Holland
Sailing on the channels in Amsterdam is a must. Amsterdam is very similar to Copenhagen. Though there are no trams in Copenhagen today, Amsterdam still operates them, which I find amazing.
An absolute must in Amsterdam is a visit to Anne Frank Huis, where the family hid, until they were picked up by the Nazis and sent to concentrations camps.
I’m a massive sports fan, hence why a tour of Amsterdam Stadium, home to Ajax Amsterdam, was very thrilling. Today, I still regret not picking a letter off of the logo on the wall, as a souvenir.
Madurodam is an outdoor museum with miniature buildings from all of Holland. Definitely a fun day outside.
Smack in the center of Holland, is Arnhem. A city that saw a massive siege during the Second World War, and many allied forces and local soldiers were killed. A museum has been opened to tell this grim tale and a cemetery was set up to honour the fallen.
Pandemic in a divided city
On the border of Holland and Belgium is a small village. It’s called Baarle-Nassau in Dutch and Baarle-Hertoc in Belgian.
Tiles with X’s run through the town and marks the border between the two countries. The border even runs through houses. Some houses have the front door in Holland, but the bedroom is in Belgium.
In Belgium, there a siesta at noon and all the Belgian shops and companies shut down. However, the Dutch part stays open.
During Covid-19, small business have been affected by the pandemic in extreme ways. At one point, Belgium was in severe lock down, but Holland remained open with no restrictions. In the divided city, this affected a store, where the entrance was in Holland, but the cash register was in Belgium. It was okay to open the store in Holland, but the cash register had to be moved out of Belgium temporarily to service customers, and the stock on the Belgian part of the store should to be shielded off, until restrictions were lifted and Belgian store could open again.
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