Lesson 3 Journey into Another Culture
A Trip to the Netherlands
Before my ____ to the Netherlands, all I knew of the country was that it is famous for windmills and tulips.
But as I cycled from place to place, I experienced many ____ that I hadn’t expected, and I wanted to share some of them with you.
The Anne Frank House and the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam
My ____ stop was the Anne Frank House, one of the old buildings lined up along the Prinsengracht, a canal in Amsterdam.
Since it was close to the hotel I was staying at, I decided to ____ a bike to go there.
I enjoyed riding along the ____.
The Anne Frank House is ____ of the most visited museums in the Netherlands.
It housed the secret ____ place of Anne Frank.
There was an old ____ on the second floor.
It looked ordinary, but behind it was a ____ space where Anne and her family hid for over two years during World War II.
The steep stairs and narrow passages gave me a better understanding of what life must have ____ like for them back then.
____ visiting the Anne Frank House, I took a canal cruise on the Prinsengracht.
The canal houses I saw along the way had mostly been ____ during the Dutch Golden Age, which gives them great historical value.
Taking the ____ was a great way to see the city from different angles.
The gentle touch of the wind made the experience ____ more pleasant.
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
Amsterdam is home to a lot of museums, but the Van Gogh Museum was the one I was really excited to ____.
The most interesting part of the museum was the way the exhibits were arranged to show how the artist’s style had changed over ____.
The museum showed many of Vincent van Gogh’s most well-known works, including my personal favorites: The Bedroom, ____, and Wheatfield with Crows.
The bright colors in The Bedroom ____ to convey a sense of relaxation.
The different shades of ____ in Sunflowers were just amazing.
In Wheatfield with ____, the contrast between the bright yellow wheat field and the cool blue sky was striking.
Overall, seeing the artworks in ____ was a very powerful experience.
The museum also displayed the letters that Van Gogh wrote to his younger brother, ____.
Reading those letters, I found ____ how much the artist loved his brother.
After I bought a few postcards with Van Gogh’s art on them, I slowly cycled ____ to the hotel.
On my way back, I couldn’t help but admire the beautiful, calm, and scenic views of the city, especially people relaxing on the ____ and enjoying the sun.
Windmills in the Zaanse Schans and Seafood in Volendam
I highly recommend visiting the ____ Schans and Volendam if you want to get out of the busy city to experience traditional Dutch culture.
A trip to the Netherlands wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the ____.
Fortunately, you can get to the Zaanse Schans, which is famous for ____ windmills, in just 17 minutes by train from Amsterdam.
The moment I saw the village, its ____ took my breath away.
Several windmills were spinning by the river in the ____.
____ I felt like I was taken to a point in the past.
I looked into one of the working windmills, and it was grinding nuts into oil with its ____ stone wheels.
Near the windmills, I found a cheese farm and a clog ____.
I was surprised by the variety of Dutch cheeses and actually a little unsure about tasting ____ at first because they were mostly new to me.
However, when I tried ____ of them, they turned out to be incredibly satisfying.
I also tried on a few pairs of clogs and ____ them quite comfortable, which I hadn’t expected.
Volendam was a pretty fishing village with neat rows of brick houses with orange ____.
The harbor was dotted with ____.
I rented a bike to explore Volendam, and the shop owner ____,
“In Volendam, do as the locals do and ____ seafood.”
At a restaurant, I ____ one of the Netherlands’ most popular dishes, kibbeling.
The ____ fish snack was hot, fresh, and absolutely delicious!
The Cube Houses in Rotterdam
After ____ completely destroyed during World War II, Rotterdam was restored into a beautiful port city.
Experimental and artistic ____ were used to improve the appearance of the city.
The ____ Houses in Rotterdam are among the most innovative buildings in the country.
The bright yellow houses were something I had been looking forward to ____, and they were as fantastic as I had expected.
One of the key features of the Cube ____ is that the cubes are tilted by 45 degrees.
I visited the Show Cube ____ to get a feel of what life in such a house was like.
From the outside, it ____ entirely twisted, but once I went inside, it was surprisingly quite comfortable.
For the last few days after the trip, I haven’t been ____ to get the charming sights of the Netherlands out of my mind.
If you ever plan to ____ the country, I really hope that you will find my post helpful.