For the Soccer World Cup in Germany this month, Dutch grocer Albert Heijn has started an immensely popular ‘wuppie’ campaign; for every €15 spent at the grocery store you get a small red, white, blue or orange wuppie, a small woolly ball with two eyes, feet and antennas. Each wuppie comes with a saving stamp, and with three stamps and an additional €2.49 you can buy a large wuppie. Albert Heijn had 700,000 so-called ‘mega wuppies’ made in China, but most of those have already sold. Now customers are fighting for the last remaining mega wuppies. One wuppie has already sold online for €100 and there have been reports of wuppies being stolen from cars! More »

On June 30^th the Dutch government will decide on a new road connection between Amsterdam, Schiphol airport and Almere. It is Transport Minister Peijs’ preferred option for beating the congestion in the area. Many are against this plan, as the new tunnel and highway will go very close near the oldest nature reserve of the Netherlands, the Naardermeer. More »

Today we had a practice dive in the Oostvoornse Meer, here in the Netherlands. It is the same place where we finished our PADI Open Water course last year. We hadn’t dived since Hurghada in September 2005, except for Nemo 33 in Brussels two weeks ago. More »

A Great White Pelican has been living in the Dutch provice of Friesland, where it was first spotted at the beginning of May. The wild bird probably became lost or disoriented during the spring migration from Africa, possibly due to inexperience. Pelicans winter in East Africa and spend the summers in the Balkans. The birds normally fly via Israel, when they float over thermal streams to conserve energy. While soaring the bird may have been knocked off course and not noticed something was wrong. More »

Today we had an excursion with Natuurmonumenten at Zwanenwater, an area of dunes along the coast with two large lakes. Normally, visitors are only allowed to go to the first of two lakes, but with two rangers we had a 5-hour / 20 km walk around the second lake, through the dunes, marshes, woodland and heathland. We saw many birds including eight Spoonbill. More »

On Wednesday Queen Beatrix opened the world’s longest wildlife bridge, Natuurbrug Zanderij Crailoo. The bridge is 800 meters long and bridges between barriers in preserved land in the Utrecht province. More »

A new National Park was opened in the Netherlands today; De Alde Feanen lies in the heart of the province of Friesland. It has been a nature reserve for many years; with today’s ceremony it became the 20th National Park in the country. More »

Yesterday we drove around Noord Holland and visited some nature preserves along the North Sea coastline, here in the Netherlands. It was a beautifully sunny day. More »

This weekend was Museumweekend in the Netherlands, when many museums offer free or reduced-price entry. Yesterday we were in Amsterdam, and visited the Tropenmuseum, Verzetsmuseum and Allard Pierson Museum. More »

Today the Dutch parliament debated making entrance to some national museums free, as in the United Kingdom. Dutch Culture and Science Secretary Medy van der Laan said that attendance of British museums may have increased, but those are simply the same people visiting more often. He also argued that if the number of visitors of free museums goes up, then those at museums that are not free will go down. More »