Though it's more of a showcase now than an actual trading center, Amsterdan's cheese market is still a wonderful way to spend a morning. Donna Mah / for China Daily

 

The sculpture garden at the Kroller-Mueller Museum is a quiet place to reflect on art and life. A display of colorful clogs remind visitors to take home a souvenir from the Netherlands, while Dutch girls clad in traditional costumes flash friendly grins.

It's more than just tulips and windmills. The Netherlands has a lot more to offer than its best-known icons. Donna Mah takes you off the beaten track in Amsterdam.

I have been to the Netherlands about half a dozen times now over the last few years to visit my husband's family. Friends aware of this often ask me what there is to do and see in the country.

Personally, I have never been to the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, the Rijsmuseum, or the Heineken Brewery - because we usually head home to the east of the country and our visits to Amsterdam are often in transit for a few hours.

But there are lots of attractions outside of Amsterdam.

One of them is the impressive Kroller-Mueller Museum situated in National Park De Hoge Veluwe near Otterlo, in the middle of the Netherlands.

The museum itself is surrounded by beautiful trees and outdoor sculptures, very different from what you'd experience at a museum in the city. In the permanent collection, there are numerous works by Vincent van Gogh, George Seurat and Pablo Picasso. The museum also hosts many temporary exhibitions, which you can check out on the museum's website before you visit (http://kmm.nl/).

I have been told by friends that the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is crowded and you need to join a long line to get in. At the Kroller-Mueller, I was pleased to be able to spend a relaxing day wandering through the exhibits, in the company of many school children who were there as well. They were working together and independently to find certain paintings or sculptures to sketch them. It looked like a great way to experience this museum.

The museum's sculpture garden is one of the largest in Europe. It is a perfect place to wander and find a quiet spot for a picnic.

It's also possible to cycle around the National Park De Hoge Veluwe that surrounds the museum and explore the splendid natural surroundings - a habitat for deer, mouflons, and wild boar. There are a lot of white bicycles available to use free in the park itself.

For a taste of Dutch history, visit the Openluchtmuseum on the outskirts of Arnhem. The open-air museum uses authentic buildings, objects and personal stories from the last 200 years to highlight the changes the Netherlands has undergone.

It is a "working" museum, with a blacksmith making nails in one building, a small group of people in traditional period dress eating lunch in one of the kitchens, and a working poffertjes (tiny, sweet pancakes) stand that was in originally in operation from 1850 to 1961.

As the name suggests, the museum is outdoors, and is a great way to spend a day outside. There's even a children's activity farmyard where one of the activities was to show children how to do laundry the "old-fashioned" way with a washing board and hand crank wringer.

A ride on the old tram is a great way to get around the museum, and hop off and on the circular route.

Another interesting, but perhaps not as historically significant, is a visit to the one of the city cheese markets. Cheese is big business in the Netherlands but the real trading happens in a more corporate setting now. Still, each cheese city that holds its own market makes it a fun and entertaining experience for visitors.

At the cheese market in Edam, cheese is transported to the market by boat or by horse-drawn cart, as it has been for centuries.

Though it's more of an exhibit now than an actual cheese trading market, it's still a wonderful way to spend a morning. At Edam, there was a bit of a problem with a renegade cheese farmer who was trying to sell his cheese from his boat instead of through the market. The "head cheese" (very much in charge in his black suit, bowler hat, and cane) made an announcement and told the crowd that the producer was now banned from selling his cheese at the market.

The cheeses are round and covered with wax, and after they are unloaded by cheese bearers, they are then tested by traders who drill holes into random blocks to assess the quality. The price is based on the sample. Batches that are accepted are carried off by cheese bearers on a handbarrow for weighing.

The Alkmaar Cheese Market takes place in Alkmaar's main square every Friday at 10 am, from early April to early September. In Edam, the morning markets are held on Wednesdays from 10:30 am until 12:30 pm. The Gouda cheese market is held every Thursday morning from mid-June to the end of August.

Whether it is culture, history, art or a bit of everything, the Netherlands has a great deal to offer. Instead of just staying in the "big city", it is a truly eye-opening and worthwhile experience to see the attractions that involve a bit of a trip. The journey is often part of the fun.