Amsterdam Day 97: Flat Stanley

The Today we had a visit from Flat Stanley. Flat Stanley is a dude that came to visit us by first class mail and is exploring the world. This stop is Amsterdam, The Netherlands, sometimes referred to as Holland. Our Flat Stanley was sent to us by Celeste. Here are the things that Flat Stanley learned while he visited us that Celeste should know. 

Everyone bikes everywhere in the Netherlands. Flat Stanley saw a really old couple on a tandom bike while he was visiting. 

It is not uncommon for grandmas and grandpas to still ride their bikes often. It also seems like children learn to ride a bike when they are born. Not really, but they do start learning very young. There are paths everywhere and cars always have to look out for bikers. The kids that Flat Stanley visited ride their bikes to school everyday. 

Flat Stanley went to an outdoor market when he visited Amsterdam. It is very common for many families to buy lots of things at outdoor markets. You can buy bread, cheese, pizzas, crafts, soup, bike locks, and even underwear at these outdoor markets. We have not personally bought underwear at the market but we could if we wanted to. 

One really cool thing about living in the Netherlands is that they have playground toys that seem a lot more dangerous than what they have in the United States. Just look at how high Flat Stanley is. And there are kids even higher. Do we trust that the kids won't fall or are we not scared of lawsuits?  I'm not sure. 

The Netherlands has a lot of great food. This is a mobile poffertjes truck. Poffertjes are like small fluffy pancakes smothered with butter and powdered sugar. They are amazing. Herring is also a traditional Dutch food, but we have not tried it yet. Herring is a small fish that is often eaten whole and often uncooked. Sounds pretty good, right?

Holland is famous for its flowers especially the tulips. Holland exports tulips all over the world for everyone to have beautiful flowers. There are a lot of flower shops all over Holland selling the beautiful tulips. 

It is October and many of the Christmas lights are up already. That is because in the Netherlands, the primary occasion for gift-giving is not Christmas. It is Sinterklaas and it is celebrated on December 5. Children put their shoes in front of the chimneys and sing Sinterklaas songs. Often they put a carrot or some hay in the shoes, as a gift to St. Nicholas' horse, Amerigo. The next morning they will find a small present in their shoes. On the evening of 5 December, Sinterklaas brings presents to every child who has behaved well in the past year. Tradition says that if a child has been naughty, Sinterklaas' helpers, the Zwarte Pieten, put all the naughty children in sacks, and Sinterklaas takes them to Spain. But I've never seen a child missing so I'm not sure if I believe this tradition. 

Flat Stanley has been having so much fun, I'm not sure that he is going to make it back in time. With all the traveling, he still hasn't figured out where the post office is. In the Netherlands, they deliver letters to your house, but they do not pick up letters at your house. You have to drop off letters at the post office. 

We really enjoyed out visit with Flat Stanley.