Besides water, tulips or cheese related subjects, Dutch are known for being culturally tolerant, liberal and wise managers of urban space. If the first two don't necessarily apply to the country as a whole (no more housing permit for you next year, pal!), they certainly fit Amsterdam and its inhabitants - hitherto generalising, and, as a friend wisely said "In general I don't like generalisations!".

Cosmopolitan and crowded (for Dutch standards), Amsterdam uniquely blends the advantages of a little village and a modern city. Nevertheless, it's intrinsic housing problems raise a lot of issues - namely if you have children. Most Dutch cultivate their families' independence from family, which, added the fact that relatives usually live far away - more than 20 minutes biking -, leaving your kids with granny is out of the question. So, a kinderdagverblijf is mandatory: literally a child-day-stay.

Gothic architecture and alchemy are two topics I'll definitely talk about in my upcoming posts - taking, of course, Fulcanelli's books as starting point. 
So, nothing better than introducing the subject with a glimpse of the marvellous Green Man that welcomes us in one of the Jerónimos Monastery's pillars, in Lisbon. As a representative of nature's vegetative powers, the Green Man, a manly facial representation made of leaves and vegetal elements, deserves a special place in many cultures.