0:00:03 > 0:00:07I'm embarking on a new railway adventure that will take
0:00:07 > 0:00:09me across the heart of Europe.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15I'll be using this, my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide,
0:00:15 > 0:00:20dated 1913, which opened up an exotic world of foreign
0:00:20 > 0:00:22travel for the British tourist.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27It told travellers where to go, what to see, and how to navigate
0:00:27 > 0:00:31the thousands of miles of tracks criss-crossing the Continent.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35Now a century later I'm using my copy to reveal an
0:00:35 > 0:00:39era of great optimism and energy, where technology, industry,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42science and the arts were flourishing.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45I want to rediscover that lost Europe,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48that in 1913 couldn't know that its
0:00:48 > 0:00:53way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.
0:00:53 > 0:00:54TRAIN SPEEDS PAST
0:01:09 > 0:01:12I'm continuing a tour of the Netherlands,
0:01:12 > 0:01:14following my 1913 guide.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19I began in Rotterdam and have travelled to the nation's
0:01:19 > 0:01:21political centre, The Hague.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25From there my route continues north-east towards the historic
0:01:25 > 0:01:28town of Haarlem, before reaching the metropolis of Amsterdam.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32I'll finish my journey in the geographical heart of the country, Utrecht.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39Along the way, I root around the world's largest flower auction...
0:01:39 > 0:01:41Tell me there are some rules here, right?
0:01:41 > 0:01:43There are some rules of the road, are there?
0:01:43 > 0:01:45Well, they say they have traffic rules.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49'..discover the story of the Dutch Golden Age...'
0:01:49 > 0:01:52Amsterdam was the Dubai of the 17th century.
0:01:52 > 0:01:57'..and tackle a fusion banquet from the age of Empire.'
0:01:57 > 0:01:58- Oh.- OK. - HE CLAPS
0:01:58 > 0:02:00- There you go.- Thank you.- Enjoy.
0:02:00 > 0:02:01THEY LAUGH
0:02:14 > 0:02:17My next stop will be Haarlem.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19The guidebook says that it's "a pleasant, clean,
0:02:19 > 0:02:24"thriving town, the centre of a famous horticultural district,
0:02:24 > 0:02:28"whence bulbs, hyacinths, tulips, crocuses,
0:02:28 > 0:02:32"lilies etc are exported all over Europe."
0:02:32 > 0:02:35The Dutch really are mad about their blooms.
0:02:35 > 0:02:36Flower-potty.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46This is Holland's bulb belt, and since the early 20th century
0:02:46 > 0:02:49it's been the hub of the global flower trade.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56This handsome Art Nouveau railway station, decorated with tiles,
0:02:56 > 0:02:57opened in 1908.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Haarlem to me has been a wonderful surprise.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Full of these tiny streets with brick-built gabled houses.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30Really pretty.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35One of the chief attractions of the Netherlands for tourists
0:03:35 > 0:03:40in 1913 was its picture galleries, full of works by old Dutch masters.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46In the Golden Age, it wasn't just the Dutch economy that flourished.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Riches flowed into culture, particularly painting.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Bradshaw's tells me most of the larger towns possess valuable
0:03:55 > 0:03:57collections of paintings.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Including some of world renown.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Here in Haarlem there's a painting with a story to tell,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07of the pitfalls of rampant capitalism.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15In recent history we experienced the dot-com boom.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19Frantic speculation in an item until a bubble was created,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23and when it burst it brought bankruptcy to many.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Well, in 17th-century Holland,
0:04:25 > 0:04:31a similar thing happened and the commodity involved was tulip bulbs.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34The painter, Jan Brueghel the Younger,
0:04:34 > 0:04:38satirises the speculators as brainless monkeys.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40And here, in the boom times,
0:04:40 > 0:04:45a tulip appears to be worth as much as a bag of gold.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47But then the crash comes.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51And here is a ruined monkey clutching a worthless share
0:04:51 > 0:04:56certificate, urinating on the tulips that brought his downfall.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59From riches to rags.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01A morality tale.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09Despite the crash, the flower industry continued to blossom.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13In the year before my guide book was published, dedicated auction houses
0:05:13 > 0:05:18were set up in nearby Aalsmeer to cope with the growing trade.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25But today it's no monkey business.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:05:45 > 0:05:50I find myself in the middle of a flower auction here.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54They're selling hortensias and viburnums and tulips.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59It's a Dutch auction, so the price begins high and falls,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01and you bid as it falls.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05Speed is of the essence.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09In as little as ten days these blooms will be worthless.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13Timing is everything.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Wait too long to bid and you run the risk of losing out entirely.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23But the whole thing here takes only about a second.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28And I'm sitting here kind of terrified that if I touch my mouse
0:06:28 > 0:06:31I'll end up with a whole bunch of flowers.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39The purchased flowers immediately make their way to their new
0:06:39 > 0:06:42owners via the distribution area.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55I think this is the biggest building I've ever been in in my life.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59It's like several huge railway stations put together.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04And I say that because I'm looking down on lots of flower trains,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07but whereas at a station they'd run in parallel lines,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11here they're crossing each other, higgledy-piggledy.
0:07:11 > 0:07:12It looks like chaos.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14And it's very impressive.
0:07:19 > 0:07:24Amazingly, this complex has a footprint roughly the size of
0:07:24 > 0:07:26the Principality of Monaco.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33- Hello!- Good morning!- Good morning! I'm Michael.- Hi. I'm Josie.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36'Josie is going to help me to find my way out.'
0:07:36 > 0:07:39Tell me there are some rules here, right? There are some rules of the road, are there?
0:07:39 > 0:07:41Well, they say they have traffic rules.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43Sometimes I'm doubtful about them.
0:07:47 > 0:07:48This is such fun.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Obviously I'm amazed by the size of the building.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56What is the scale of this operation?
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Every day we auction off 21 million stacks of flowers
0:08:00 > 0:08:02and two million potted plants.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05And, as you can see, quite a hectic business.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13From here flowers are exported across the globe.
0:08:13 > 0:08:14Everything what you see here,
0:08:14 > 0:08:1785% is leaving our border before midnight.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21'Meaning that a bunch of roses can go from soil to
0:08:21 > 0:08:25'a sitting room as far away as New York City in just 48 hours.'
0:08:27 > 0:08:29- Oh!- Oh, you made it!
0:08:29 > 0:08:31MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:08:31 > 0:08:32- Ah, thank you.- You're welcome.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36The whole operation is flourishing.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49My journey continues towards Amsterdam,
0:08:49 > 0:08:54following the route of the first railway line in the Netherlands.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56Opened in September 1839,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00this nearly ten-mile stretch of track proved that it was possible
0:09:00 > 0:09:03to construct railways in this marshy terrain.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07Unlike many early railways,
0:09:07 > 0:09:12this line was built specifically for passengers rather than freight.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15For the Dutch, masters of the waters,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19cargo would continue to arrive in Amsterdam by ship.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22I shall soon be in Amsterdam.
0:09:22 > 0:09:27The guide book tells me that it's situated at the confluence of the Rivers Amstel and Wye.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31That it's the commercial capital of Holland.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35Most of the Dutch colonial produce is dealt with in Amsterdam.
0:09:35 > 0:09:41With colonial and trading interests that encompassed present-day Indonesia,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43Connecticut and New York City,
0:09:43 > 0:09:48which was once known as New Amsterdam, in a Golden Age,
0:09:48 > 0:09:53the riches that flowed into Old Amsterdam were without compare.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04And the magnificent Amsterdam Centraal Station celebrates
0:10:04 > 0:10:06that imperial power.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11From the outset the Dutch railway network was funded by the
0:10:11 > 0:10:14huge revenues generated by the country's Empire.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31I've made my way to the city's canal rig, to meet history
0:10:31 > 0:10:35professor Geert Janssen from the University of Amsterdam.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39- Hello, Geert.- Hi, Michael.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41- Wonderful location. - It's beautiful, yeah.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44We're meeting in the very heart of the old city.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48what was attracting tourists to Amsterdam 100 years ago, do you think?
0:10:48 > 0:10:51I think 100 years ago people came to Amsterdam to enjoy and
0:10:51 > 0:10:55to appreciate the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Amsterdam didn't get a typical 19th-century facelift
0:10:58 > 0:11:01that was typical of London and Paris in this period,
0:11:01 > 0:11:05so in Amsterdam you could still see and enjoy
0:11:05 > 0:11:08a city that had kept its 17th-century character.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12What can Amsterdam have been like at the height of the Golden Age?
0:11:12 > 0:11:15It's the Dubai of the 17th century.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19Amsterdam attracted a variety of different people from all over Europe.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23A great number of what we would call labour migrants from the
0:11:23 > 0:11:25German Empire, from France, from the British Isles,
0:11:25 > 0:11:27as well as religious refugees,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30so people who had been persecuted elsewhere in Europe who were
0:11:30 > 0:11:33attracted to the Dutch Republic for its religious tolerance as well
0:11:33 > 0:11:38as Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews from the Iberian peninsula
0:11:38 > 0:11:40and Eastern Europe,
0:11:40 > 0:11:45so it was very much a mixed and cosmopolitan city at the time.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Same old story. MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Yeah, it is.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54I look forward to exploring this cosmopolitan capital tomorrow,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56using the eyes of yesterday's tourist.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12The canals of Amsterdam are delightfully free from
0:12:12 > 0:12:16tourists at this time of the morning, and indeed the Doolin Hotel
0:12:16 > 0:12:20was advertised in Bradshaw's as being "free from tram noise."
0:12:20 > 0:12:24I'm tucking into a Dutch breakfast of poffertjes.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Little thick pancakes served with - wait for it -
0:12:26 > 0:12:29butter and powdered sugar.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33And here at the Doolin they're served with sparkling wine.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Another reason why this place might have been popular 100 years ago.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49By 1913, Amsterdam had been the hub of
0:12:49 > 0:12:52a global trading network for four centuries.
0:12:53 > 0:12:59And this area, De Wallen, is still the centre for age-old transactions.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01The Oude Kerk, or Old Church,
0:13:01 > 0:13:05according to Bradshaw's dates back to 1300.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09But these are windows not into men's souls,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12but rather to display ladies of the night.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16And I'm interested to know how it is that this bastion,
0:13:16 > 0:13:22first of Catholicism and then of Protestantism, is co-located with
0:13:22 > 0:13:27what is now probably the world's most famous red-light district.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36De Wallen once straddled Amsterdam's busy shipping port.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41The port has since moved, but prostitution hasn't.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45And today the oldest profession is legal.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49For many modern tourists, Amsterdam's red-light district
0:13:49 > 0:13:54confirms its reputation as both sin city and progressive utopia.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57I'm having a coffee with Annemarie de Wildt,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59curator of the Amsterdam Museum...
0:13:59 > 0:14:01- Hello, Annemarie.- Hello. - I'm Michael.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06..to find out how this curious state of affairs came about.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13- So, here we are. The church, red-light district...- Yeah.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15- ..and kindergarten. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17I mean, some people would say, "Only in Amsterdam."
0:14:17 > 0:14:21Yeah, it's a good spot to talk about the famous tolerance of Amsterdam,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24and the fact that we are able to have these very different
0:14:24 > 0:14:27things coexist right next to each other.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30Now, the Bradshaw traveller, coming here in 1913,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33what legal position would he have found?
0:14:33 > 0:14:36Prostitution was officially forbidden but, of course,
0:14:36 > 0:14:37a harbour city like Amsterdam,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41it's very difficult to ban it altogether, so it did exist.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45There were officially no brothels, but he would have found maybe
0:14:45 > 0:14:48women standing on the streets soliciting, or brothels
0:14:48 > 0:14:52that were sort of in hiding, like a tobacco shop for instance.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55In the 1960s, this started to change.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58It became as open as it is now,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02with women sitting in the windows.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06In the decades following the sexual revolution of the 1960s,
0:15:06 > 0:15:10the Dutch experimented with a policy known as gedogen, or tolerance.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13Whilst still illegal, prostitution, like cannabis,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15was officially tolerated.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Apparently, prostitution is legalised today in the Netherlands.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22- Yes.- When did that change occur?
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Well, the change only occurred in 2000.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26People are always very surprised about it
0:15:26 > 0:15:29and after years and years and years of discussion,
0:15:29 > 0:15:33the idea was, let's make rules, let's make regulations,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36let's try and ban out the criminality
0:15:36 > 0:15:38and see if we can make it into a normal job.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Is the legalisation controversial today?
0:15:41 > 0:15:43It is a difficult subject.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46There is still trafficking, there is still forced prostitution,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50so now the city authorities, here and in other cities,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53are trying to, not to get rid of it altogether,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56but at least to make it smaller.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58I'm leaving the red-light district
0:15:58 > 0:16:01to explore the streets of south Amsterdam.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10The biggest risk to life in the Netherlands is crossing the road.
0:16:10 > 0:16:11Whoa!
0:16:14 > 0:16:16First of all, there's a cycle lane.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Then there's two tracks of trams.
0:16:25 > 0:16:30Four lanes of regular traffic
0:16:30 > 0:16:35and then...don't forget, there's another cycle lane.
0:16:38 > 0:16:39Made it.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46One 19th-century invention, the railways,
0:16:46 > 0:16:47still flourishes today.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52Another 19th-century invention dominates the transport scene
0:16:52 > 0:16:54in the Netherlands, even in the 21st century.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56For which I will need some Dutch courage.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09A park, a sunny day, a bicycle.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12I haven't done anything this healthy in years.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20In the Indies Neighbourhood in eastern Amsterdam,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22many of the streets are named after the islands
0:17:22 > 0:17:26of the Dutch East Indies, most of the present-day Indonesia.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30That colony generated vast wealth
0:17:30 > 0:17:33and one of the world's first fusion cuisines.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36Thank you very much.
0:17:36 > 0:17:37Sir, see.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39This is our speciality rijsttafel.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43- I'll have the rijsttafel, please. - OK.- Thank you very much.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47Literally translated, rijsttafel means rice table.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49Sounds like a simple enough meal.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51All right, good, there we go.
0:18:02 > 0:18:03Ah!
0:18:03 > 0:18:05OK. There we go. Please.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07- Thank you.- Enjoy it.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14Invented by the Dutch during their 350-year rule over Indonesia,
0:18:14 > 0:18:18this feast combined local cuisine with a taste of home
0:18:18 > 0:18:23and was designed to showcase the exotic abundance of the Empire.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26I have never seen such a variety of food
0:18:26 > 0:18:30and all of it fresh and delicious and brilliant ingredients.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34I've got rices, I've got noodles, I've got soup,
0:18:34 > 0:18:39I've got an omelette, I've got fish, a banana, beef,
0:18:39 > 0:18:44beans, fresh vegetables, a kind of poppadom, nuts.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46Oh! Delicious.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51By 1913, Dutch tourists to the colonies had experienced this
0:18:51 > 0:18:55Indo-Dutch cuisine first-hand and had imported it to the Netherlands.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58And so an Edwardian traveller following my guidebook might
0:18:58 > 0:19:00well have enjoyed a rijsttafel, too.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05- Ah, chef.- Hello, sir.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08- Congratulations. - Are you enjoying the rijsttafel?
0:19:08 > 0:19:10I am enjoying it very much indeed.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13If you don't finish it, it will be an insult for us.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15- Oh, my goodness.- So... - I'll report back in about two hours.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17OK, we'll see you then with dessert.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20- No, please.- Thank you.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Please, no-one offer me a wafer-thin mint.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42I'm on the final leg of my tour of the Netherlands,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46making my way south-east to the smallest Dutch province.
0:19:46 > 0:19:47Thank you.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49'And the centre of the country.'
0:19:56 > 0:19:59My last stop will be Utrecht.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02The guidebook tells me that the River Rhine here separates
0:20:02 > 0:20:07into two streams, a Roman city and a very old place.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09This brings me to the heart of the country,
0:20:09 > 0:20:16to the hub of the railway network and, due to a treaty signed in 1579,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18maybe to the origin of the Netherlands.
0:20:26 > 0:20:27Thanks to its location,
0:20:27 > 0:20:32Utrecht became the main hub of the Dutch railway network.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Today, its Centraal station is the busiest in the country.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39More than 900 trains depart here everyday,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42carrying nearly 200,000 passengers.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46And they're preparing for it to get even busier.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49Increasing capacity to cope with a predicted
0:20:49 > 0:20:52100 million rail users a year by 2020.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56Everywhere around me, there's crashing and banging and drilling.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58Building works everywhere.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01And I think, just now, the finishing touches are being put to it.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07In 1913, though, Utrecht was a quiet place.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11Bradshaw's talks of a pleasant city with promenades bordered by streams.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16But over 300 years earlier,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19it had been at the centre of a military alliance,
0:21:19 > 0:21:22formed between the very different Dutch provinces
0:21:22 > 0:21:25to resist their Spanish ruler.
0:21:25 > 0:21:26Called the Union Of Utrecht,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29it led to the formation of the Dutch Republic,
0:21:29 > 0:21:33with a parliament at the Hague, and ushered in the Golden Age.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40At the Cathedral of St Martin, known as the Dom,
0:21:40 > 0:21:44I've arranged to meet historian Professor Maarten Prak...
0:21:44 > 0:21:47- Hello, Maarten. - Michael, how nice to meet you here.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51..to find out more about that seminal moment in the formation
0:21:51 > 0:21:53of the modern-day Netherlands.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Maarten, what is the significance for Dutch history of this
0:22:05 > 0:22:06medieval chapel?
0:22:06 > 0:22:10It was the place where, in January 1579,
0:22:10 > 0:22:16a group of people put together and subsequently signed a document,
0:22:16 > 0:22:17the Union of Utrecht,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21that later came to be seen as the first constitution.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24The foundational documents of the Netherlands.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28Who participated, then, in signing this document?
0:22:28 > 0:22:33Provinces, individual nobles, representatives of various towns,
0:22:33 > 0:22:39a hodgepodge of people who were involved in a rebellion against the
0:22:39 > 0:22:42King of Spain, who was the sovereign of this country at the time.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46To cooperate militarily,
0:22:46 > 0:22:50those disparate rebels had first to agree their differences.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56There are two points in that document that were significant.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59One was that they insisted on continuing
0:22:59 > 0:23:02their local and regional autonomy.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05As a result, the Dutch Republic
0:23:05 > 0:23:10was a very disunited sort of country.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12A Federation.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16The other thing was that they decided to set up a religious order,
0:23:16 > 0:23:22but at the same time ruled that each inhabitant privately
0:23:22 > 0:23:25could believe what he or she wished to believe.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29So religious toleration is virtually in the Dutch DNA.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Is there a connection with the tolerance today
0:23:32 > 0:23:33of drugs and prostitution?
0:23:33 > 0:23:35I think there is.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39In the sense that from the very early days,
0:23:39 > 0:23:44the Dutch learned to live with diversity.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47And the whole idea of the Union of Utrecht,
0:23:47 > 0:23:52and its article on religion, was that Catholics were a fact of life.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55You couldn't move them somewhere else.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58And the same is true for prostitution or drugs in
0:23:58 > 0:23:59modern society.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03You can't do away with it, so you have to deal with it.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06This, I think, is what is known as...
0:24:06 > 0:24:08Well, perhaps Dutch pragmatism.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12It's not so much a principle, but it is a practice.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23But what does pragmatism in practice look like?
0:24:25 > 0:24:29Bradshaw's had led me to expect a city of handsome houses.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31Following the union of Utrecht, the Netherlands was
0:24:31 > 0:24:35a religiously tolerant place, but still the Catholics thought it
0:24:35 > 0:24:39best to be discreet and to disguise their churches.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43And where better to hide one than in one of the handsome houses?
0:24:51 > 0:24:55And, completely unexpectedly, a gem of a church,
0:24:55 > 0:25:01complete with organ and virgin and Christ, a couple of baroque bishops.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03And a fully licensed bar,
0:25:03 > 0:25:05but I think that was a more recent addition.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08Thank you very much.
0:25:08 > 0:25:09Cheers.
0:25:09 > 0:25:10Cheers to you.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15My Bradshaw's description of the Netherlands draws heavily on
0:25:15 > 0:25:17its long and glorious history.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23A century later, I've arranged to have a drink with some locals
0:25:23 > 0:25:27to gauge how connected modern Dutch identity is to the nation's past.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31And good health to you all.
0:25:31 > 0:25:32- Proost.- Proost.- Oh, proost.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35Proost, indeed. Proost, proost, proost, proost, proost.
0:25:35 > 0:25:36Proost!
0:25:37 > 0:25:41100 years ago, this was written.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43"Holland, which was once an extended swamp,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45"presents the picture of a people
0:25:45 > 0:25:48"owing not only their wealth and high commercial position,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52"but even the very land, to their own labour and enterprise."
0:25:52 > 0:25:54Is that a fair assessment of the Dutch?
0:25:54 > 0:25:57I think that's a defining feature of us. Yes.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00We don't necessarily have to like each other,
0:26:00 > 0:26:05but you have to cooperate because it's... In a delta, it's crucial.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08But about this tolerance thing, is it true that the Dutch are tolerant?
0:26:08 > 0:26:10I think there are a lot of different people living in the
0:26:10 > 0:26:17Netherlands and everyone is just being him or herself and, you know,
0:26:17 > 0:26:21it seems normal that there are different people and they feel...
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Are OK with the fact that they have different religions
0:26:24 > 0:26:29or different sexual preferences.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Tolerant, actually, is not a very nice word.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34Tolerant means you put up with people.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37What about respectful? Are the Dutch respectful?
0:26:37 > 0:26:40Well, I'm not really a Dutch. I'm not really Dutch.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42But, yes, absolutely.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45I don't see tolerance as a nice word.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47I see it as actually,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50"You are strange and weird, but, OK, I'm going to accept that,
0:26:50 > 0:26:52"as long as it doesn't cross my line."
0:26:52 > 0:26:54Yes. And therefore, as an immigrant,
0:26:54 > 0:26:56you are expected to respect their boundaries, too.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59Absolutely. And I think it's just fair.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01Now, marijuana.
0:27:05 > 0:27:06What's going on?
0:27:07 > 0:27:09And is it working?
0:27:09 > 0:27:11That's great, my grandmother is watching.
0:27:11 > 0:27:12But, erm...
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Well, it's not legal in Holland.
0:27:15 > 0:27:16It isn't illegal, either.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19Especially, I hope, they're going to legalise the whole process
0:27:19 > 0:27:21because I think it will cut crime rates.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24And it's good for business, as well. And that's also typical Dutch.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27- That's exactly what it is!- So true.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30That's the point about marijuana and tolerance.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32- We see an economic benefit in it.- Yes.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35And I think we found out very early, in the early stages,
0:27:35 > 0:27:37in the 17th century already,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40that these people coming in, if you accept them, be tolerant,
0:27:40 > 0:27:44that brings some economic benefits and we tend to like that.
0:27:44 > 0:27:45So, ladies and gentlemen.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49I give you a toast to Bradshaw's description of the Netherlands.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53- Proost.- Cheers! Proost!
0:28:03 > 0:28:06You have to be impressed by Dutch history.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08Starting with the Union of Utrecht,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11they got rid of the mighty King of Spain.
0:28:11 > 0:28:12With equal grit,
0:28:12 > 0:28:18they built the dykes and windmills and drained the land.
0:28:18 > 0:28:23A global empire flowered and persecuted religious dissidents
0:28:23 > 0:28:27were attracted to cosmopolitan Amsterdam.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31I'm as impressed by the architecture of that golden age
0:28:31 > 0:28:34as the traveller was 100 years ago.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36With the added feeling that
0:28:36 > 0:28:41I'm visiting our national experiment in tolerance and moderation.