In my early days of travel, the Netherlands and Holland always confused me until I finally looked it up and confirmed that they were the same country. Romans once named this country Holland which stuck for centuries, until recently it changed to Netherlands, though both names are used today. Now that that is cleared up, I can begin by saying that the Netherlands/Holland is the happiest country in the world! In 2006 and 2007, many surveys indicated that people in the Netherlands where the happiest compared to all other nations. The happiness likely comes from the country's very liberal laws and freedoms it gives to its people. Plus with several beautiful cities such as Amsterdam, the Hague, and Rotterdam, there is always something going on to keep you in high spirits and plenty of Cheap Amsterdam Hotels. My trip to the Netherlands was short and unplanned, so for now I can only show you some photos of Amsterdam until I return.
Netherlands Links
	These two photos above where taken in downtown Amsterdam's Museum Park. The I Amsterdam sign is a famous icon of the city on the left, and it sits in front of the museum. On the right is a symphony hall.
	Something that stands out for Amsterdam is its network of man made canals that go through the city similiar to Venice. Unlike Venice however, cars are allowed here but fortunately there so many that create huge traffic jams that ruin the experience. Many city tours go through Amsterdam by boat, some use it as transportation, and others even live in their boats parked along the canals like the boat house on the upper right.
	Also famous in Amsterdam is the fact that a 16 year old can buy alcohol, marijuana is legally sold in stores, and its red light district where prostitution is available. I did pass through the red light district but didn't take a photo of the women nearly naked sitting in front of the windows. I did take a terrible photos of a store that sells marijuana seeds on the lower left, and some cafes where you can buy and smoke the marijuana. I took these photos early in the morning, around 9:30am and people were already out smoking weed.
	These photos above show downtown Amsterdam, where large crowds of tourists come to be entertained by street performers and other attractions, or get a ride in a chariot.
	When I visited the Netherlands in Sept 09, gas prices were equal to $9 US dollars a gallon, way more than double the prices in the US. Since the country is so small, most citizens are able to get where they want to go by biking. There are six million citizens in the country with 20 million bikes for them. With so many extra bikes you'd think there would be no shortage, but a local told me there is a bike theft every 3 minutes in the capital.
	Some more things the country is famous for is beer, cheese, and how the locals sometimes wear wooden shoes. These two photos on the left and above show how different types of cheeses are made and aged anywhere from 1 month to up to 2 years. In the mixing process on the left, different ingredients can be added here to make unique flavors such as smoked cheese, spicy cheese etc.
	I had heard about Dutch wearing wooden shoes a very long time ago but completely forgot about until I came to Amsterdam. I figured they were worn for some reason in the past that they only use them today for tradition. It turns out that its a little bit of both, the wooden shoes were and still are worn today by farmers. The shoes keep their feet dry in the wet lands and more importantly provide them protection from being stepped on by cows or other big live stalk. The cultural part says that in the past before a wedding, the groom would hand carve a wooden shoe for the wedding and afterwards they would hang it up for decoration. On the right shows how the shoes are made bye modern machines. Below are some finished and highly decorated wooden shoes for sale.
	I didn't realize how many icons this small country has until I started writing about it. Beer, marijuana, cheese, wooden shoes... and of course windmills! The windmills that stand today are persevered ones and few are actually used around the city. At one point in time several hundred years ago, the Netherlands had over 10,000 working windmills, with only hundreds remaining today. The one on the left is pushing 400 years, and was used to draw water up to a higher elevation for farmlands like the large pond seen above. The windmill is surprisingly efficient, and can bring thousands of gallons in only a minute!

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