Tulip dance movie Keukenhof - Silsila
There is one ultimate tulip dance movie Keukenhof all flower fans, travel addicts ánd dance lovers will enjoy. Perfect for rainy days, to get into the mood for your spring tulip trip to Holland or just learn some new dance moves. Head over to your favorite video store and get your copy of Silsila!
Sing and dance video tulips
Silsila, it will definitely ring a bell to most of the Indian readers. If you are a non- Indian reader, do see the movie Silsila. It really makes you want to head over to the tulip park near Amsterdam and shoot your own tulip dance movie Keukenhof.
Let me explain the main idea behind Silsila. It’s an incredible Bollywood movie made in the 1980’s. Romantic, colorful. And like any good Bollywood blockbuster, it is full of passionate songs. The most famous song is partly shot in the spring flower fields. Two lovers sing and dance in the tulips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dO_MS9tZ5E
How to create the ultimate tulip dance movie Keukenhof?
Now, the main goal of many of my Indian participants is to dance in the tulips and create exactly the same video as the one you can see in Silsila. They visit Keukenhof and are disappointed. No possibility there to shoot a tulip dance movie Keukenhof. First of all, because in the Keukenhof spring garden there are no flower fields. Second, angry bulb growers & gardeners will come after you when you try to get into the tulips. So how do you create the ultimate tulip dance movie Keukenhof?
First step for that perfect dancing with the tulips video: step out of your comfort zone, leave the Keukenhof gardens and get into the Dutch countryside.
Second step, or maybe that’s the first, plan your visit to the Dutch tulips in the right period of time. For a long time this was Mid- April, the last years tulip fields bloomed early April. At the moment you’re booking your tulip travel to Holland, ask me to confirm the right dates for blooming tulips with you.
Third step: Where do you dance in the tulips? Better question is: where are you allowed to film & go into the fields?
Where are you allowed to go in the tulip fields?
Well, as I’ve explained before, it’s probably not a good idea to do it in Keukenhof. The gardeners are quite sensitive when it comes to their well-designed inspirational gardens. So the Amsterdam tulip park is a no-go.
You might be greatly attracted to gracefully float through the flower fields around Keukenhof, but be careful. Here it is not the gardeners getting angry, but the tulip cultivators. These days the flower fields are fenced, it’s impossible to really get into them. Fortunately there are a couple of places where the bulb growers allow you to enter their colorful fields and take flower power selfies and shoot that a tulip dance movie that looks a lot like Silsila. Want to know where? Let me take you in the bike tour flower fields plus visit tulip farm.
https://youtu.be/d0OR_ElEVj0
Recommended tours
https://veritasvisit.nl/en/uitje/leiden-tulip-bike-tour-personal-vip/
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Team building based on King's Day - 3 tips
Put on your orange dress, drink some Oranjebitter and get ready to sing the national anthem. The best way to bond is to celebrate a national holiday together. So, let's create that ultimate holiday feeling. Here are 3 tips team building based on King's Day in Holland.
National holiday to unite your team
Once upon a time there was a little princess called Wilhelmina. She lived in the Netherlands, a country that was extremely divided. People didn't want to do any activities together. Now, Wilhelmina celebrated her 5th birthday on August 31 1885. 'A great day for a national holiday', a newspaper thought. And so a new national holiday was born. It was called Princess Day and became a huge success. The Dutch people united, the nation was one.
I know it is a bit too much to ask you to create your own national holiday. It is a good idea to look at national holidays though. You can get inspiration on how to build & strengthen relationships . Let's have a look at King's Day!
Holiday feeling with old Dutch games: team building based on national celebration
The first tip for team building based on King's Day actually comes from Princess Day. In that time the holiday did not have the same dimension as nowadays. Focus was on strengthening relationships within your family & local community. That happened through games. Using these old Dutch games for teambuilding is perfect as rules are simple, you don't have to use your brain a lot. They're just a fun activity to do together and a way to release any tension. Best part is also that you feel like you're getting a taste of Dutch culture. Add some orange clothes and an orange drink (Oranjebitter) and you feel like you're on holiday.
Why the royal birthday & flower parades in the Netherlands are connected
As the years went by princess Wilhelmina got older. In September 1898 she became Queen of the Netherlands and so Princess Day became Queen's Day. Thanks to these two royal celebration; the birthday and the inauguration, the flower parades in the Netherlands became popular. Now, I let you think about it for a moment…Why is Wilhelmina’s birthday/ inauguration as Queen a good time for the flower parade? The answer is in the next blogpost.
Team building based on King's Day flower parade
Tip two on team building based on King's Day, is about these flower parades. Before WWII these flower processions were strongly connected to the royal family. Nowadays the processions are used to underline the local identity & the small community feeling. Now this team building tip decorate your bike, car or other vehicle. Set some rules before you start this activity. One of these rules should be about how you combine local, regional aspects with national cultural elements. What is typical of your city? What is unique about your family or friends? When you do this group activity with your colleagues, you can also include the corporate culture and team culture in these game rules. For complete instructions & customisation of this teambuilding activity based on King's Day, contact me or book the We are one on King's Day game activity.
Be like Dutch kids: sell what you love & they don't need
Another typical Dutch element of King's Day is the vrijmarkt, or garage sale/ flea market. This is one of the youngest traditions of the royal celebration. In the seventies, Beatrix was Queen. She is the mother of our present King Willem-Alexander and the granddaughter of Wilhelmina. She had married a German man and not everyone in the Netherlands liked that. Besides, you could again feel some tension building up in the Netherlands. The vrijmarkt already existed, but was not centrally organised. Here and there in the suburbs of Amsterdam and other Dutch cities these flea markets popped up. The idea was to bring these markets to the inner city centre, so the Dutch would get together in a central point. That worked!
How can you use this in a team building activity? The King's Day vrijmarkt is the ultimate way for kids to practise their entrepreneurship. So tip three in the team building based on King's Day is about negotiation skills. Try to find some traditions or habits in your family, group of friends or team that you like, but others dislike. Imagine these habits are one of the items you sell on the vrijmarkt. You are attached to them, they see no value. How would you sell these, the Dutch way?
Liked these 3 ideas? Then contact me for the full We are one on King's Day teambuilding game.
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https://youtu.be/lt2KSwzXFCE
The Dutch royalty & the kingfisher
Are you a colorful bird with mythical powers: steadfast and calm in bad weather? Do your feathers happen to be orange, white and blue? Congratulations! You’ve been chosen as a national symbol. The Dutch royalty & the kingfisher go back a long way. For William of Orange it was love at first sight. In his opinion the bird represented everything he stood for.
Nickname William of Orange
Nicknames can be a man’s best friend. William of Orange went into history as De Zwijger - the man who doesn’t - want to- speak. In English he is referred to as ‘The Silent’. In tense political situations he would remain calm and say very little. His opposers would depict him as unable to choose a side, make decisions and being astute There is an anecdote before the start of the Eighty Years of War which nicely shows how these traits: "The King (of France) talked on thus to Orange in the full conviction that he was aware of the secret agreement recently made with the Duke of Alba for the extirpation of heresy. But the Prince, subtle and adroit as he was, answered the good King in such a way as to leave him still under the impression that he, the Prince, knew all about the scheme proposed by Alba; and on this understanding the King revealed all the details of the plan which had been arranged between the King of Spain and himself for the rooting out and rigorous punishment of the heretics, from the lowest to the highest rank, and in this service the Spanish troops were to be mainly employed."
I am a rock
William the Silent wanted to be seen as the rock people could hold on to in times of trouble.
In 1568 the Netherlands was ruled by the King of Spain. William saw the effect of the King’s oppression and the raise of taxes on the Dutch people. In 1568 he started the Dutch revolt. It led to the Eighty Years of War - The war ended in 1648- In 1581, that was even during the revolt!, William got many of the provinces of the Netherlands to sign the Act of Abjuration. This Act was a declaration of independence of the United States of the Netherlands. During these years of war William lived by the motto: ‘Saevis tranquilus in undis’, calm in stormy waters. And this motto is linked to the Kingfisher.
The character the Dutch royalty & the kingfisher have in common
The great traits of the kingfisher first appear in a Greek myth. The bird would build its nest on top of the waves, proud, persistent and not afraid for wind or storm. Centuries of myths and legends followed untill Basilius the Great thought it nice to connect the motto ‘tranquillum esse media bruma’ - to be calm in the middle of a storm- to a picture of a kingfisher calmly sitting on its nest on stormy waters. Centuries later this motto was slightly adjusted by humanist Alciatus. In his Emblemata he speaks of ‘tranquilli in marmoris unda’ - calm in the marmor wave. The bird he speaks of, unfortunately, is a falcon. Nevertheless his work may have been brought to the attention of the Prince of Orange, aka William the Silent.
The other link between the Dutch royal family & the kingfisher
It was at that time that the link between the Dutch royal family & the kingfisher was first made. It was the peace loving, steadfast character of the bird that attracted William. Moreover the metallic blue bird with his orange breast and white stripes, was a perfect match with the colors of the House of Orange.
The Queen mother is calm
The kingfisher was a loyal companion on William the Silent’s journey to independence. Then he was forgotten. Queen Wilhelmina started using the motto again and had a kingfisher on her desk. And then,then William Alexander came. At the time of his coronation, 30 April 2013 he thanked his mother, Beatrix for her hard work and for being ‘calm in stormy waters’.
Royal Delft blue pottery and the kingfisher
The link between the Dutch royal family & the kingfisher is immortalised in the Royal Delft Blue plates King William Alexander had made for his 50th birthday. The royal earthenware collection depicts the bird peacefully moving around in a sea of blue. See if you can find the motto, it encircles the stamp on the backside of the pottery.
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The anecdote of William of Orange & the King of France is taken from https://fampeople.com/cat-william-the-silent_6
For this article I used the website of Royal Delft & my contacts there and Wikipedia
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The Delft & Gouda light festival are two charming December events in Holland. They take place in the historical city centre and put their own unique local culture in the spotlight.
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Challenge Leiden local festival 3 October 2020
Mark your calendar! On Saturday 3 October 2020 the Leiden Ontzet challenge takes place for the second time. Registration with your own team of 3/4 people is possible. In this group outing you and your team follow a trail through the historical centre of Leiden. At different historical locations there's an assignment. Enjoy the Leiden local festival, get social with a local and become the hero of the challenge.
The Hague bike tour - typical Dutch food stop
Dutch pancakes. Not the American one, more like the French crepes. Something in between. And apple pie. Cold or warm creamy chocolate milk. On the most popular The Hague bike tour you'll eat typical Dutch food. In a place that looks a lot like grandma's home. Your Dutch grandma.
The real The Hague bike tour with Dutch food
"This is like a real cycling tour!" Questionmarks are all over my face when I look at her. She laughs. "In most city bike tours the guide stops every five minutes to tell something. You stay in the city centre, don't really get anywhere. This is an ideal tour with kids as we actually cover some ground ánd get to know more about life in the Netherlands."
Typical Dutch food stop The Hague bike tour
The best stop on the Sea & the City The Hague bike tour for kids is the food stop. Ah, who am I kidding? The best stop for everyone is the food stop. Often, when I stop at the water tower and explain that 1.3 million people living in The Hague and surroundings get their fresh water from the dunes the question the kids ask is: "Is there some food nearby as well?" Then something starts to tickle inside - I'm a real foodie-. "It's just around the corner, let's go!"
Food motivates people. You should see how fast we get from the water tower to that cosy place that looks like grandma's farm! The red-and-white curtains, the wooden picnic tables, the cosy garden with view on the ponies. What's not to like?
The menu is full of typical Dutch food: from fries with kroket to authentic Dutch pea soup. The pancakes and apple pie usually are the winners. Warm and with whipped cream. And for drinks: a good Dutch beer or a chocolate drink. The typical Dutch, nice and creamy one. I enjoy watching my participants eat and always wonder: will we continue the The Hague bike tour city & sea? And how? :)
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It’s just over 9 AM. Everywhere are old Dutch games. There’s something in the air! I reach the meeting point of the company outing Gouda and my heart is pounding in my chest.
When small town boys visit the canal parade
When small town boys visit the canal parade they get hyperactive and super excited. Maybe it is the surrounding. The story about Vermeer and his secret marriage. All of a sudden they fall silent and look serious. Not for long though.
Secret marriage in Delft countryside
We’ve just walked through the chapel and the group’s laughter and chitchats turn into a respectful awe. Now the three men sit opposite of me, hands supporting their heads, eyes looking straight at me. I tell them the story of protestant Vermeer and his marriage with the catholic Maria. Catholicism was forbidden in those days so they had to get married in secret in this village not far from Delft.
Back home in Dutch farmland
The handsome small town boys know how it feels to hide your true self and sigh. “North of New York is where I grew up, but it wasn’t like NY at all. Just farmlands. Nobody travels, everyone stays in their comfort zone.”, one says. He almost jumped up and down on the bike when we started the tour. Now he looks at the others and finds comfort in their expressions.
When Fields of Dreams meets the Big Apple
“Do you know the movie Fields of Dreams?, that’s where I’m from”. The guy who’s talking is quite the opposite of his friend. He took his time to take in the scenery while cycling. You can see he thinks before he speaks and right now he has a stern look on his face. A mix between melancholy and pride. He’s clearly goal driven: “When I was young I told my mother I wanted to live on Sesame Street. Now I live one block away from it”. They moved from small countryside villages to the Big Apple. Dreaming of a good job, meeting like-minded people and being accepted for who they are. They succeeded and are proud of themselves. So they should be.
Birthday celebration in and out of Amsterdam
These three beautiful men celebrate a birthday in Amsterdam. At their arrival they stumbled upon the first Pride parties. They’re all excited for this afternoon, when these small town boys visit the Canal Parade. An endless flow of questions runs through the air:
“Will the Canal Parade be like the one in New York , celebrated in different districts? Will it be as big?”
Juicy stories and good food in Vermeer's wedding town
They left big city Amsterdam and Pride to wonder through the countryside near Delft with me. Even if they would have liked to be at the Canal Parade the whole day, they don’t show it. Their attention is on me and that makes me feel real special. When one of them gets a flat tire, we’re all sad. I promise them beer and good local food. Their laughter and juicy stories can be heard from far away. Somehow, with some effort, we make it back to Vermeer’s wedding place. In my favorite restaurant we savor local delicacies and good beer. More stories, more questions follow. They miss their train back to Amsterdam. And the next one. And the next one. Then they decide to really make a move. Ready for Pride Amsterdam!
When small town boys visit the canal parade
When the small town boys visit the Canal Parade, they make a trip in Delft to visit the farmlands. I’m happy they did.
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Traveling to The Hague - tips to get to the highlights
The best thing about traveling to The Hague is the sights you see enroute. Starting your journey from Amsterdam you see the typical Dutch landscape passing by. You can take the car or even cycle. The best way to go to The Hague though is by train. Here's why.
The Hague is one of the top destinations in the Netherlands. Dive into the culture, history and nature on a daytrip to the city by the sea. Or stay over for a day or two. Celebrate the Dutch traditions and get social with a local. From spotting the royal family during King's Day or Prince's Day to visiting the Peace Palace or International Criminal Court on the International Day of Peace, all year through there are festivals and events for you to enjoy.
Driving to The Hague
Traveling to The Hague by car from Amsterdam or Amsterdam airport Schiphol is doable. Let's say you are staying near Amsterdam Museumplein and want to get to The Hague city centre, Houses of Parliament. In my opinion driving in the city centre of Amsterdam is a real hassle and I wouldn't recommend it, public transport in Amsterdam is easy and comfortable. The bike is a good alternative for the car as you have less parking problems. It's easy to get around by bike, but quite stressful. Look out for pedestrians, other cyclists and public transport. Pay extra attention near tramway tracks!
Ok, so you've found your way to Amsterdam Zuid by car. There you take the highway A4. If you follow this road, you will be in The Hague within 1 hour. The highway is often crammed though, traffic jams outside peak hours are not unusual. Check ANWB, the Royal Dutch Touring Club for updated traffic info or use Google Maps.
Tip for when you are coming to the Netherlands in spring: take a slight detour to the A44 for some fantastic tulip fields.
Staying on the A4? Look on your left side when you pass Leiden. You see a 3 mill cascade - 3 molengang in Dutch- . This area near Leiden is one of my favorite. It's one of the best examples of Dutch countryside: full of windmills and cheese farms.
North Sea Cycling Route to The Hague
Traveling to The Hague by bike sounds wonderful, especially when your an avid cyclist like me. I would definitely take multiple days to enjoy the bike ride to the fullest. The shortest cycling route from Amsterdam city centre to The Hague is about 60 km (37 miles) so technically you could reach the Houses of Parliament in one day. Then again, you are probably on vacation, so I would recommend taking a longer cycling route. Getting out of the Dutch capital is never easy and the first part of the route is not very exciting. Just keep pedalling. Head to Haarlem, a beautiful city with lovely historical centre and stay there for the night. The following day cycle through the dunes towards Zandvoort and just follow the coastline. The cycling route is part of the long distance cycling network, the LF1 North Sea route . You'll reach The Hague's beach resort Scheveningen. This is where you could find me guiding a bike tour!
Traveling to The Hague by train
Now I know many of you are on a Europe trip and have very short time to visit the Netherlands. You definitely want to visit Amsterdam and you might still have a few hours to see another city in Holland. Well, I could give you many tips on cities to visit, but let's focus on traveling to The Hague for now. From Amsterdam or Amsterdam airport Schiphol there is a direct connection by train to The Hague Hollands Spoor (HS station). It's easy, stressfree and comfortable. You don't need to book ahead and can get out of the train whenever you want. When you take the train from Amsterdam it will stop at great places such as Haarlem and Leiden. Do visit these cities if you have time! Take the intercity Amsterdam Centraal in spring and you'll be able to see the gorgeous flower fields between these two cities.
Within 1 hour you reach The Hague Hollands Spoor station. From here take a tram or rent a bicycle to get to The Hague beach 'Scheveningen'. The tram will stop at city centre Hague . You can also go for a 10 minutes walk to the highlights of the historical city centre: Houses of Parliament, museum Mauritshuis, royal palace Noordeinde, Lange Voorhout.
Enjoy your journey!
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Gouda challenge corporate event
The city has become my second home. In the last months I’ve been here every week to dive into Dutch culture and diversity. I’ve found fun activities to add to the Gouda challenge corporate event. Today it’s time to make the final arrangements before the grand finale Mid-June.
Follow the Gouda cheese carts
I can hear the horses’ hooves on the cobblestones. The rhythm is similar to the beating of my heart. “Where is the Gouda cheese market?” A German couple asks me below the cheese guirlands in the shopping street. “The wheels of Gouda cheese are delivered to the market by horse and cart’, I say knowingly. “Follow the carts and you’ll get there”. There’s a tension in my voice. I need to be at the Gouda cheese market and I’m late.
Old Dutch crafts in Gouda
I’ve heard about the Gouda Cheese Awards through one of my new contacts. For the Gouda challenge corporate event I was looking for pretty specific things. Of course, Holland cheese & stroopwafels would be included. I also wanted to add some lesser known Gouda products to the team-building game. An internet search gave me a whole spectrum of options and I got real enthusiastic. Then I dove in deeper and found out that men and women still practicing old Dutch crafts in Gouda are hard to find. Either retired or deceased. With my focus so much on all things Gouda I swiped through my social media and there it was: the post of the Erasmus artwork.
Erasmus & Frau Antje
My new contact Ginetta happened to organise many activities around Erasmus and the Dutch crafts practiced in his days. She gave me loads of new leads. “I live for Gouda”, was her reaction when I thanked her for all the information. “You should come to the Gouda Cheese Awards. Frau Antje, the well known cheese girl, will be there together with a Dutch tv person. “
Holland Cheese Valley by bike
So I came. Mainly because I wanted to meet my new contact. Things went slightly different. Very lastminute I became the tour guide for a bike ride with bloggers, journalists and travel writers on a presstrip to the Holland Cheese Valley. But that’s a different story altogether.
Gouda city challenge corporate event
I didn’t manage to meet Ginetta. Nor did I get to go to any of the other meetings I had planned today. All the preparations for the Gouda city challenge corporate event have been made though. I’ve got a chance to do the special cheese tasting and oh, it is such an unique experience! Sweet, soft, salty and grainy. I’m so excited for the Gouda team building event! Let the city game begin!
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