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Amsterdam: Tips for the
visitor
 Traveling
with pets
If you wish to take your dog, cat or ferret with you to Holland, you will
need to have the following veterinary documents:
A valid health certificate signed by an authorized veterinary surgeon;
A rabies certificate signed by a local inspector of the veterinary service
or another official. The animal should have been vaccinated against rabies
at least 28 days prior to departure.
EUROPEAN PASSPORT FOR ANIMALS
Owners of dogs, cats and ferrets who live in the European Union (EU) need
a European animal passport if they wish to travel within the EU with their
pet. This uniform document replaces similar passports and documents which
are currently in use.
In addition to general information, the passport proves that the pet has
been inoculated against rabies. New is that owners must ensure that their
pets are micro-chipped or tattooed.
Pets from non-EU countries traveling to Holland also need to be inoculated
and micro-chipped or tattooed, they will also need a veterinary certificate
with the relevant information, issued by an authorized vet.
Credit Cards
All major credit cards are accepted widely, but not everywhere. If in doubt,
ask in advance. Cash-on-card services are available from selected American
Express, Diners Club, MasterCard and Visa Card addresses. These cards are
also accepted by all GWK currency exchange outlets and Change Express Offices.
AMERICAN EXPRESS
Head Office: Amsteldijk 166/5, 1079 LH Amsterdam, tel. (+31)(0)20 504 80
00 or 0800 0220100 (lost and stolen cards).
DINERS CLUB
Head Office: Entrada 221, 1096 EG Amsterdam, tel. +31 (0)20 654 55 00 or
(+31) (0)20 654 55 11 (lost and stolen cards), fax: (+31) (0)20 654 55 04.
INTERPAY EUROCARD/MASTERCARD NEDERLAND
Head Office: Eendrachtlaan 315, 3526 LB Utrecht, tel. (+31) (0)30 283 51
11 or (+31) (0)20 283 55 55 (lost and stolen cards).
VISA CARD SERVICES
Head Office: Wisselwerking 32, 1112 XP Diemen, tel.(+31) (0)20 660 07 89
or (+31) (0)20 660 06 11 (lost and stolen cards), fax: (+31) (0)20 660 06
68.
The Telephone System
To call Holland you dial your international dialing code, followed by 31
(country code for Holland), then the area code (omit the first zero) and
the local number.
Some important area codes: Amsterdam (0)20
Rotterdam (0)10
Utrecht (0)30
Maastricht (0)43
The Hague (0)70
CALLING WITHIN HOLLAND
Orange-and-gray colored telephone booths are located inside and around most
Netherlands Railways stations. From these booths you can make calls with
coins, credit cards and special telephone cards. Telfort telephone cards
are available from the GWK – Holland Welcome Service, Wizzl Shops at
a wide range of railway stations and all ticket offices at the Netherlands
Railway stations.
If you wish to make a telephone call from a green telephone booth (located
outside railway stations) you need a different telephone card. These are
available from, among other places, the GWK - Holland Welcome Service offices,
post offices and major department stores.
If you are not in an emergency situation, but you wish to contact the police,
call (+31) (0)900 88 44. Please note that this is not a free call.
Useful telephone numbers
Please note: the telephone numbers below are only useful during your stay
in Holland. Most numbers can not be reached from abroad.
NATIONAL EMERGENCY NUMBERS
Police, fire brigade, ambulance: 112
National number police, no emergency: 0900 8844
ROAD PATROL
ANWB: 0800 0888
EMBASSIES AND CONSULATES
Dutch embassies and consulates abroad and foreign embassies and consulates
in Holland can be found on Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (embassies
and consulates)
Tourism information offices VVV
The local tourist office in the city you intend to visit can answer most
of your questions.
VVV Stationsplein (KCS)
Address: Stationsplein 10
City: 1012 AB Amsterdam
Phone: (+31) (0)20 201 88 00
Fax: (+31) (0)20 201 88 50
E-mail: info@atcb.nl
Services: cinema voucher
cycling routes
group tours
hiking routes
reservation services
theatre voucher
VVV package sales
Wadden travel guides sales
Website: www.amsterdamtourist.nl
Did you know that:
The Netherlands and Holland are the same place?
One-quarter of Holland is below sea level ?
The International Court of Justice (at the Peace Palace) and the International
Criminal Court are both in The Hague?
Holland still has around a thousand old-fashioned working windmills?
Holland is the third biggest exporter of agricultural produce, trailing
only the US and France, even though only 3% of the Dutch population works
in the agriculture sector?
Holland has no less than 15,000 km of cycle paths?
Flevoland, the twelfth province, was reclaimed from the Zuider Zee in 1986?
The Dutch are the tallest people in Europe?
Amsterdam is built entirely on pillings?
Holland always has a coalition government, so it is a land of compromise?
Every Dutch person has a bike and there are twice as many bikes as cars?
The Van Gogh collections in the Van Gogh Museum and the Kröller-Müllers
Museum are the largest in the world?
Holland has the highest concentration of museums in the world, with 42 in
Amsterdam alone?
Holland was one of the six founding members of the European Community?
The former island of Schokland, the fortifications around Amsterdam, the
windmills of Kinderdijk-Elshout, Willemstad (in the Netherlands Antilles)
and the Rietveld-Schröderhuis are all on UNESCO’s World Heritage
List?
The highest point in Holland is 323 meters above sea level, and is referred
to as a ‘mountain’?
Amsterdam is the capital, but the government is in The Hague?
Most Dutch people speak a foreign language as well as Dutch?
Rotterdam is the second largest port in the world?
Holland is 6.7 meters below sea level at its lowest point?
Amsterdam has 1,281 bridges?
Prince Willem-Alexander, the heir to the Dutch throne, takes personal interest
in water management?
When you arrive at Schiphol Airport, you are four meters below sea level?
Holland has more than 4,400 km of navigable rivers, canals and lakes?
At Neeltje Jans in Zeeland, you can see how Holland waged war against the
sea?
When in Holland eat like the Dutch
The daily eating pattern of the Dutch: round the clock breakfast, lunch
and dinner and in between a cup of coffee at 10.30 a.m. The ‘borrel’
(a drink) at 5 p.m. sharp.
All that cycling, the traditional mode of transport in Holland, creates
a healthy appetite. The bicycle, combined with the unpredictable Dutch weather,
heavily influenced Dutch cuisine, which offers substantial, simple, and
straight-forward fare.
BREAKFAST
Start your day with a wholesome Dutch breakfast: fresh bread with butter,
jam, cheese, ham or chocolate sprinkles (hagelslag). Yes, you’ve read
it correctly: Scatter chocolate sprinkles on your buttered bread. You might
also want to eat a slice of Breakfast cake (ontbijtkoek), a cake containing
cinnamon and cloves as well as ground ginger. Be sure to drink lots of coffee
or tea! Get yourself ready for the chilly rain, strong wind, wet snow storm
or radiant sunny day. The Dutch climate is full of whimsical surprises.
10:30 am.... time for a cup of coffee
COFFEE
At 10:30 a.m. it’s time for the traditional cup of coffee. ‘A
cup of coffee’ is not just a cup of coffee in Holland. The small, but
strong, cup is to be savored while reading the newspaper or conversing at
length with friends. Coffee is given as much time and consideration as a
full meal! It is served and 'observed' everywhere: at home, at the office,
in shops or at school.
LUNCH
Lunch is another bread and butter meal, the same as breakfast, perhaps served
with thinly sliced cold meats. More coffee, tea, milk or buttermilk. An
‘uitsmijter’ will satisfy your hunger pangs. It consists of bread
with slices of cheese or meat, topped with fried eggs. In winter a simple
order of Dutch pea soup (erwtensoep) will satisfy your hunger and re-charge
your batteries. Look for these specialities on the menu.
TEA TIME
At 4 p.m. it's time for tea. Be sure to try a delicious Dutch pastry (‘gebak’)
or a piece of ‘vlaai’ from the province of Limburg. If you walk
past a cafe‚ or small restaurant that advertises ‘poffertjes’,
be sure to walk in and try these mini pancakes with lashings of butter and
sugar. If you’re in the mood for a snack while on the move, grab a
cone of French fries (patat) smothered in mayonnaise or sate sauce. Try
it before you judge!
THE 'BORREL'
At 5 p.m. it's time for a "drink", a ‘borrel’ as the
Dutch call it. A glass of beer, a nip of Dutch jenever (Dutch gin), a glass
of wine or sherry accompanied by cheese, nuts, or crackers. A favorite snack
is 'bitterballen’, deep-fried breaded meat balls, eaten by toothpick
and dipped in mustard. Mmmm! Lekker (as the Dutch say!)
Speaking of mustard: In the picturesque restored village of Zaanse Schans,
you can visit a genuine mustard mill and see how mustard seeds are actually
ground into the delicious result. The Zaanse Schans mustard is well worth
tasting and purchasing!
DINNER
Come dinnertime, the choice of food in Holland is as varied as the weather.
Restaurants representing Holland’s multicultural backgrounds have mushroomed
all over, ranging from French to Indonesian to Thai to Pakistani. However,
in Dutch homes old traditions die hard and the simple, substantial meals
of potatoes, fresh vegetables, meat, chicken, fish or salad, followed by
a milk-based dessert, are still a favorite. If you ask a Dutch man or woman
what is being served for dinner, he or she will first mention the vegetable
being served. The meat, fish or chicken takes second place.
AFTER DINNER
After dinner, the Dutch enjoy a cup of coffee or tea. In fact, if you are
invited to someone’s home after dinner, you’ll first be served
coffee or tea with a piece of cake or pie. This is followed by a drink.
Visiting friends and family in each other's homes is part of traditional,
fine Dutch hospitality. It's a way of life.
DELICIOUS DUTCH TREATS
BITTERBALLEN
Savory Creamy Meatballs would be an appropriate translation of the word
'bitterballen'. These deep-fried meatballs are filled with a beef ragout
and have a crispy outside. They are often served at cocktail parties or
as a snack with a pre-dinner drink. You eat these tasty deep-fried morsels
hot, on a toothpick, dipped in mustard.
KROKETTEN
These golden brown fried tasty tidbits can be eaten as a cocktail treat,
but they can also be inserted in a bread roll, smothered in mustard, and
devoured as a tasty mini-sandwich. The kroket is the larger version of the
bitterbal. Any snack bar has a kroket for you.
BEER
There are many famous Dutch beer brands, some of them are probably familiar
to you. Names such as Heineken, Amstel, Bavaria, Dommelsch and Oranjeboom:
they are all Dutch and sold worldwide. Would you like to see how Dutch beer
is made? At the Heineken Experience, located in the former brewery of Heineken,
you can experience the history of Heineken and enjoy a tour where you can
see the process of making beer, test your knowledge and even taste some!
The Heineken Experience is located at Stadhouderskade 78 in Amsterdam.
Traditions
The Dutch culture is unique. This can, of course, be said of each culture.
However, the Dutch culture is one of the few cultures with many contradictions.
The Dutch want to be modern and progressive, but also wish to preserve their
standards and values. The following are a number of pointers to help you
understand the complex way of
life of the Dutch.
GETTING ACQUAINTED
The Dutch are known for their professionalism; they like to get down to
business straight away and have a no-nonsense culture. At the first meeting
hands are shaken. When introducing someone, his/her function is explained
briefly and any applicable titles are mentioned. After this, people are
called by their surnames or even by their first names. Titles are not used
after the introduction. Many foreigners who come to Holland to work find
it surprising that even the managing director of the company is called by
his/her first name! It is not done for the managing director of a Dutch
company to drive too large a car.
PRESENTS
It is a custom in Holland that presents are unwrapped straight away. People
in the group are often curious as to what is in the parcel. The person receiving
the present is supposed to show it or even hand it around. The person giving
the present is thanked on the spot. It is not the custom in Holland, as
it is in many other cultures, to give someone a gift in return straight
away. A Dutch person who is invited for dinner at someone's house, will
usually bring some flowers or chocolates. The Dutch like to receive items
which they cannot buy in their own country.
COMMUNICATIONS
The Dutch make a clear distinction between their private lives and their
business lives. When negotiating they use a straightforward business strategy.
They do not spend days getting to know their business partners, in contrast
to Asian cultures. The Dutch are used to getting to the point straightaway.
It is not done to start negotiations all over again after a contract has
been signed. To the Dutch a contract means the end of the negotiations:
agreed is agreed. Words, invitations and promises are often taken literally.
FOOD
Food is the motor for everyone's daily activities, and is essential. To
the Dutch the social aspect is more important than the food itself. Many
Dutch skip breakfast on workdays. Lunch, in contrast, is an important meal.
To the non-Dutch this is a somewhat simple meal, including bread and coffee,
tea, dairy products (very popular) and some fruit.
TALKING ABOUT...
At informal gatherings people do talk about more personal topics. However,
the Dutch are reserved about their private lives. Some Dutch people consider
certain topics personal, however, there are no specific topics that you
cannot discuss.
It is not appropriate to ask a Dutch acquaintance how much he or she earns,
something which is quite acceptable in some other cultures. |
