Youtube hearted comments of (@dutchman7623).

  1. Those big mattresses are made out of bundles of willow twigs, lowered on the sea bottom that consists of soft clay. They are fixed in place with stone blocks from Norway, the Netherlands do not have any stone except chalk in the very south, but that's not strong and heavy enough. When the soft soil on both sides is stabilized, works could begin. It is called Afsluitdijk (Closing off dyke), but it is a dam. It is 90 years old, and not leaky, but we have to prepare for the future and make it stronger. Also correct some mistakes... fish could not pass, but they get a special fish river now.
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  2. I would have expected 'the twith' as Anglish for 'the second'. Many languages got the same influence, also in Dutch, even when we invented those, like microscope, pendulum and telescope. But often we have Dutch words next to it for the same, like slinger and verrekijker. When using as much 'import' as possible, Dutch starts to sound posh or scientific, and using less it becomes unsophisticated and common.
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  3. One of the most important things in this matter: When a peace treaty is signed, noblemen respected each others private possessions. So in 1648 with the peace of Westphalia, the properties of the Duke of Brabant (King of Spain) and the properties of the Lord of Breda (Prince of Orange) were respected and returned. When the first split took place, the Lord of Breda was a knight of the Duke of Brabant, so the consequences were not severe, those areas that were in use as farms and fields, paid tax to the Duke, and the Lord only owned waste lands (mostly forest). All new developments, cultivated waste lands, new buildings, had to pay tax to the Lord of Breda. No problem either because all over the entire countries this was done, and in the same way. A tax collector would come with a big book and would write down who payed their tax. So in many villages two, three or even more tax collectors would show up to cash from the farmers and house owners. Even after the peace of Westphalia, there were no nation states. Many areas kept their own rules and rulers, like Gemert, Cuijk, and Ravenstein. Only when nation states were established, these splits between noble Lords became a problem. Especially when the successors of the Lord of Breda became the King of the Netherlands and the title of Duke of Brabant was claimed by the King of the Belgians. Most problematic areas were exchanged between the Netherlands and Belgium, like Luijksgestel went to the North and Moll to the South. Somehow Baarle managed to escape those exchanges. Probably because the population profited from the confusion. Only recently the tax- and law-borders in Baarle became true national borders.
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  4. We went with a 2cv4 over the Saint Gotthard Pass and while other cars started to boil, the Ugly Duck didn't, because it doesn't have water cooling! And in the US you can easily use it on the highway, for speeds are lower than in Germany or the French péage. It makes about 125 km/h and gets noisy at that speed, but who cares. It has a perfect airco with the knob under the dashboard, enough fresh air, cabrio without extra costs. And when you do not lock the front windows it will try to fly at a certain speed... flapping its wings.
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