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