Rewind: Winter in Holland

Rewinding back to when I lived in the Netherlands, every so often I want to pull some old photos off of my hard drive to share here of random events I had never shared about...

These few photos were taken during my last winter in the Netherlands, and since it's winter there now I thought it was a proper time to revisit.

Mutsen te koop in Nederland.
[Sock hats for sale in the Netherlands.]

This first photo: Mutsen. I never owned one of these hats in the Netherlands, but I did see a lot of kids/teens wearing them — Especially when they were riding their bike on the icy streets [seriously] or ice skating on a frozen pond.

Pronounced “moots”, muts is the name for one of these hats and mutsen is plural.  A “muts” is also something you call someone who is basically an idiot  — To learn more about that, you can read all about it here.

Een gans in de sneeuw.
[A goose in the snow.]

This goose — In Dutch, gans, seemed to be “camouflaged” in the snow. There is a park near where I lived, and on that day I had to stop and see because there were so many geese [ganzen] hanging out near the frozen pond.

Snert or erwtensoep.
[Dutch pea soup.]

This is possibly one of the best soups I've ever eaten — Snert. That name makes it seem... Unappetizing. But, really, it is good!  Especially if you love pea soup, this one is a very thick version. It's very hearty and perfect for a Dutch winter day. I've covered about it here on my blog before, with a recipe.

Rood met witte stippen.
[Red with white polka dots.]

I saw this red van one afternoon — It was hard to miss, this vehicle parked in a snowy parking lot all bright red with white polka dots [Dutch: rood met witte stippen] next to the other plain blue, silver and black cars...

Een mooie oprit.
[A beautiful driveway.]

I had never seen so many beautiful things in the most unlikely places! This driveway [Dutch: oprit] was one of those things...

Deze fietser durft het wel aan.
[This bicyclist dares to do it.]

Every once in a while, I found myself having to ride my bicycle in some pretty uncomfortable weather. Since I did not own a car, I often found myself getting rides from others or taking the bus. Sometimes I also had to ride my bicycle to get to where I wanted to go. It rains a lot in the Netherlands, so I became used to those conditions. Riding in the snow or ice was something I never would've tried — Not until I lived there because, other than walking, sometimes it was a must...

In closing, a little video I made of some various things which remind me of winters in the Netherlands. Some of the images are my own — Some taken in my old neighborhood!