Visionary architecture, vintage meets contemporary fashion and interiors, street markets selling rainbows of fresh flowers, haring (raw herring), caramel-filled stroopwafels (caramel-syrup-filled waffles with ice cream) and cheese, and borrel ('drinks') at canal-side cafés are all reasons I love the Netherlands. But what I love about the country above all is its spirit. If something doesn't exist, the Dutch will design it, build it, manufacture it, recycle it, craft it, launch it (the Netherlands is one of the world's hottest start-up hubs) and make it a reality. There's a sense that anything's possible here (and it invariably is).


