Major cities
Amsterdam, The Hague, Deft, Rotterdam
Language
According to The Dress Wizard, the official language of the country is Dutch. English is known to literally the entire population of the country. French and German are also widely spoken.
Population
Approximately 15.6 million people. It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The ethnic composition is quite “variegated” – the Dutch (81%), the Flemings (12%), the Frisians (3%), the Germans (1.5%), as well as many people from former colonies. 38% of the population professes Catholicism, 30% – Protestantism.
Customs control
The import of weapons, drugs and animals into the country is prohibited. Restrictions have been introduced on the import of some items: adults can bring in 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars (100 small cigars) or 50 g of tobacco; they are also allowed to enter 1 liter of alcoholic beverages whose alcohol content exceeds 22 percent, or 2 liters of alcoholic beverages whose alcohol content does not reach 22 percent (including wine). In duty-free shops, you cannot purchase more than 1 block of cigarettes or 50 cigars, more than 2 liters of wine, 1 liter of alcohol, 50 g of perfume and 25 g of toilet water. Import and export of foreign and national currency is not limited.
Currency
Euro (EURO), 1 EURO = 100 EURO cent. Banknotes: 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 euros. Coins: 2 and 1 euro; 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents.
Transport
The National Railway Company (NS) provides transportation of passengers between the cities of the country. Intercity buses run on numerous highways. You can hitchhike around the country. Approximately three-quarters of the Dutch have bicycles and use them extensively. On the roads of the country, cyclists are allocated separate paths, and near public buildings, shops, museums, special places are allocated for parking bicycles. You can rent a bike and use it to travel around the country. In all cities of the country there is a single tariff scale and single ticket samples, i.e. tickets purchased in one city are valid in the rest. This is very convenient, especially for tourists traveling around the country.
In the cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, tickets also apply to the metro. A ticket validated on one mode of transport is valid for one hour on all modes of transport, i.e. during this hour, you can make any number of transfers within one zone of the city. To travel to the neighboring zone, you need to punch two tickets, when traveling through one zone, you need to punch three tickets, etc. The same rules apply in the subway. Tickets for travel in the Netherlands are best bought at tobacconists, post offices, and metro stations. These venues sell tickets for 15 rides for $6 and 45 rides for $17. City transport drivers sell single tickets (0, $8), doubles ($1.6), triples ($2.4), and 8 trips ($6.4), i.e. significantly more expensive.
Phones
Police, ambulance, fire brigade – 112.
Shops, banks
Shops are open daily from 9.00 am to 17.30 – 18.00 pm. Shops close quite late on Tuesday and Friday. On Saturdays, grocery stores close at 4:00 pm, the rest close at 5:00 pm. Banks are open on weekdays from 9.00 to 16.00. Some banks close one hour earlier on Fridays. GWK is also involved in currency exchange in Amsterdam. Most GWK exchange points are located near railway stations. They work from 8.00 to 20.00 all days except Sunday; on Sunday the points are open from 10.00 to 16.00. You can also exchange currency at post offices.
Kitchen
Dutch housewives do not really like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, however, they jealously ensure that all the dishes served on the table are tasty and go well with each other. In Holland, fresh fish products are considered everyday dishes – herring, sea eel, bondage, halibut, oysters. Every year, each inhabitant of this country accounts for an average of almost 10 kg of mussel meat. Vgo is boiled, salted, processed into canned food. The fish is served mostly stewed with melted butter and boiled potatoes. Baked fish dishes are usually served with leaf lettuce. The most common: fresh herring fillet fried in pork fat with onion, cut into rings, green beans and boiled potatoes, abundantly slept with finely chopped parsley, as well as pike perch stewed in the oven with vegetables and boiled potatoes, poured with melted butter and sprinkled with parsley. Popular tartinki with cheese, ham and butter.
Holland is famous for its high-quality cheeses, their range is not too large, but true cheese connoisseurs unmistakably identify cheese prepared according to all the rules of the recipe in Holland. From alcoholic drinks, the Dutch prefer vodka, preferring juniper, which is called Enever.
