Trip Log: Low Countries - General Notes
In which I share some things I noticed on my recent trip...
As we travel, I tend to do the thing everyone does, notice what’s the same and what’s different about where we are. I usually keep these in my head but decided to share some of them with you all this time, as it was such a long trip with so many interesting moments.
Holland vs The Netherlands
Oh, one of those fun things one must figure out because they are different yet Americans tend to use them interchangeably. Holland is the name for two provinces - North Holland and South Holland. The Netherlands, on the other hand, is the name for all of the provinces in the country. There’s an amusing post over on Accidentally Dutch if you want to learn more.
Bikes! Bikes! Bikes!
When we were going through emigration upon arrival in Amsterdam, we were warned to look out for bicycles and try not to get run over. We sort of laughed and thought nothing of it, until we had to cross our first bike path. Turns out, not only are bikes as huge of a thing as you’ve heard, but they traffic rules favor them in all cases. Above cards, above pedestrians. Bike paths are common and marked with signs or bicycle symbols on the path itself. They’ll often have their own traffic signals, too, for busy intersections. Bike lanes can be used by traditional man-powered bikes and eBikes but also small mopeds and motorcycles that can go quite quickly. So, don’t laugh - and really watch out for bikes. A great description of the Dutch love for bikes and the side-effects is in this video over on YouTube.
Language Barriers. Or Not?
The Dutch language is a trickster. See, it’s close enough to English that you listen to or see it written and feel like you really should be able to read it, if only you weren’t over-caffeinated or have jet lag. Maybe if you squint, it’ll make perfect sense? Have the speaker repeat it for you? Thing is, you don’t actually know Dutch nor do you really need to know it as something like 95% of the Dutch speak fluent English, having learned it in school starting around age 8 or picked it up from American TV. We didn’t encounter anyone in the touristy areas we visited who didn’t understand our English and any attempts to speak any Dutch were replied to with English, especially American English.
When we were in Germany, on the other hand, the expectation was that folks don’t know German but will use it anytime they can both in reading and in conversing aloud. Waiters and service staff almost always know English but will stick to German until neither party can follow the conversation.
In Belgium, the Dutch part followed the same sort of rules of the Netherlands while Brussels, in the French part of the country, had a similar approach to Germany. Almost everyone knows English and Dutch but they would really prefer if you converse in French. Signs are almost always in all three languages.
All About Money
All three countries use the Euro but how they deal with money is a bit different place to place. The Netherlands accepts credit/bank cards and digital payments like ApplePay and the Google equivalent nearly everywhere with many places only taking payment this way. (For more information on using cards to pay for public transit, see this site.) Germany takes credit/debit cards for some things but are more likely to request cash for paying for a hotel or buying from a small business. The Belgians are in the middle between the two, with credit and digital payment preferred most places except some smaller stores. ATMs are easy to find everywhere.
Note that some places will accept payment from only banks located in the Netherlands. We encountered this one place and found a local was happy to let us use their account in exchange for Euro cash; they also joked they had the same issue with Americans wanting to split payment via Paypal or Venmo, both are not a thing in The Netherlands.
The Dutch like to make fun of themselves about how cheap they are, such as the story of a man who was running late for carpool and offered his colleague a coffee while they waited. Upon arrival at work, the colleague found the Dutch equivalent of a Venmo request for 50 Euro cents to pay for the coffee.
Americans and Their Water
Like most of Europe, you won’t see many folks walking around with a reusable water bottle in the countries we visited. Tap water is free in the Netherlands but you’ll be charged for it in Belgium and Germany. Occasionally, some people will walk around with a bottle of water, though almost always sparkling/fizzy. Every time I travel, I think of the George Carlin bit on the topic.