Jip and Janneke as every foreign people have lots of stereotype about the Netherlands. On one hand they want to jump deeply into the Dutch culture to break down the typical prejudices but also try all kind of things that are called typical Dutch. For this reason in the last few weeks they had two trips. The first one was by the countryside to visit a tulips farm (ok, tulips are from Turkey, but in the Netherlands they are quite good at growing them), while the second was to Kinderdijk, to see the windmills.
Janneke has a housemate, Lolkje who is the daughter of a real Dutch tulip farmer.

The first impression is definitely the most important thing, and in that case it was very typical Dutch. As soon as they got out the car, they saw a little cute Dutch boy, with blond hair of course, toddling in his red wooden shoes…
On that day Jip and Janneke learnt a lot about the ‘tulip profession’. They knew that there were two kinds of tulip farmer. One who grows tulips for the flowers and the other one who grows them for the bulbs.
Lolkje’s father, Piet is the second type but of course he is very enthusiastic about the tulips in general.

The two curious visitors could see the pictures about hundreds of tulips and know which one is good to give to your lover and which one is for a funeral. Then they went to watch the thousands of bulbs in boxes and also learnt how they planted them with the help of this big net and how they cut the buds during early spring to give more nutriments to the bulbs which will then give flowers the next year...

They also knew what was the biggest enemy of the tulips. It's an illness that comes when the bulbs can’t dry out perfectly so they start to rot and infect the other bulbs after each other in the box. If you have good nose for it, like merchants who trade with tulips have, you can smell this illness even if there are only a few sick bulbs in a huge box.
So Jip and Janneke wish all the best for this nice family and lots of healthy, beautiful bulbs in the next years!

They went also to visit the windmills because after the wooden shoes and the tulips, they are the third famous things that everybody knows about the Netherlands (except the easy drugs).
This place named Kinderdijk is interesting not just because of the old, nice windmills but also the process how they use them to pump out the water from the fields what they want to use for something else. (But this part Jip can explain you more:)       
 
Up to Jip now.
Jip drove his truly Italian car thru the flat land, until Kinderdijk (GPS).
The place is pretty impressive if you see it from a techie point of view.
The river is actually HIGHER than the land around.
This is possible because the complex of windmills (in the past) and diesel pumps nowadays keep the land dry, by pushing the water to the river.
In the past it was just a pond, but industrious Dutch people were able to see in the future, and built this system to get more land to coltivate, and less mosquitos to kill.
Jokes apart, it's really impressive, and the people living there is surely proud of their work.
We got to talk with this man who still runs one of these old windmills, actively pulling the water UP with just the strenght of the wind.
Pretty impressive.... and you really feel the power of this invisible blow, whistling over the wings of the mill, torquing the internal mechanism (made of wood!!) which thru some axis rotate the underneath wheel that pull the water.
And then you stand out, and you see the massive ground that "contains" the river..yeah.. contains...! Hard to understand or picture out.. a river which is standing "over" the land and not "in".. but hey.. that's Holland!
The windmills in line give an impressive sightseeing, and the place is full of birds... very peacefull.

Janneke is here again. Just to add some girlish point of view I have to tell you about the colours of the windmills:) In the past most of them were black because people who lived in them were poor. They used black paint what wasn't really paint but more pitch. And if you could see a green windmill that meant that people in it had more money. The miller also said that in Leiden you could see red and yellow windmills as well which showed what kind of religion they had in the area. The red ones were catholic and the yellow ones were protestant.

It was also interesting to know that nowadays they have a lot of problems with the water inside of the windmills. Especially ones what are from stones can let the rain inside and that can demage the walls later. Some of the owners try to plant laureates or other kind of climbing plants what lead the water down and safe the walls against the rain.

Last week we also did "wadlopen" what is a very tipical Dutch thing as well but this is another story:) 

I wanted to write an article about the Dutch cycling culture but it’s so obvious so I was waiting for something special what is enough interesting to attract even Dutch people’s attention…

   (a bit about bicycles upside down:)
At this moment I have a small collection about funny and interesting stories and observations.
First of all my “AHA” moment was when I knew that one bus season-ticket for 1 month for 3 zones (which is enough to go to work and home for me) is 88 euros. After this I shouldn’t ask any more why people use their bikes even in heavy rain. My reaction was that I bought an extra rain safe jacket and trousers preparing for autumn and winter :).

Beside this discovery I like to watch what Dutch people carry on their bicycles. The top list contains a big tree, a gravestone and a ladder… And I really find funny how the children are sitting in the “bakfiets”. It can be very comfortable for them but quite hard for their parents.

And I also recognised that here the bikes, like clotes or special objects told a lot bout their owners. 

But as I am here now for 4 months, of course I have my own bike story…
A nice, sunny Friday I had to leave somewhere my bike because I took a train and I came back only on Saturday. Because the special places for bikes are always full in front of the station I thought I put mine somewhere in the centre. In that time I didn’t know too much the city so I left it in one of the main square locked to a line pole. I was even very happy because on the top of the pole was a board with a camera picture so I thought it was the safest place in the neighborhood!
I forgot only one thing that the next day is Saturday so there is a big market in the centre of Utrecht exactly on this square… So the next morning I went to the square with a big smile on my face because of the nice memories from the previous evening but I became desperate very soon when I saw the tens of tents on the square where I left my bike.
Actually I was lucky because one of the merchant just laid down the bike and built their tent on it. So after 10 minutes with some help I could get back my bike without any penalty:)))
 Viva Holland!

Janneke has discovered the website of the 'Royal Music Machines' exhibition and wanted to visit it. The museum is 50 years old now and because of this anniversary they collected all the very famous and rare clocks and music instruments from all over the World and introduced them for the public.
Janneke had some prejudices from her childhood that museums sometimes could be very boring… BUT definitely not this one. :)
The machines themselves are already amazing but what makes the visit really entertaining is the style of the guides. They are very enthusiastic and motivated, they do everything for visitors, even singing to show how the old street music machines worked in the past. To tell the truth she could get good money with it because she was doing very well. ;)
It's funny to think that these clocks and music machines were made just people wanted to be entertained in every way. There is a music machine which contains not only a piano but also 3 violins inside so it's like a whole orchestra in one machine without any human presence.
You can even see a small sailing ship with some drummers and soldiers on it. Rudolf II of Habsburg ordered this piece to scare his best guests during his luxurious dinners. How he did is something that you should find by yourself! The temporary exhibition is open till 30/07/2006.

Janneke brought Jip to the national museum of  automatic clocks.
Jip became over excited. There were clocks with animals and little figures moving everywhere. The guy who was showing us the pieces talked with Jip a few times, explaining him things about those extraordinary toys for rich people in the past.
Jip was really amazed by a Russian czarina's clock, made with a bunch of little tiny pieces of glass rotating that were looking like water… woooaaa… amazing!
Then we went to the other section of the museum, were they showed us automatic music machines. There were mostly pianos... playing without anybody pressing the tabs! You could actually see the tabs going up and down! That was done thru metal discs, or rolls of paper with little holes, where the music was "programmed"... Jip started to think about his computer, and the cd he uses to watch Japanese cartoons.. and well.. the concept is the same!
Actually the girl who was showing us the things was really energetic and nice.. so sometimes you couldn't really tell if Jip got over excited for the toys or for her.
So... Jip's suggestion is to go there without hurry… and don't forget to take a ride on the pedals music machine! ;)

ACU - Voorstraat 71

Jip has been to ACU last Saturday night.

The place welcomes you with his dense smoking atmosphere and the typical noise caused by 50 persons who are talking and laughing in a little space.

Jip has already been there once, to have a vegan dinner (as they do not use any animal product for their plates), and he has found it cosy, but little.

Surprise surprise! There’s a black door on a wall that, once opened, leads you to another big room, the disco!

Around midnight, the Dj’s had already put on their music, and few people (Jip and Anitya) have already started to follow the beat on the dance-floor.

The place was strange for Jip. Coming from Italy where sexuality orientation is something that is something private, as long as it is straight, was quite impressive (and pleasant) for him to be in a place where genders are something that get mixed up. If at first you look at people and start wondering “what” they are, after a while you get used to it, acquainted to the music and enjoy company of people having fun, definitely free to dress and act as they care.

Jip danced in there until 2:30 I guess... then he was too tired and went home... but surely the night was still early for ACU.

“The ACU is a politico-cultural venue that operates independently of (municipal) authorities, is non-profit and is run by volunteers. The venue has validated its existence in Utrecht's political and cultural life for more than two decades”

From ACU’s website – www.acu.nl

When we arrived in this strange land, everything was very friendly and cordial. Ok, we felt a bit strange to be so far from home. Janneke actually comes from Hungary (but don't make jokes with her about being "hungry"'... she would get very ANGRY about them.. ihihihih).

Me, (Jip) I come from Italy.

So, this is my point of view on what's happening here. They tried to poison us with some strange things called "croquettes" and with some un-cooked fish... but we somehow managed to survive that.

Then they tried to kill us with frequent showers, and providing us with open vehicles that weren't protecting our health at all.

That's my point of view on what has happened the first days... my suggestion? Keep your eyes wide open... these people may seem cordial and friendly... but I have something more than a suspect, that they have something to hide...

Ok. Now that's me, Janneke.

Actually I have no idea what this crazy guy is saying beside me...

He's always hungry because he can't get his everyday pasta portion here;) so yesterday he was  so starving that I had to cook something to him because anyway I would have to continue alone this very interesting mission to discover the Dutch culture and the cultural events in Utrecht.

Yesterday we had our first Dutch lesson as well and after it I am sure that Jip's favorite colour is yellow. You should ask him once to say it in Dutch! He likes very much your "G":))))).

But we had beautiful experiences too, we went to the beach twice. Once to Scheveningen and once to the 13th floor of our building! This is not a joke!!! You should try it also! 

Ok. That was enough for today. Tot ziens!