Monday, April 16, 2007

A Dutch accent - Holambra

Besides Germans, Brazil has a Dutch community in Holambra (a contraction of Holland, America, and Brazil). The town was created by Dutch immigrants who left Europe after World War II. Many of the buildings have a Dutch-style facade, the houses have the Welcome sign in dutch. Every year, at the end of the Winter, for three weeks, there is the "Expoflora," an exhibition of flowers, food, and dutch dances. The Dutch descendants cultivate and export flowers to many countries in Europe and North America through electronic auctions. We were visiting for a few hours on Saturday, but did not stay long, we left for a farm nearby.

12 comments:

kenju said...

How interesting that place looks! I would never expect to find such a "Dutch" looking place in Brazil.

Anonymous said...

Such a bright and happy looking place. I just might have that certain feeling to skip down the streets like a child if I visited.

Take care,
Connie

K M F said...

nice photos

Geraldo said...

Cris,
You're doing a great job showing many surprising places in Brazil! Kenju, you'll be even more surprised to learn that not far from Holambra there are two towns, Americana and Santa Barbara d'Oeste, where Americans fleeing the Civil War settled - last Sunday they had their annual Confederate Fest; and just a few miles away, another town, Nova Odessa, colonized by Russians and Latvians. In the times of Cold War, many journalists in search of a story would raise the subject of this proximity from time to time...

Ash said...

Totally love the colors in here!

sonia a. mascaro said...

Cris, eu moro a 20 km da Holambra II, aqui no município de Paranapanema. A colônia foi fundada em 1960 por um grupo de pessoas de origem da Holambra de Campinas. Aqui na Holambra II os atrativos turísticos estão principalmente relacionados com a cultura e costumes da colônia holandesa. A Holambrafeest, realiza-se em novembro, com uma programação bastante variada: danças folclóricas, venda de souvenires, frutas, flores, o rali de tratores, chamado de Trekker-Trek, além de deliciosas comidas típicas holandesas, chope e cerveja.
Abraços!

Anonymous said...

Hello Cris,
lovely pictures and I am amazed to see the colorful houses, so different.
---
You wrote:
I ordered the book 1001 Gardens for my brother for his birthday, he's picking it up tomorrow in NY.
Any comments about the book?
Would love to hear about it.
cheers Gisela

Luna und Luzie said...

Wow, you have cool trip goals in Brazil!!! That sounds great, particularly with a flower exibition. Holland is a great Export Land for flowers and vegetables.
Liebe Grüße
Stefanie

Cris said...

Hello all, I have more fun places to show. Hopefully soon!

Susan said...

How delightful. I never would have expected something like this in Brazil. I have Dutch heritage but love seeing and learning about all types of heritages. Thanks for posting this. I'll be back!!!

diyadear said...

the place looks all happy n smiling!!!

Jenn said...

Wow, that's amazing..I LOVE The vibrant colors of the buildings...makes us look dull...LOL