5 MORE Things We Missed About The Netherlands
We are officially back from the United States! This week, we visited Clingendael Park between Wassenaar and Den Haag to view the gorgeous autumn scenery. We also wanted to take an opportunity to discuss five things we missed about The Netherlands while we were abroad, and a few things we didn’t miss (Dutch stairs, anyone?)
Stay tuned for our vlogs over the next few weeks- we have some super fun content headed your way!
00:00 Introduction
01:10 Political Ads
03:00 Dining out experiences
05:45 Stressful Shopping
07:13 Active Lifestyle
08:45 Thoughts on the Park
09:30 American Football
11:57 Dutch Stairs
13:41 So much space
14:33 Landscape variety
15:27 Thanks for watching
If you like our video please subscribe for more food, travel, and life as an expat! https://www.youtube.com/c/TAndTGoDutch
We’re Tracey and Travis, an American couple who just moved with our Miniature Husky, Tabasco, from our home in Houston, Texas to the city of Leiden, The Netherlands. Our goal is to be interesting people, which is reflected in our channel. We appreciate all of your support on this crazy awesome journey!
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38 Comments
Awesome video showing the beautiful fall colors in the park!! Hope your bruises heal quickly, Tracey😊! So glad that it wasn’t more serious!
Yeah, Dutch stairs are notorious steep. Dutch stairs are sometimes no more than luxury ladders, especially in old houses.
My oldest son lives in Leiden in an old house, and when I'm dogsitting, and have to go upstairs at night (because at some time you have to go to bed), I cling myself at the handrail. The same thing in the morning, the other way around.
ps. Great video again!
Omg after two weeks in Vietnam, I fell down the stairs on my butt and foot. I was sore for awhile. They are carpeted but still have no grip and super steep.
Nice! You got my subscribe 👍💯
The size of stairs in houses from the last 20? years (I don't know when they where standardized for new houses) are good. I personally think the stairs (always take the non powered) at train stations are not steep enough. Where I worked before we had a stairs with little stepps (not as bad as the tiny steps at old Amsterdam houses). With my 1,71 it was doable, but one of the employers was over two meters and had to place his feets sideways. it looked very funny haha.
Comparing landscapes from country's with size differences like this, lol.
Ik ga nu even aboneren.
Nice vlog again!👍
If you want enormous grocery stores, you should visit France. They have stores that are way, way bigger than the ones in the USA and offer a better quality! I hate the fact that everywhere around the world, the mega companies are taking over.
The lack of space in the Netherlands is awful, especially when you have just returned from a trip to the USA (you feel it even more so) When you live in the USA it is such a blessing to be surrounded by space! Still, I feel privileged to be living in the Netherlands.
Tracey, I am glad you didn’t break a leg or worse! I hope the big bruise will disappear soon! Take care and I am glad you are back! I missed the both of you in your vlogs!😘🤗
Welcome back, Tracy! The ads I totally get. I was in the US for the first time in the 1990s. It irritated me to no end that any program one watched was interrupted for a commercial every 10 minutes; not even talking about politics here! That said, I haven't watched regular TV in over 10 years, so ads are an odd duck for me.🙃
Your comments show that you're 'Dutchifying' though.🤫 'Doe normaal dan doe je al gek genoeg' -> small & cosy -> enjoy life actively, lovingly & relaxed.🥰
As for the stairs, what you're saying is probably aimed at older stairs? There is a really interesting documentary on YouTube about Victorian household killers. It has an excerpt about stairs. In the 1800s stairs were built for small houses, lending rise to smaller steps and the stairs being generally unsafe. They've done tests and everything. Falling of those older stairs is proven science: you can't help but misstep or fall! The downside of having historic houses… That said, hope that heals soon, Tracy! Have you seen a doctor? No lasting effects?
Noise etc. due to houses being close to each other, fair point. If you have a newly built house your will have less of an issue though. Should you ever be able/want to buy, go for a house that was built in the last 15 years. Isolation is pretty good and also helps with heat/cold issues. That said, the noise won't ever be completely cancelled out, unfortunately…
Landscape is a fair point, but… we do have variety that you haven't seen yet! We have the lakes in Friesland, the hilly countryside around Nijmegen and of course the 'mountainous' area of Limburg (a hill of 100 meters is a mountain here🤭). The Achterhoek & Gelderland in general are gorgeous imo. That said, keep in mind that if you compare NL to the US, you should include Austria, Ireland, Croatia etc. in all those different landscapes pallets. I mean, visiting the Dust-bowl USA isn't the same as strolling around Yosemite.🙃EU > US!
Enjoy the holiday season! October to December is my favorite time of year here. So much warmth, lights & enjoyment. Don't forget Kasteel ter Haar & it's Christmas Fair! Wonderful to have you both back.🤗
..try French stairs in Paris……….LOL……………..
………….mountains?………………in the Netherlands?…………………………………they`re not even hills!!!
You two look great with an autumn background 🙂 must be the red hair! I understand the bombardment of political ads. Ugh! I loved the lack of billboards in some areas on Europe. Congratulations on all your subscribers 🌞
You should visit a football match (soccermatch) in the netherlands. Ajax is close. Try to get a ticket to a europe match. It blows american football away.
Thank you for making this video 👏
If you went to Colorado to see the mountains you should go to Germany, Belgium, France or any other country in Europe. I drove through Texas last week. It’s pretty flat, windy and with a lot of sand. From one side of Texas to the other side of Texas is like driving from the most northern place in the Netherlands to the south of Spain. You see and experience much more diversity in people, language and customs on that trip than going through Texas. Don’t get me wrong, I love driving through every state but the neighborhoods, homes, food, drinks, and so on are more of the same, with the exception of a few local dishes. By driving through all states you also notice something else that is much different in the USA….OMG the driving 😱 I truly wonder why there are traffic laws. Almost nobody seem to live by them, unless they get hit and all hell breaks loose.
Space: it depends where you live in the Netherlands. in the countryside there is really enough space. I live now a 30 minutes drive from Amsterdam , with the cows and horses and sheep in my back yard .
The steep staircase: first of all get well soon.
you must indeed ensure that you do not have a slippery staircase, so put something on it so that it is no longer slippery and take your time when walking down the stairs and then no accidents wil hopefully happen.
If you are bold enough to ask restaurants in the Netherlands wil give you a doggybag in my experience. last summer I had a delicious beefsteak at a restaurant that I just couldn’t finish so I asked for a doggy bag and got it. Alternatively you can just carry plastic bags with you and put the food you want tofinish later in it when the waiter isn’t looking.
Yes stairs can be tricky… Hope you do not suffer too much pain! I returned this weekend from Massachusetts and there were the most beautiful fall colors and I do like some other aspects and people but you are right: Some restaurants are EXTREMELY LOUD!! To that level you can not have a decent conversation without yelling! And I hate it that even mildly expensive hotels serve a very mediocre breakfast buffet without decent bread on paper plates and foam dishes and plastic forks, knives and spoons. If I would like that I would go camping and even then I use probably metal re-usable silverware. I have seen this trend everywhere in the USA by the way..
Re: stairs, get out of Holland and into the rest of the Netherlands
Ads are one of those things that many Dutchies just wont swallow. The US way of showing a show, cutting it up in dozens of tiny parts, with ads in between: is just disgusting. I wont watch any tv-show with commercials in them. If my GF does, she mutes the sound as soon as the commercials come on. We simply refuse to watch/listen to commercials. For youtube on our pc we have an adblocker. We wont watch YT on our phones: because we have to watch the ads. We wont. F ads. Ads are cancer to your brain.
I think percentage-wise european soccer-madness is larger then the the US-football-madness. Your cities are much, much larger (10+million). Our largest stadiums in the Netherlands are 2 that can hold 50.000 and 4 that can hold 25.000+. In europe, we have some that almost touch the 100.000 (FC Barcelona and UK Wembley). The fans can be insane. They can riot on the streets of they lose. They also perform chants and flags and fires (!?!) inside the stadiums. They are utterly mad. Soccer is the closest thing we got to actual war. https://youtu.be/2RuMgKUmzf8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPyiZI_WrXw My favorite Dutch band, The Nits, singing "In the Dutch mountains". HOpe you like it.
The steep Dutch stairs have one advantage; you go down a lot faster with a flattened out cardboard box😊
It was very fun and interesting to watch this video but this is serious bruising! I hope they heal quickly 🌷must be painful.
About the ‘flatness’ of our country, now you understand why millions of Dutch people spend their vacation days in Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy and Spain.
Europe fits 'almost' in the US. So if you treat it like a country we've got all landscapes you want… starting with an almost flat environment. But do go to the south… like Vaals, it's gorgeous!
Oei!I I hope you didn't damage the stairs?
As a fellow Buffalo Bills fan (my mom's from Rochester) I gotta say I hate that it's so hard to watch most NFL games here.
Those are fair criticisms, I would love to have some more space and some mountains around.
Welcome back and good luck with the bruises!
If I ever see you walk around in Leiden I will say hi.
Dutch stairs ir amsterdam stairs? Newer buildings outside of amsterdam have a more safe pitch.
Nope, no mountains. One or two hills in limburg tho.
I just came back from Indonesia, Houston, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras from a 2 months trip. Was my first time in the US and I missed nothing from the Netherlands but happy to be back.
The stairs here!! No wonder they call them trap…death trap!
Hope you are feeling better soon Tracey 😊
Sorry , space between houses in America….indeed there are estates that have ample space , conversely thouooooosands of lookalike " freestanding" clones that hardly have one , yes ONE meter between the lateral gutters and patios measuring maybe 5x 5 meters.Sitting together , I 'll show you America through Google Maps , Satellite view…..eeeendles rows of houses ,one can hear the farthing in the bathroom nextdoor .And you know what , if it gets all " too pr
ecarious" Google PIXELATES these streets and NO streetview possible…cause it doesnot fit the narrative.
Yo, you guys know about Kellys Expat Shopping? It's a British and American food store. There is one in Wassenaar, along side the other three in Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. I work in the Wassenaar shop.
Well, we missed you!!
Moved to Ireland from Michigan and agree with everything you say. But we have wide stairs, doggy bags and mountains here! Was never into football in the States,it's a head wrecker but really miss hockey.Go Red Wings!
Come to the east of the Netherlands the little towns are also nice and more space