There are already a few streets named after the little princess, as well as a train; the Princess Ariane Express, which travels from Groningen to Den Haag.
We are happy to hear that we have a new princess! She was born on April 10 and her name is Princess Ariane Wilhelmina Máxima Inez. She weighs 4135 grams and is 52 centimeters long.
There are already a few streets named after the little princess, as well as a train; the Princess Ariane Express, which travels from Groningen to Den Haag.
There are already a few streets named after the little princess, as well as a train; the Princess Ariane Express, which travels from Groningen to Den Haag.
Back in the day, I used to write for a small online magazine and wrote reviews for a consumer website. However, I stopped writing when TDS started to grow, because I just don't have the spare time to sit down and write for fun. However, I was feeling nostalgic a few days ago and decided to read some of my pieces from 3 years ago. I felt that one of them would be nice to share with you; it's a piece on Amsterdam 'through the eyes of a Dutch girl.'
Amsterdam, the city that is so loved. Amsterdam is known worldwide for its open and free culture, you have heard the rumors; you can get weed on every street corner, the people walk on clogs, wear traditional clothing, the red light district, the sex museum, I could go on for ages. Some of those rumors are actually true..we do walk on clogs! No, just kidding, but it is a fact that Amsterdam is very, very open and you can get weed on every street corner. If that is a good thing, is up to you. I personally hate to shop and smell weed everywhere I go. I rarely go to Amsterdam, mainly because it's almost two hours away and our public railroad system basically sucks: the trains are always late, and way too overpriced. But, I do understand the attraction of the city, I mean, many people aren't used to the 'vibe' of Amsterdam. If you decide you want to go to Amsterdam, make sure you book a good hotel, and don't go last minute without booking a hotel, because you will get ripped off. There are creepy people everywhere who will tell you they will show you this 'fabulous' room, but in the meantime, your pockets are being picked, plus you'll end up in this shabby, smelly hotel, but you did pay €100 a night for it. That is not a great way to start of your holiday.
If you want the 'full Dutch' experience, I recommend renting a bike. You could also take the metro to wherever you want to go. I don't recommend taxis, because they are quite expensive, and if you look like a tourist, (come on, you know what I mean; large bags, white socks in open sandals, shorts with white legs, a large camera and a waist bag,) you are probably going to get ripped off. So, be careful.
Amsterdam has 2 famous streets where all the main shops are located; Kalverstraat and Leidsestraat. You will find shops like H&M, Lush, Body Shop, The American Bookstore and many other well known shops. Make sure you grab a sandwich at 'Bakkerij Bart', they are good! Always very busy, but it's worth it! If you want to buy cheap stuff, and do sightseeing at the same time, make you visit Waterlooplein. This is a huge market and they sell everything there; from wooden statues to clothes, you will find it there! There's also another famous (day) market; the Albert Cuyp, you can find all sorts of food, flowers, and so on there. I was walking in Amsterdam a couple of months ago, and me and my friend kind of got lost, and suddenly we found ourselves in a street with red lights behind each window..yep, we reached the Red Light District, or 'De Wallen' as we Dutch people call it. Window prostitution is legal in the Netherlands.
If you want to be in the center of the city, make sure you visit 'De Dam'. Well, you can't really miss it, in the midst of the it stands the 'National Monument', which is dedicated to the Dutch soldiers who died during World War II. If you still can't find it, just look at all the pigeons flying around and sitting on the ground. You can buy special little bags of food, so you can feed them. They will eat out of your hand, and s(h)it on your head, now that's a Kodak moment! There are also mime players, clowns, and many more street artists to entertain you. You will also find Madam Taussaud's Wax Museum there. There a quite a few museums which you really have to visit; the Van Gogh museum, 'Rijksmuseum', 'Stedelijk museum', but I really recommend the Anne Frank museum. I think everybody knows who she was, but if you don't, here's a little history lesson. During World War II, Anne Frank and her family had to hide from the Germans because they were Jewish. They lived with a large family in this little secret room behind a bookcase. Unfortunately, Anne and her family (except for her father) were killed during the war. That room is now a museum, so you can actually see how they lived all those years, everything is in the original state. I really recommend it.
If you happen to be in Amsterdam around the annual 'Gay Parade', make sure you stay and watch all the drag queens! It's a huge parade, filled with dance and music, and to make it all even better; it takes place on boats in the canals, you really have see this. It attracts around 300.000 people each year and is one of Amsterdam’s largest festivals. Please note that if you want to see this, don't take your children with you, because people will occasionally get naked and behave in a manner that might be inappropriate for the young ones. At the end of April it's Queen's Day in the Netherlands. It originally started out as a celebration for the Queen's birthday, but it has evolved into much more than a simple birthday party. The streets will be filled with all kinds of orange decoration, people who are decorated, lots of music and lots of beer. Every Dutch person celebrates this, and we don't mind you joining us!
Amsterdam, the city that is so loved. Amsterdam is known worldwide for its open and free culture, you have heard the rumors; you can get weed on every street corner, the people walk on clogs, wear traditional clothing, the red light district, the sex museum, I could go on for ages. Some of those rumors are actually true..we do walk on clogs! No, just kidding, but it is a fact that Amsterdam is very, very open and you can get weed on every street corner. If that is a good thing, is up to you. I personally hate to shop and smell weed everywhere I go. I rarely go to Amsterdam, mainly because it's almost two hours away and our public railroad system basically sucks: the trains are always late, and way too overpriced. But, I do understand the attraction of the city, I mean, many people aren't used to the 'vibe' of Amsterdam. If you decide you want to go to Amsterdam, make sure you book a good hotel, and don't go last minute without booking a hotel, because you will get ripped off. There are creepy people everywhere who will tell you they will show you this 'fabulous' room, but in the meantime, your pockets are being picked, plus you'll end up in this shabby, smelly hotel, but you did pay €100 a night for it. That is not a great way to start of your holiday.
If you want the 'full Dutch' experience, I recommend renting a bike. You could also take the metro to wherever you want to go. I don't recommend taxis, because they are quite expensive, and if you look like a tourist, (come on, you know what I mean; large bags, white socks in open sandals, shorts with white legs, a large camera and a waist bag,) you are probably going to get ripped off. So, be careful.
Amsterdam has 2 famous streets where all the main shops are located; Kalverstraat and Leidsestraat. You will find shops like H&M, Lush, Body Shop, The American Bookstore and many other well known shops. Make sure you grab a sandwich at 'Bakkerij Bart', they are good! Always very busy, but it's worth it! If you want to buy cheap stuff, and do sightseeing at the same time, make you visit Waterlooplein. This is a huge market and they sell everything there; from wooden statues to clothes, you will find it there! There's also another famous (day) market; the Albert Cuyp, you can find all sorts of food, flowers, and so on there. I was walking in Amsterdam a couple of months ago, and me and my friend kind of got lost, and suddenly we found ourselves in a street with red lights behind each window..yep, we reached the Red Light District, or 'De Wallen' as we Dutch people call it. Window prostitution is legal in the Netherlands.
If you want to be in the center of the city, make sure you visit 'De Dam'. Well, you can't really miss it, in the midst of the it stands the 'National Monument', which is dedicated to the Dutch soldiers who died during World War II. If you still can't find it, just look at all the pigeons flying around and sitting on the ground. You can buy special little bags of food, so you can feed them. They will eat out of your hand, and s(h)it on your head, now that's a Kodak moment! There are also mime players, clowns, and many more street artists to entertain you. You will also find Madam Taussaud's Wax Museum there. There a quite a few museums which you really have to visit; the Van Gogh museum, 'Rijksmuseum', 'Stedelijk museum', but I really recommend the Anne Frank museum. I think everybody knows who she was, but if you don't, here's a little history lesson. During World War II, Anne Frank and her family had to hide from the Germans because they were Jewish. They lived with a large family in this little secret room behind a bookcase. Unfortunately, Anne and her family (except for her father) were killed during the war. That room is now a museum, so you can actually see how they lived all those years, everything is in the original state. I really recommend it.
If you happen to be in Amsterdam around the annual 'Gay Parade', make sure you stay and watch all the drag queens! It's a huge parade, filled with dance and music, and to make it all even better; it takes place on boats in the canals, you really have see this. It attracts around 300.000 people each year and is one of Amsterdam’s largest festivals. Please note that if you want to see this, don't take your children with you, because people will occasionally get naked and behave in a manner that might be inappropriate for the young ones. At the end of April it's Queen's Day in the Netherlands. It originally started out as a celebration for the Queen's birthday, but it has evolved into much more than a simple birthday party. The streets will be filled with all kinds of orange decoration, people who are decorated, lots of music and lots of beer. Every Dutch person celebrates this, and we don't mind you joining us!
All of us here at Typical Dutch Stuff want to wish you a Happy Easter or "Fijne Paasdagen"!
A typical day of my life can be pretty hectic at times, but also quite fulfilling. I start the day with fresh orange juice or a cup of Pickwick Cinnamon or Honey tea and usually a 'boterham' (=sandwich), always 'volkoren' (=wholeweat) with 'belegen' (=aged) cheese and a slice of ontbijtkoek (=spice cake). I also love De Ruijter Milk Chocolate Flakes and Calve Peanut Butter. Although I love to try foreign dishes, I notice that I do really miss my typically Dutch breakfast items whenever I am on vacation abroad (more about that later).
Then, it's time to get started on all the orders that were placed. First, I sort the boxes (recycling!) and if they pass the quality check (insert me squeezing the boxes to see if they are firm enough), then they will be filled with the most delicious Dutch items :)
Next, all the products will be selected and sorted for each order, which ends up looking something like this (although this is only a small part of our space):
Now it's time to pack all the stuff into the boxes, carefully filling it with bubble wrap and taping them shut; pretty straightforward stuff. However, we also spend a lot of time on our gift baskets, because we want them to be as pretty as possible! We have our in-house gift basket specialist, Lian (who also writes a column for TDS), usually comes up with the most beautiful creations!
I have to admit, I have a major sweet tooth, so whenever someone's helping me during the really busy days (mostly Lian or Mary jane), we tend to eat quite a bunch of licorice and chocolates. However, most of the time I take care of the orders all by myself and then I am way to busy to snack.
Here's a snapshot of the end results of some of our gift baskets (the Dutch Delight Basket, and the Mom's Basket, )
Remember what I told you about me missing my precious Dutch breakfast items whenever I am abroad? My solution for all of you who also miss a typically Dutch breakfast at times: the Begin-Your-Day Basket, which includes all the popular and most common breakfast products in this basket. Beginning your day has never been as Dutch as now! Includes hagelslag, vlokken, peanut butter, ontbijtkoek, roggebrood, cheese, chocomel, jam, and many more delicious products.
Then, it's time to get started on all the orders that were placed. First, I sort the boxes (recycling!) and if they pass the quality check (insert me squeezing the boxes to see if they are firm enough), then they will be filled with the most delicious Dutch items :)
Next, all the products will be selected and sorted for each order, which ends up looking something like this (although this is only a small part of our space):
Now it's time to pack all the stuff into the boxes, carefully filling it with bubble wrap and taping them shut; pretty straightforward stuff. However, we also spend a lot of time on our gift baskets, because we want them to be as pretty as possible! We have our in-house gift basket specialist, Lian (who also writes a column for TDS), usually comes up with the most beautiful creations!
I have to admit, I have a major sweet tooth, so whenever someone's helping me during the really busy days (mostly Lian or Mary jane), we tend to eat quite a bunch of licorice and chocolates. However, most of the time I take care of the orders all by myself and then I am way to busy to snack.
Here's a snapshot of the end results of some of our gift baskets (the Dutch Delight Basket, and the Mom's Basket, )
Remember what I told you about me missing my precious Dutch breakfast items whenever I am abroad? My solution for all of you who also miss a typically Dutch breakfast at times: the Begin-Your-Day Basket, which includes all the popular and most common breakfast products in this basket. Beginning your day has never been as Dutch as now! Includes hagelslag, vlokken, peanut butter, ontbijtkoek, roggebrood, cheese, chocomel, jam, and many more delicious products.
Finally, after many requests and a lot of hard work, we are proud to introduce our new Vegetarian/Vegan section! After designing our own icons to indicate if a product is veggie/vegan friendly, we did a lot of research and combined this into our new page to make shopping as easy as possible.
We will be adding products to this section gradually. This section also depends on the knowledge of our customers, so if you have any product suggestions, comments, or feedback, please contact us at info@typicaldutchstuff.com
Check out our site for Dutch Vegetarian/Vegan products.
We will be adding products to this section gradually. This section also depends on the knowledge of our customers, so if you have any product suggestions, comments, or feedback, please contact us at info@typicaldutchstuff.com
Check out our site for Dutch Vegetarian/Vegan products.
Surprise your loved one with a gift wrapped box of chocolate truffles; now free with your order if you enter "valentine" upon checkout.
We have also added various new products, such as Mallemaatjes, Pickwick Leaf teas, Pickwick White teas, AH herb teas, worstenbroodjes, saucijzenbroodjes, various new games, and breadspreads!
We are especially proud of the Mallemaatjes, because we love their work and we know the artists personally!
Mallemaatjes is a young company; founded in 2006 by Dutch friends Mariska and Myrna. They began creating paintings for new born babies of their friends and family.
The name "Mallemaatjes" has a double meaning, because in Dutch the word "maatjes" means "friends" and "malle" means "silly", which according to the artists represents the figures, as well as their friendship.
The paintings on this site offer an impression of their work; the "maatjes" can be created in any size, shape, and color. Of course, you can also order the ones that are offered below!
First, we want to wish everyone a very happy new year! We have returned from our short, but well-needed break for the holidays. Now that we are back, we are celebrating the start of our 4th year in business by offering a 10% discount on ALL orders in January!
We have also added various new products to the site and we will keep on adding even more over the next few weeks!
We have also added various new products to the site and we will keep on adding even more over the next few weeks!
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