June 2nd, 2008
Nana’s Birthday Tulips
In the Netherlands, their ubiquitous step-through bikes with baskets up front, skirt guards, and enclosed chains, are often referred to as omafiets, or “grandmother’s bike”. The same bikes, but in the “manly” version with level top tubes, are referred to as opafiets, or “grandfather’s bike”.
Our Pashleys, though they closely resemble Dutch city bikes, are technically what are called “roadsters”. Dutch city bikes and British roadsters share a common ancestry and to the uninitiated they appear to be nearly identical; their differences are subtle and are more a matter of where they’re built than how they’re designed.
This photo represents an interesting juxtaposition of cultures and language: a British roadster that resembles a Dutch omafiets (grandmother’s bike, remember?), carrying tulips—a flower that is most closely associated with Holland (a region in the Netherlands)—for a grandmother here in the United States whom we call Nana… :-)
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3 Responses to “Nana’s Birthday Tulips”
it’s my birthday so thanks for the flowers, i’ve seen those growing on the oregon coast. also ocean spray cranberries.
kind hearts are the garden
kind thoughts the roots
kind words the flowers
kind deeds the fruits
I (and very many others) have always thought that Holland and The Netherlands were two different names for the same nation,not that Holland was a region of The Netherlands!? So what do you think?!
“I (and very many others) have always thought that Holland and The Netherlands were two different names for the same nation,not that Holland was a region of The Netherlands!? So what do you think?!”
From Wikipedia:
“The Netherlands is often called Holland. This is formally incorrect as North and South Holland in the western Netherlands are only two of the country’s twelve provinces.”
That said, you are correct, many people call the Netherlands by the name “Holland”.
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