New Year

The Dutch call this holiday Oude-Niewe.The Dutch call this holiday Oude-Niewe. In major cities, and especially in Amsterdam, two days (30-31 December) under the howl of car sirens continuously bursting fireworks. Parties go around the clock, clubs and discos make especially exclusive scenery and prepare special programs.

The apogee comes at midnight. The city is lit up with a wave of fire: fireworks break. Half an hour of crazy cannonade. Like all over the world, New Year’s Eve in the Netherlands is one of the favorite holidays for both children and adults. This holiday, as a rule, is celebrated in the family circle, and special dishes are prepared for the festive table.

Almost every area of the Netherlands has its own type of cookie or waffle for the New Year. Especially common is the so-called Christmas wreath. This is a sand cookie with almond filling, sprinkled with almonds and decorated with candied fruit. Long ago in the lower lands baking ritual biscuits in the form of animals. Most often, these cookies depicted a cow or a pig. In the Netherlands, there is a special New Year's drink - "slem". It is prepared from hot milk, in which tea, sugar, cinnamon, lemon peel, saffron, clove and nutmeg are put.

By New Year and Christmas, the whole country, especially Amsterdam, is littered with souvenirs. In souvenir shops, Christmas counters and flower markets you can buy all sorts of things. A typical Dutch gift is rare tulip bulbs in beautiful mugs. New Year gifts for children begin to give from the beginning of December, on St. Nicholas Day. Children find traditional gifts in the morning in their shoes, specially left for St. Nicholas in the evening.