3413 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / Overijssel) - Postcrossing Meetup, Deventer, 9 June 2018

Located on the river IJssel, largely on the east bank, but also to a lesser extent on the west bank, Deventer was founded in the 8th century, developing much between the years 1000-1500 due to the river trade. Since 2007 it is twinned with Sibiu, a city in Romania.

3405 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / North Holland) - Royal Palace of Amsterdam

Situated on the west side of Dam Square, the Royal Palace of Amsterdam in Amsterdam is one of three palaces in the Netherlands which are at the disposal of the monarch by Act of Parliament. The sandstone of yellowish hue has darkened considerably in the course of time. In the rear of the building is a 6-metre-tall statue of Atlas carrying the Globe, symbolising the worldwide extent of 17th-century Dutch commerce and interests. The large domed cupola is topped by a weather vane in the form of a cog ship, a symbol of Amsterdam. Just underneath the dome, there are a few windows, from where one could see the ships arrive and leave the harbour.

3392 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / North Holland) - The Bulldog Coffeeshop in Amsterdam

The story of The Bulldog starts in 1975, when Henk de Vries, who had started selling marijuana in 1970 at the Kralingen Music Festival, converted his father's sex shop in Amsterdam's red-light district into a coffeeshop, the first in the way we know nowadays. Henk asked ex-pat Australian artist Harold Thornton to paint some signage on the front of the 1st Bulldog Coffeeshop Nr. 90 but Harold turned this exercise into a mural that goes across the front of the whole shop. The mural helped the coffeeshop become a magnet for backpackers and tourists and its reputation grew. The company logo was inspired by Henk's dog at that time, a bulldog named Joris.

3230 UNITED STATES (New York) - Ellis Island Portraits by Augustus Frederick Sherman

3230 Ellis Island Portraits
by Augustus Frederick Sherman
- Dutch Siblings from the Island of Marken

The first big wave of immigrants arrived in America between 1847 and 1860. A larger wave of immigrants from a larger range of countries sailed to America between the late 1800s and 1920. Most of them passed through the immigration station at Ellis Island in New York Harbor, which processed more than 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954. In other words, more than 100 million of today's Americans - a third of the population - can trace their ancestry back to an individual who immigrated through Ellis Island.

2425, 2738, 3158 NETHERLANDS (Sint Maarten) - Maho Beach

2425 Sint Maarten - An Air France Airbus over Maho Beach

Posted on 01.04.2016, 05.08.2016, 07.10.2017
The island of Saint Martin is served by many major airlines that daily bring in large jet aircraft, including Boeing 747s and Airbus A340s carrying tourists from across the world. The short main runway at Princess Juliana International Airport, and its position between a large hill and a beach, causes some spectacular approaches. Aviation photographers flock to the airport to capture pictures of large jets just a few metres above sunbathers on Maho Beach.

2738 Sint Maarten - Aircraft over Maho Beach

Located in Sint Maarten, the Dutch side of the island, the Princess Juliana International Airport is the major gateway for the smaller Leeward Islands, including Anguilla, Saba, St. Barthélemy and St. Eustatius. It is named after Juliana of the Netherlands, who as crown princess landed here in 1944, the year after the airport opened. Started as a military airstrip in 1942, it was converted to a civilian airport in 1943. Despite the reputed difficulties in approach, there have been no records of major incidents at the airport.

3158 Sint Maarten - Aircraft over Maho Beach (3D lenticular postcard)

1935-1939, 2670, 3115 SAINT MARTIN - The map of the island and the flags of Saint Martin (France) and of Sint Maartin (Netherlands)

1935 The map of Saint Martin Island (1)

Posted on 04.10.2015, 30.07.2016, 29.07.2017
Located in the northeast Caribbean, between Anguilla and Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin is the smallest inhabited sea island divided between two nations, respectively between France (60%) and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (40%). The southern Dutch part comprises Sint Maarten and is one of four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the northern French part comprises the Collectivité de Saint-Martin and is an overseas collectivity of France.

1936 The map of Saint Martin Island (2)

The main cities are Philipsburg (Dutch side) and Marigot (French side). The Dutch side is more heavily populated, and the largest settlement on the entire island is Lower Prince's Quarter. The highest hilltop is the Pic Paradis (424m) in the center of a hill chain on the French side, but both sides are hilly with large mountain peaks. This forms a valley where many houses are located. There are no rivers on the island, but many dry guts. It has a tropical monsoon climate with a dry season from January to April and a rainy season from August to December.

1937 The map of Saint Martin Island (3)

Ancient relics date the island's first settlers, probably Ciboney Indians (a subgroup of Arawaks), back to 3,500 years ago. Their lives were turned upside-down with the descent of the Carib Indians, a warrior nation which killed the Arawak men and enslaved the women. In 1493 Christopher Columbus glimpsed the island and named it Isla de San Martín after Saint Martin of Tours because it was November 11, St. Martin Day, but Spain made the settlement of the island a low priority.

2670 The map of Saint Martin Island (4)

Instead, the French and Dutch coveted the island. While the French wanted to colonize the islands between Trinidad and Bermuda, the Dutch found San Martín a convenient halfway point between their colonies in New Amsterdam (present day New York) and Brazil. The Dutch, French and British founded settlements on the island. In 1633 Spanish forces captured Saint Martin from the Dutch, but in 1648 they deserted the island. Preferring to avoid an war, the French and Dutch signed in the same year the Treaty of Concordia, which divided the island in two, as it is now.

3115 The map of Saint Martin Island (5)

With the cultivation of cotton, tobacco, and sugar, mass numbers of slaves were imported to work on the plantations, until the slave population became larger than that of the land owners. After abolition of slavery in the first half of the 19th century, plantation culture declined and the island's economy suffered. In 1939, Saint Martin received a major boost when it was declared a duty-free port. The Dutch began focusing on tourism in the 1950s. The French needed another twenty years to start developing their tourism industry.

1938 Saint Martin - The border monument which celebrates
the peaceful coexistence of the French and Dutch on St. Martin (1)

Currently, tourism provides the backbone of the economy for both sides of the island. St. Martin's Dutch side is known for its festive nightlife, beaches, jewellery, drinks made with native rum-based guavaberry liquors, and casinos. The island's French side is known for its nude beaches, clothes, shopping (including outdoor markets), and French and Indian Caribbean cuisine. Because the island is located along the intertropical convergence zone, it is occasionally threatened by tropical storm activity in the late summer and early fall.

1938 Saint Martin - The border monument which celebrates
the peaceful coexistence of the French and Dutch on St. Martin (2)

The culture of Saint Martin is a blend of its African, French, British, and Dutch heritage. Although each side's culture is influenced by their respective administering countries, they share enough similar heritage and traditions that it can be difficult to tell where Saint-Martin ends and Sint Maarten begins. Nowadays, the number of Creoles has been surpassed by the number of immigrants, and the island's population is truly a melting pot of people from 70 or more different countries.

3019 NETHERLANDS (Aruba) - Carnival in Aruba

3019 Carnival in Aruba

As it is in many Caribbean and Latin American countries, the holiday of Carnival is an important one in Aruba, and goes on for weeks. Its celebration in Aruba started, around the 1950s, influenced by the inhabitants from Venezuela and the nearby islands who came to work for the Oil refinery. Now, the Carnival Celebration starts from the beginning of January till the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday with a large parade on the last Sunday of the festivities (Sunday before Ash Wednesday).

3016 NETHERLANDS (Aruba) - An Aruban girl

3016 An Aruban girl

The culture of Aruba is an amalgamate of the various cultures that have occupied and lived on the island, including indigenous peoples of South America, descendants of African slaves, and Spanish and Dutch colonialists. Even if the island has been under Dutch administration since 1636, and since 1986 is one of the four countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Spanish influence is very present in the traditions of the islanders.

3008 NETHERLANDS (Aruba) - Green iguana

3008 Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)

The green iguana (Iguana iguana) is a large, arboreal, mostly herbivorous species of lizard of the genus Iguana, which ranges over a large geographic area, from southern Brazil and Paraguay as far north as Mexico and the Caribbean Islands. They have been introduced from South America to Puerto Rico and are very common throughout the island, where they are considered an invasive species. It grows to 1.5 meters in length from head to tail, although a few specimens have grown more than 2 metres with bodyweights upward of 9 kg.

2999, 3005 NETHERLANDS (Aruba) - Trams in Oranjestad

2999 Oranjestad - The green single-decker trolley 1265 (1)

Posted on 25.03.2017, 31.03.2017
The Oranjestad Streetcar is a single-track tram line in Oranjestad, the capital city of Aruba, owned and operated by Arubus, the national public transportation company. It was built as a key component of a larger project to upgrade the main retail areas of the town, other aspects of which included pedestrianization of streets, planting of trees, installation of ornamental street lighting and resurfacing of streets and sidewalks. It is the first and so far the only passenger rail service on the island and the rest of the Dutch Caribbean, and the second of any kind, after an industrial branch that was closed in 1960.

2999 Oranjestad - The green single-decker trolley 1265 (2)

The line was inspired by the popular battery-powered streetcar operation at The Grove in Los Angeles. In 2010 Aruba's Minister of Infrastructure visited the California factory of TIG/m, the company that had designed the Los Angeles car, and before long TIG/m was constructing two streetcars, a single- and a double-decker, for Aruba. In 2012 Aruba's Prime Minister signed an agreement with Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin enterprises, to make Aruba the world's first 100% green economy by 2020.  

2989 NETHERLANDS (Aruba) - Charlie's Bar in San Nicolaas

2989 Charlie's Bar in San Nicolaas

Located at 19km southeast of Oranjestad and known as the island's Sunrise Side, San Nicolaas is Aruba's second largest city, with a population of 18,126. It was named after Nicolas van der Biest (1808-1873), who owned a big piece of the land there. Landowners were then addressed by their subordinates by their first names preceded by 'Shon' meaning 'master'. So he was called 'Shon Nicolas', as was the area. It is thought that the change from Shon Nicolas to San Nicolaas was due to the influence of Spanish.

2941 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / Gelderland) - Martinus Nijhoffbrug Bridge

Located in the heart of the Netherlands, in Zaltbommel, Martinus Nijhoffbrug Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge with semi-fan system which crosses Waal River, the main distributary branch of river Rhine flowing through the country. Built between 1993 and 1996 next to Dr. W. Hupkes Bridge (1869), this road bridge has a total length of 1 000m, and its main span has 256m. It was named after Martinus Nijhoff (1894-1953), a Dutch poet and essayist. One of his best-known works is the sonnet De Moeder de Vrouw (The Mother the Woman/Wife), commemorating the opening of the now demolished bridge, the predecessor of the today one.

0865, 2903 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / North Holland) - Traditional costume of Volendam

0865 Two little girls from Volendam
in traditional costumes

Posted on 17.11.2013, 17.12.2016
In a song is said that "anyone who wants to see the real beauty of Holland, goes to Volendam". As a result of its insulated location, but also because of the fishermen's vitality, this village preserved its character for six centuries. The characteristic small houses, which together with the canals and the drawbridges form the most picturesque spots, present the visitor an atmosphere of geniality and romance. No wonder that in the early part of the 20th century it became something of an artists' retreat, with Picasso and Renoir spending time here. Volendam is also well known for its traditional clothing, still worn by some residents.

2903 People from Volendam in traditional costumes

The women's costume of Volendam is one of the most recognizable of the Dutch traditional costumes, and is often featured on tourist postcards (although now there aren't more than 50 women wearing the costume in their daily lives). There are three variants of the costume: the everyday costume, the Sunday go to Market costume, and the costume for special occasions, called the Bruiloftsgast (wedding guest), which is the most common these days. The foundation is a  sleeveless chemise, which don't seen when the costume is completed, and a striped petticoat, long to the ankles.

2855, 2856 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / North Holland) - Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

2855 Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

The Rijksmuseum (National Museum) is located at the Museum Square in the borough Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and the Concertgebouw. It was founded in The Hague in 1800 (during the Batavian Republic) and moved to Amsterdam in 1808, where it was first located in the Royal Palace and later in the Trippenhuis. The current main building was designed by Pierre Cuypers and first opened its doors in 1885. In 2013, after a ten-year renovation, the main building was reopened by Queen Beatrix.

2856 Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
Portrait of Marie Jeanette de Lange (1900) by Jan Toorop

The museum has on display 8,000 objects of art and history, from their total collection of 1 million objects from the years 1200-2000, among which are some masterpieces by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer. The museum also has a small Asian collection which is on display in the Asian pavilion. Among the painters with works exposed in museum is Jan Toorop (1858-1928), a Dutch-Indonesian painter, who worked in various styles, including Symbolism, Art Nouveau, and Pointillism. His early work was influenced by the Amsterdam Impressionism movement.