Tulips, bicycles, clogs, clubs, pubs, windmills, pot-smoking and red-light areas, are things you cannot miss in the Netherlands. Despite being the first country to legalise prostitution, same-sex marriage and decriminalise cannabis, Dutch culture is based on the straight-backed principles of Calvinism.
This nation of philosophers and artists, boho chic and stately grandeur is dotted with castle walls and canals, dykes and dunes, marshland and fields of tulips. To get under Dutch skin read ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’, get into a trance listening to Tiesto and watch ‘Stromenlied’ or Song of the Rivers, by Joris Ivens.