One US dollar equals about two Netherlands Guilders. For an exact and current currency exchange quote click here. finance.yahoo.com/m5?a=1&s=USD&t=NLG

Madurodam: All of Holland in just one city! "Holland in miniature" website. If it's a famous feature of Holland, you will find it here, all copied to the smallest detail on a 1:25 scale. madurodam.nl/

The Dutch Language

Many Dutch speak English quite well, but wouldn't it be nice to learn a little Dutch? We listened to Dutch radio and when when we heard voices, sometimes it sounded like a record was being played backwards. Maybe a record actually was being played backwards, since techno rock is so popular. We like the velvet tones and syncopated rythms of techno rock, although if you pay too much attention to the lyrics, techno rock may seem somewhat monotonous. Anyway, some Buddycom members have expressed an interest in the Dutch language. Dutch is a member of the German family of languages which is itself a member of the West Germanic family of Indo-European languages. As you probably remember from the first day's lesson in your high school German class, if not in your college German courses, the German family of languages has been subdivided into high (altitude) German and low (altitude) German. The Dutch language, being a low German language and being derived from German, contains some of its phonemes to which native speakers of English and other languages need to become accustomed in order to speak the language properly. The articulation and pronunciation of some vowel phonemes, some palatal phonemes, and some phonemes with uvular or alveolar points of articulation are difficult for non-native speakers of Dutch. You may not become accustomed to Dutch pronunciation overnight, so, good luck.

Reading Dutch and transforming what is read into the correct spoken sounds can be confusing. Here are a few examples.

When you are in Holland, call these language schools. Or call them now direct from your PC.

Number one language specialists in the world, Berlitz Language Center
Rokin 87, Amsterdam .....31-(0)20-622-1375

Eerste Nederlandse Talenpraktikum
Kalverstr 112, Amsterdam .... 31-(0)20-622-9376

Learn Dutch at these websites.

Foreign Languages for Travelers, Fremdsprachen fur Reisende, Langues Etrangeres pour Voyageurs. Select language you speak, select from 70 languages for which you want to learn the basics.
travlang.com/languages/

Learn Dutch is a website for Distance Learners who like to do some MindJogging with a difficult to learn language. This online Dutch language course is used in 90 countries

GOETHE-TESTS Multilingual tests / language exercises
goethe-verlag.com/tests/

Dutch lessons, "You might ask. Perhaps not, therefore I'll only give an introduction to it. Before
all I'd like to apologize on forehand for my sometimes bad or even incorrect English (I learned it via the internet :-)." blue.demon.nl/dutch/main.htm

The INCOMPLETE GUIDE to the Dutch language and culture
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Square/6121/

Integral Dutch Course The rules for the pronunciation of Dutch are very consistent and easy to learn. Pronunciation is....
http://www.sr.net/srnet/InfoSurinam/dutch.html

Interesting architecture.

Flowers in Holland, database of 7,000 flower images.
http://www.flowerweb.nl/

Maps of Holland (and elsewhere around the world).
oddens.geog.uu.nl/index.html

Hotels in Amsterdam

Candy Dulfer is from Amsterdam.
Candy started professionally playing the saxophone with her own band, Funky Stuff, when she was fifteen. Her father Hans is a professional saxophonist. When people ask him what he does, he just says, "Hey, I'm a saxophonist." She might just say the same thing. Just think what she would say if she played the xylophone! Anyway, monkey-see-monkey-do, she stared playing the sax as soon as she could hold the darn thing when she about five or so. Her father Hans the saxophonist thought it was way cool. Pretty soon the word gets around that Candy Dulfer is the best there is. So that Madonna and Aretha Franklin and Prince and Van Morrison and everybody was beating a path to her door. But what's a girl to do? She can't say yes to everybody. How can she play at fifty zillion gigs all at the same time? Even George Carlin heard about Candy Dulfer. You know George Carlin, don't you? He's that comedian guy that gets up on stage and ponders deep questions like, "Why is there air?"
George is at one of Candy's concerts and he's a little toasted. Before she starts up George asks real loud, "I know she looks good, but can she play?"
And Candy hears him. So she says, "Let me take you to Heavenly City!"

Candy Dulfer is the best there is. Period.