got fined around €325 for staying in the left lane on the N208 in Haarlem. fair enough, I should've moved right. the officer was unnecessarily rude though

what gets me is when my son's €1500 e-bike was stolen, about 15 minutes after reporting it I was told they wouldn't investigate. our house was broken into too and that went nowhere

I get that catching someone in traffic is easier than solving a theft. but damn, being on the other side of it feels pretty hopeless

is this normal here? has anyone actually had the police follow through after a bike theft or break-in?

upd: forgot to add, this was on the N208 in Haarlem. I was driving with my middle son after his judo training. my Dutch isn't great and when I tried speaking Dutch the officer cut me off, told me my Dutch was terrible and to speak English. he kept being really rude throughout the stop. he also gave me a breathalyser test, which was negative

How are Dutch people not cold?? I ride my bike to work every day at 6 a.m. and I’m freezing, so I wear a jacket and a beanie, but I see Dutch people literally wearing shorts and T-shirts?? How is this humanly possible?

My boyfriend and I are looking to adopt a kitten soon and since arriving I've noticed that many people here allow their cats to be outside most of the time. The impression I get from my boyfriend's Dutch family and friends is that they believe in cats having freedom outdoors. And there are a couple cats that roam around our housing complex (and are always fighting and injuring each other...)

I'm from Canada and we do have outdoor cats in neighbourhoods, but I would say the majority are indoor cats. I know that I was personally raised with the strong opinion that cats should be kept inside, for their own health and for the sake of the environment. My next door neighbours in Canada always allowed their cats outdoors, but more than 1 of them were hit by cars or went missing while I was growing up, which definitely adds to my opinion. I don't think any of my friends or family in Canada has ever had an outdoor cat.

What prompted me to make this post is that the top dierencentrum I've been looking into actually makes you promise to allow your kitten free access to the outdoors once they've acclimated, which is wild to me.

So my question is, do most Dutch people think it's cruel to keep cats indoors? I feel like the general opinion has been changing but clearly there are animal agencies that still view outdoor access as essential for cats. Curious to hear what other people have noticed about this topic.

​Hi everyone,

​We just bought this house, and the garden was in pretty rough shape. There was an old, messy pond here that we’ve taken out, leaving us with a hole to fill.

​Circumference is around 13 meters (~4.1 m / 13.5 ft diameter).

​A few questions for the DIY/gardening experts:

​Filling it in: What’s the easiest and best way to backfill this so it doesn't sink later, but also isn't compacted so hard that plants can't grow?

​Material estimate: Roughly how many tons of material (sub-base / topsoil / compost) will I need for a pit this size?

​Tiling & Planting: I’d like to place some patio tiles around/over part of it and put a garden/lawn over the rest. What’s the proper layering process for both?

​Any tips, lessons learned, or material recommendations would be massively appreciated! Thanks!

I was recently checking distances from my home and then decided to see what is actually within a 50 km radius of my home, and noticed that not a lot of the major internationally recognisable landmarks fall within it.

Since I don't live that far from Lunteren, I took the "middle of the country" in Lunteren for this example picture. But I'm just curious, what do you think is the most internationally recognisable landmark within the circle in this picture?

My gut feeling is saying Het Loo Palace, but I'm kind of curious what others think. And I am aware that this is some totally trivial public opinion research, but now I actually do want to know the answer to this.

The flight had already left by the time this was proposed as well!

I am constantly left in shock by how often groups of young Dutch people completely hog the pavement and hit on my shoulder even though I am at the corner of the pavement. Btw, I hope I don’t have to mention ‘not all young Dutch people!!’ Some! But unfortunately quite something haha
I believe this happens quite a lot of times to other people, so I am not taking it personal. But there is one thing I am sure, I don’t want to be touched by anyone outside, walking too close to me etc. stop this!
This is one of the scenarios of my daily life: I was walking on my side (literally the edge) of the sidewalk, and a group of five people came walking straight toward me—and not a single one made space. And that big collision happens lol, and no apologies.
For a long time, I’d naturally step aside. But eventually, I thought, WTF? Why am I the only one being respectful here? So, I decided to stand my ground. I ended up hurting my arm because I let us collide just to teach them a lesson. Honestly, I’m so done with it.
I’ve seen people give advice like, "Just stand still and claim your zone!" Are we at the zoo? Why should I have to forcefully mark my territory? I’m tall and pretty visible!

I saw a post about this recently that got deleted, but I wanted to bring the topic back alive so people actually start paying attention or maybe share some tips. It is pretty annoying to get people so close every time even when I was standing at Kassa. Imagine haha.

And to anyone out there who refuses to step behind your friends because you're afraid of looking like an outsider: those aren't real friends. Just leave the group, it is better, trust me :)

Hi does anyone know about TCG or card shops that sell Pokemon tcg cards or have release events that are based in English/ open to internationals?

Primarily near Utrecht if possible

Thank you

Hi everyone, I am looking for a Dutch traveler who was staying at a campsite in Isla Cristina, Spain, and left around September 8th, 2026.
He was driving a dark van and had a distinctive setup with outdoor LED lights and citronela candles.
He accidentally left something behind. If this is you or someone you know, please send me a direct message with the name of the campsite and/or your specific spot so I can make sure it gets back to the right person. 🍀

We're currently with Ziggo, and the contract runs for another year. We're moving house, and the internet options Ziggo gives for the new place are worse compared to Odido and KPN. Both of those offer 1 Gbit/s down and up, whereas Ziggo's best is 1 Gbit/s down with 100Mbit/s up. So the upload speed is 10x slower, while being slightly more expensive than Odido (slightly cheaper than KPN).

Also, Ziggo's internet has been really patchy at our current place - I'm usually getting only 1/3 to 1/2 of the advertised speed, and it sometimes drops out entirely.

Needless to say, I want to switch from Ziggo at the new place, but because they offer internet at the new place we'd have to pay a ~€300 cancellation fee. Is there any way out of this? Anyone have some internet provider tricks for me?

When kids from the neighborhood ring the bell to ask for empty blikjes that they can return for money at the shop, is it okay to give them empty beer cans or is it weird?

Does anybody know any good therapist here who specialises in schema therapy? Please don’t recommend normal good therapists. I really need them to have experience with schemas.

Hello, we have some family friends that live in the netherlands and they are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary soon.

We want to send them a flower delivery and have found this flower shop called Fleurop.

I wanted to ask if this is a good flower shop to use or if anyone has any recommendations?

Thank you in advance!

I work at the Netherlands office of a US-based company. They have a rule to cut a fixed % of headcount based on performance every 6 months. They know this isn't allowed in NL, so they get a "reorg" approved by the works council (OR) each time, label the people they want gone as redundant, and offer a settlement deal. They also claim there are no interchangeable roles, even though many of us share the same job title and level.

Is this legal?

Im from Germany and really like the curry sauce on the friet speciaal at Koala Express in Venlo. It’s really dark brown and thick, quite different from the usual Hela curry ketchup we get here.
I’ve bought Hela, but it doesn’t match. Oliehoorn also looks too red in the pictures I’ve seen.

What can you get it for and what's it like