Vicissitudes rarely encountered in Holland (3,3,5)
I believe the answer is:
ups and downs
'vicissitudes' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ups and downs that I've seen before include "Successes and failures" , "variations?" , "Vicissitudes" .)