nurserymen, and gardeners wear wooden shoes because
they are ideal for work in wet soil.
If you wish, you can try on a pair.
The genial workmen will help you select the right size.
They're more comfortable than you ever imagined -- also less
expensive -- and they make an excellent shoe for puttering around your
garden. (And can you think of
anything better with which to push a spade into the earth than a wooden
shoe on your foot? You don't
feel the spade's edge at all.)
This evening we'll go
to a noted local restaurant for an Indonesian meal.
Why an Indonesian meal in Amsterdam?
Well, Indonesia was formerly a Dutch colony and the expatriates who
lived and worked there came to appreciate this Indonesian food so much
that they "imported" it into Holland.
This East Indies cuisine has come to be traditionally Dutch, one
might say. The famous "Rijsttafel"
(rice table) consists of a number
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