Netherlands, Amsterdam. Effortlessly leading the way

What Europe is and what it should be is often the subject of passionate debate. A unique concept whereby several nations are brought together under a humane, democratic system? The strongest economy in the world? A patchwork of different cultures? A tolerant home for freethinkers and the persecuted?



For Christa Klickermann, a 58-year-old native of Salzburg who now lives in Hamburg, Europe is, above all, somewhere she can call her own extended home. A loveable continent and a great place to live; a place of myriad cultures that shapes and inspires her in her daily life as a woman, mother and entrepreneur in the midst of life. A place so dear to her heart that she has decided to take a fresh look at Europe and, since 2012, has spent her time journeying across its borders. With a great deal of empathy and openness, she sets out to discover Europe’s people, their culture and their modern, everyday lives up close. Amsterdam, the vibrant capital of the netherlands, was the first capital on her longtime journey.



Praise for Europeans at heart:



Interview with Deutsche Welle TV:

“After reading this book, you will find it impossible not to fall in love with Europe.”



Schekker, the German Government’s online portal for young people:

“This collection of accounts delivers a brief but brilliant glimpse into life in Europe’s incredibly diverse countries, as well as lots of useful information and fabulous pictures that will fill you to the brim with wanderlust. Having taken a literary voyage through the continent via the pages of this book, I can definitely say that I am European at heart. What about you?”



Polen-pl.eu, online Polish culture portal:

“‘The one language that we all understand, and which closely connects all of us Europeans, is the language of the heart: the desire to understand, to empathise, to laugh and find out more about one another.’ And that, according to Christa Klickermann, is the key to living together in harmony. With her book, the author hopes to inspire us and imbue us with a sense of confidence about Europe’s future, and she more than succeeds in doing both. Her approach is so effective in fact that as a reader you feel tempted to take leave and embark on your own European journey of exploration.”



What Europe is and what it should be is often the subject of passionate debate. A unique concept whereby several nations are brought together under a humane, democratic system? The strongest economy in the world? A patchwork of different cultures? A tolerant home for freethinkers and the persecuted?



For Christa Klickermann, a 58-year-old ...



Europeans at heart is a vivid and colourful series of travel and culture books that brings you closer to Europe’s countries and its people. The eBook Netherlands, Amsterdam. Effortlessly leading the way, is an extended and updated travel account taken from ‘Europeans at heart: a journey of discovery through 28 EU capitals’.



CONTENT



+ The thrill of the unknown

+ The Netherlands (NL) at a glance

+ Effortlessly leading the way

+ Christa Klickermann, talking with Dres Katja Zaich, Erik Sengers, Clara, Marie

+ Additional Links

+ He who knows nothing, must believe it all: Europe, the key facts

+ In touch with Europe – an authentic journey of discovery





Effortlessly leading the way



The Netherlands have mastered the fine art of not putting their heads in the sand when it comes to tackling social problems. Instead, they focus their efforts on coming up with new solutions – and put them into action in an exemplary fashion.



They say “magic dwells in each new beginning”. Hmmm, the only thing I have dwelling is a rumbling stomach. Bernd is driving and I’m in the passenger seat. At least this means I have 5 hours to prepare myself for our trip to Amsterdam, and to further study my plan for exploring the city. This will be my first trip to Amsterdam. We plan to spend four days there; four days in which months of planning will finally come to fruition. How exciting! Once we pass the invisible Dutch border, Bernd slows down to a gentle 130 km/h, the maximum speed on Dutch motorways. Plenty of flat green spaces, wide fields, grazing cows, and small houses, as well as courtyards with picture-perfect white gables, pass us by. It’s a wonderful sight, and I can feel the calming effect that the relaxed pace and the vast landscape is having on me. It’s hard to imagine that we’re actually driving through the most densely-populated territorial state in Europe.

The Dutch: for us kids growing up in Austria, they were “those people with the big caravans”. During the summer holidays we were always delighted when our mother shouted, “Kids, the Dutch are coming tomorrow”; I was excited about having new playmates from a distant land, whilst my mother was excited about letting out her guest rooms and having visitors who enjoyed a good party, loved eating enormous 'Wienerschnitze'l and who were generous when it came to giving tips. As we drive through the flat landscape, I take another look at a book by German author Gerd Busse entitled ‘Typically Dutch’. In it, he writes that Holland is not at all the same as the Netherlands; the Netherlands encompasses twelve provinces, and only two of them are called ‘Holland’: North Holland and South Holland. Dutch citizens living outside of these two provinces don’t like being told that they come from Holland, which is understandable; it would be like calling someone from Hamburg a Bavarian. What’s more, the Kingdom of the Netherlands is not just limited to Europe; it consists of four independent areas. As well as the core Dutch state, the Kingdom comprises the three former Caribbean colonies of Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten. Together with Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius, these islands used to form the Dutch Antilles, which are today known as special municipalities within the Netherlands. You learn something new every day! I use my phone as planned to book a “comfortable room with lovely views right at the heart of Amsterdam” through a hotel booking website that I’ve never used before. This so-called “comfortable room” turns out to be a tiny space with a squeaky metal bunk bed. If that wasn’t bad enough, it also has very thin walls which is particularly annoying seeing as the hotel is popular amongst guests frequenting the nearby red light district … We wake up the next day extremely exhausted but not altogether shaken by the ordeal. A friend of mine, who knows the city well, had warned me that good hotels are few and far between here. But there’s a solution to every problem: using my triedand-tested German hotel booking portal, I manage to find a decent room close by for the following night. We’re already excited about having a good night of sleep. As soon as we solve one problem, another appears: the iPhone, which I bought especially for the journey, is playing up. It contains all our travel information and I want to use it this afternoon to record an interview. Perfect, just what I need on the first day of our travels!



Christa Klickermann has always been passionate about building good relationships both at work and in her private life. For 25 years, she worked on forming effective partnerships with her business clients during her time as a freelance marketing consultant in the field of customer management. Away from work, the 58-year-old Austrian has been happily married for 37 years and is mother to three grown-up children, as well as being a grandmother.



In 2012 she said goodbye to her career and fulfilled a long-held dream by moving with her husband from Bavaria to the very north of Germany. She now lives and works in Hamburg as a freelance author and blogger. On her travels, in her Europeans at Heart book series and in her intercultural panel readings, she tries to gain a closer understanding of people and their cultures, whilst promoting a peaceful and humane Europe.