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The Netherlands has spawned a realm of famous painters starting with Hieronymous Bosch whose 15th-century religious works are charged with fear, distorted creatures and agonised people. Rembrandt, with his use of light and shadow, created shimmering religious scenes and led the historic artists of the golden age. Frans Hals and Jan Vermeer were the contemporary masters of portraiture and daily life scenes, two revolutionary themes which became popular due to the decline in the influence of the church as patron of the arts. Although Vincent van Gogh's (1853-90) spent much of his life in Belgium and France, he is very much claimed by the Dutch as one of their own. His early works, including the dour Potato Eaters, were painted in his homeland, but the later impressionistic works were greatly influenced by French artists. A little later, Piet Mondriaan introduced his cubic De Stijl movement, while this century has seen the perplexing designs of Maurits Escher.

Dutch (Netherlandic) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people worldwide. As well as being the first language in the Netherlands, it's also spoken in the northern half of Belgium and a tiny north-western corner of France. Dutch often looks like it should be comprehensible to the English speaker, but once you hear it spoken, it shoots off into previously uncharted vowel and dipthong realms. Luckily, most Dutch people speak excellent English and are happy to use it.

The Dutch do delightful dairy products and superb sweet snacks, but traditional main course Dutch gastronomy gets a bit heavy and meaty. Thanks to the sizeable Indonesian, Chinese, Surinamese, Turkish and Italian communities there are plenty of spicy alternatives. Vegetarians are not terribly well catered for, but most restaurants will have at least one meat-free dish. The national fast food is frites (chips). If you ask for frites met (chips with), you'll get them with mayonnaise just like a real Dutchie. Kroketten (croquettes) and other hot lumps of meat are dispensed by vending machines, à la the Jetsons. Beer is the staple drink, served cool and with a head of froth so big it would start a brawl in an Australian pub. According to Heineken, this is to 'capture the flavour bubbles which would otherwise fly away' - yeah, right! Double and triple strength Belgian beers are very popular in the Netherlands - beware. Dutch gin (genever) is often drunk with a beer chaser; the combination is known as a kopstoot ('head butt').

Anyone who's worth their weight in bongwater knows that you can buy wacky tabacky in shops in the Netherlands. Marijuana is not officially legal, but you are able to buy grass, hash, loose joints, smoking paraphernalia and seeds in registered 'coffee shops'. Magic mushrooms are also available. This doesn't mean that every Dutch person is a pothead. On the contrary, only about 5% of the population indulge (less than in France where drug policy is much stricter), and it's definitely not on to light up on the street or a non-'smoking' establishment. There's no shortage of hard drugs around, but you're likely to be ripped off if buying from street dealers, and be warned that the penalties are as severe as in other European countries.