Megan in Holland

General info about the Netherlands

CIA World Factbook-- Netherlands
Endless statistics about the Netherlands-- geography, economy, religion, population, etc.
Expatica.com
A website directed at foreigners living in the Netherlands, with lots of helpful articles and Dutch news in English.
Radio Netherlands
Large site featuring news and editorials about current events in the Netherlands, both in written and audio format.
Holland.com
Official website of the Netherlands Board of Tourism. Lots of info about the different regions, art, history, and things to see here.
Video Clips about Holland
Short clips for Quicktime/Windows Media about various aspects of the Netherlands-- transportation, cuisine, things to see, drug policy, etc.
Holland or Netherlands?
Are the two names interchangable? The history behind the confusion.
The Dutch Royal House
Info about the Dutch monarchy, government, royal family, etc. Also a short virtual tour of the Huis ten Bosch Palace.
Memory of the Netherlands
An enormous online archive featuring digitized images from Dutch history-- art, artifacts, maps, sheet music, wartime propaganda, and tons of photos. A really amazing resource.
Zoekplaats Map
An interactive map of the Netherlands. Enter a town or city name into the box, click "zoek!" ("search"), and it will appear on the map.

VVV Schagen
Brief English-language description of Schagen and its history, put out by the VVV (tourism board).
Gemeente Schagen
Official website of Schagen. Only in Dutch.
Rondje Schagen
Webpage in Dutch about fun things to do in and around Schagen. At the top right is a webcam showing the plaza in the town centrum-- click to make it bigger.
De Grote Kerk
Information in English about the neo-Gothic Protestant church which dominates the city center.
The Niestadt Archives
Over 700 photos taken in and around Schagen ranging from 1940 to 1980. Especially interesting are the wartime photos on pages 60-75.
Old photos of Schagen
Specifically, photos of the Gedempte Gracht, or "filled-in canal", which is now a street lined with shops where I do lots of my shopping. :)
Schagen in Wartime
A vivid description (in English) about what it was like to live in Schagen during WW II, with links at the bottom to other pages about the West-Frisian markets held here, the Easter cattle market, and more.

Open Translation Engine
Enter words, sentences, or blocks of text here in either Dutch or English, and get a rough translation.
Majstro Online Dictionary
One of the better free dictionaries.
The "Alternative" Dutch Dictionary
For when you need a little "colorful" language...
Verbix Verb Conjugations
Enter in any Dutch verb and get a full conjugation.
Introduction to the Dutch Language
Handy little lessons in basic grammar, spelling, pronunciation, etc. Tons of great sound files!
Dutch Pronunciation
Sound files of famous names and places pronounced in Dutch, including tons of artists' names. Also a link to a page on general pronunciation.
Learn Dutch Online
An excellent online grammar course. Very systematic and clear, though it assumes a good knowledge of English grammar.
Dutch for Travellers
If you can ignore all the annoying advertisements on this page, there are some great sound files of useful words and phrases with their English translations-- greetings, numbers, directions, time, etc.
Speakdutch.nl
Another good online grammar course.
Dutch TV Online
Tons of recent television episodes available for viewing online-- news programs, comedy series, nature programs, soap operas, made-for-TV movies, and more.

Sjoelen
A traditional Dutch game, a bit like shuffleboard. The aim is to get the wooden disks into the numbered slots at the end of the board. Double points for getting one disk in each slot.
Quicktime Panoramas of Amsterdam
360-degree views of the Museumplein, the Westermarkt, and the IJ in Amsterdam.
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