Part 1

Although I already said a few times I should use English instead of Romanian, for at least some of my writings, I didn’t. Mostly because I love Romanian so much I would have married it if I could (I’m in love with Latin languages, in fact), but also because I’m usually writing for my Romanian friends.

But this text is for Arianna and since I don’t speak Italian and she doesn’t know Romanian, we’ll try to meet in the middle. 😛 Let’s proceed.

My dear,

Basically, this country is a swamp. Not even a big one. It is so crowded, Dutch people had to steal some of the ducks’ and seagulls’ territory to build their narrow houses. Yes, yes, the ones with the anti-drunk people stairs. When I saw them for the first time I thought, OMG, if I ever drink too much (I don’t, but never say never) I’ll need to sleep on the couch, downstairs, in the living room in order to stay alive.

But I love every tiny bit of this country. Every square centimeter is very well organised and carefully preserved so, even if they don’t have the gorgeous Swiss mountains or the exotic Mediterranean beaches, it’s a pleasure to travel and to discover something new every time.

And because the big cities are very well known, I’ll give you a very brief look into some of my favorite smaller places.

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1. Marken – small village, a peninsula in the Markermeer, full of characteristic wooden houses. Lovely place, peaceful, excellent for pictures (especially when the weather is a bit cloudy, I would say). Google Maps location.

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2. Hoorn – former Dutch East India Company (VOC) base in the province of North Holland. Full of well-preserved history, it has two picturesque harbours. And because I love boats, we’ve spent some time there. Website / Google Maps location.

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3. Zierikzee – small city in Zeeland, 50 km southwest of Rotterdam. We’ve discovered it by chance, when we were going to the beach nearby and I’m very glad we’ve stopped to visit. It’s an old lovely place, full of monuments, walls, gates and museums. For more details, take a look here. Google Maps location.

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4. Middleburg – because I mentioned the province of Zeeland, you cannot miss its capital, of course. Middleburg is another lovely Dutch Golden Age key city, mainly known as a center of lens crafting. Google Maps Location.

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We leave the beach vibes behind and we come back to the north, near the Amsterdam area.

5. Zaandam – the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, North Holland. After you admire the old houses and the very weird hotel located in the city center (it’s some kind of Tetris for architects, I guess), you move to Zaanse Schans, one of the loveliest air museums I’ve seen so far. It’s full of wooden houses, mills, barns and workshops. Google Maps location.

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6. Volendam – small village, old harbor, fishing boats, colorful timber houses and traditional clothing. Cheerful and cosy, a bit too crowded during the weekends. Google Maps location.

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7. Giethoorn – a charming mostly car-free village, known for its footpaths, boat-filled waterways and old thatched-roof houses. Very picturesque, but also crowded. It’s the place where I discovered Des Pots, a lovely ceramic pots brand. Google Maps location.

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I have many more, because we travel a lot, but I’ll come back another time. I wish you a very nice trip!