Amsterdam is built on stilts

I live in Amsterdam, which is both the capital and the largest city in the Netherlands. The centre of the city is built on soft ground. To stop their homes from sinking into the ground, people drove wooden poles (called ‘piles’) into the earth and built their houses on top of them. In other words, people in Amsterdam live on stilts!

The centre of Amsterdam is always busy, even at night. There’s a lot to see and do. You can go shopping or see a movie. There are also many museums and theatres, and you can even take a boat trip along the canals of the old city centre, to see the grand old houses and houseboats.

Rotterdam: one of the world’s largest ports

I live in Rotterdam. You can’t really tell that Rotterdam is an old city, because many buildings here were destroyed by bombs during the Second World War. After the war, the city was completely rebuilt. In the centre there are tall office blocks and a large shopping centre. Rotterdam is also one of the world’s largest ports. Cargo ships come here from all over the world.

Modern bridges cross the river Maas, which flows right through the city. It’s a wide and busy river that flows into the North Sea. It also connects Rotterdam to the rest of Europe.

Old houses

Some Dutch people like to live in an old house full of character. Many of these houses are protected by the government. They are historic buildings, so they must be left the way they are.

Houseboats

Some people live right on the water in houseboats. They are not really boats at all, because you can’t sail in them. In fact, they’re more like floating homes. They have electricity and telephones, just like ordinary houses. There are many houseboats on Amsterdam’s canals. Of course houseboats don’t have gardens, so the people that live there often have flower boxes or make little gardens on the bank.

Flats

The Netherlands is a small country with a lot of people in it. Because so many people live and work in the area known as the Randstad, there is not enough space, so a lot of tall apartment blocks have been built there. They make it possible for lots of people to live in a small area.