Netherlands

Netherlands

Flag of the Netherlands 

This blog will be about Amsterdam, Netherlands where I went on holiday from Leeds. Amsterdam is often mistaken as the capital of Holland but Holland is actually a region of the Netherlands. 

All of Amsterdam is actually reclaimed land. This means that all of this land was covered by the ocean. Then people cleared the water off of the land. The reason people in Holland wanted this land so much is it was a prime place for trade and easy to export and receive goods. Today the way people prevent flooding is by lots of canals and dams. I was able to go onto a canal cruise and was surprised at the number of canals in Amsterdam. 

As you can see there is a lot of water in Amsterdam.

In lower land places there is still minor flooding. I went in to the main park called Vondel park. I learned that every 30 years in this park a meter of earth had to be put on top to prevent flooding.  

Vondel Park, opened in 1865

On all the houses in Amsterdam there are hooks on the roofs. I saw these on my cruise. These were there because of the amount of trade in Amsterdam. They would be used to hoist cargo out of ships. Today they are often used to hoist furniture into the buildings. 

If you look towards the top of the house you see things sticking out. These are the hooks.

One thing that is in Amsterdam is the Anne Frank house. My dad went there. Anne Frank was a girl who lived during World War II. She hid behind a wall for two years. Sadly she was captured by Nazis and killed. We bought a copy of her book in Amsterdam.