Chiara Broccoli Fotografa - The Netherlands

From Fano towards the Netherlands by car.

First stop: Tilburg. Vast green fields, farm animals, books, and the enchanting Efteling amusement park.

Second stop: Rotterdam. Windmills standing side by side with brand-new buildings overlooking the harbor, a cosmopolitan city, and a bike ride between the airport and the city center.

Third stop: Den Haag. Escher’s paintings, ducks, and barefoot children playing in the park even in October.

Fourth stop: Leiden. Flowers, cinnamon buns, cuddling a cat curled up on your lap, porcelain, rain.

Fifth stop: Amsterdam. Chaos, speeding bikes, canals, beer, and fries at the foot of windmills, leaning houses with hooks on the roof, museums, the flower market, and stroopwafels.

Sixth stop: Zaandam. A city built from scratch, windmills, wooden clogs, and the aroma of chocolate filling the air.

Seventh stop: Volendam. The harbor, cheese factories, rain, wind, and crossing the Afsluitdijk, Europe's largest sea dike.

Eighth stop: Groningen. A night in a cabin in the middle of the woods, the city's great tower, students in cafes and squares, and the Red Light District.

Ninth stop: Giethoorn. "Little Venice," but it's a much too reductive description. It's so much more than that, so much better. The tranquility of the boats, swans in the canals, boat tours, gardens full of plants and flowers, windmills on the windows.

Tenth stop: Apenheul. The final stop, the primate park, an up-close encounter with lemurs, and a connection with nature.

Back home: the end.

TILBURG