Tag Archives: The Netherlands

Things that happened in The Netherlands.

France, Gosnay, Kinderdijk, The Netherlands

Kinderdijk

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Alas it is time to move on from Amsterdam. Our travel ‘method’ has always been to go visit a city/country for a short time to get the feel for it and then to return for an extended visit in several Amsterdam will certainly be on the list.

We had to make one last stop in Les Pays-Bas, what kind of parents would we be of we took Syd to this country and not visit a windmill? Luckily heritage and UNESCO made it easy by preserving a series of mills along our way in the village of Kinderdijk. The name means “Children dike” and is rumored to be where the folktale “Cat and the Cradle” originated when during a particularly bad flood a cat was found keeping a cradle floating in the flood water containing a sleeping baby in balance. I did not realize that families lived inside these giant pumps and had all the incidents that one would expect in such a situation.  Modern flood pumps have since replaced the windmills at this sites original purpose, the well preserved site was well worth the visit. Rains returned today so the site was fairly empty during our visit, their visit loss was a (wet) gain for us. Man, can those blades move, aerodynamics at its finest.

Our second stop of the day was to be at Ghent, Belgium however a major accident slowed us down for nearly two hours so we decided to press on to our evening destination. That part of the drive was an interesting test for the Garmin Nav system and reviled several of its short comings. When it said it knew a quicker route we said OK and ended up getting a nice tour of central Antwerp. And when the traffic became really bad due to the accident the system did not know, so the accident re-routing is flaky at best.

First night in France in Gosnay. The FIFA world cup is still on an although I enjoy being at work during the tournament due to the excitement of many of my foreign born colleagues it was nice to be in ‘Futbul’  countries the cup is in contest. Tonight was in no slouch, even though Germany had a solid lead the entire time the hotel staff was still as jumpy as a jackrabbit on a hot-plate. Lots of fun! Nice meal at a local brasserie, I know Americans have a reputation for being ‘ugly’ but boy there was trio of Brits in the restaurant as well last night that would have taken the top spot in any contest with their complaints…

A wet walk.
A wet walk.
A close-up of a still working mill.
A close-up of a still working mill.
Mills at Kinderdijk.
Mills at Kinderdijk.
Mills at Kinderdijk.
Mills at Kinderdijk.
Those are big clogs to fill!
Those are big clogs to fill!
Singing in the rain.
Singing in the rain.
Amsterdam, Anne Frank Museum, The Netherlands, Van Gogh Museum

The Long Days Night

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The length of the days in Amsterdam have been a subject of conversation since we arrived. Meaningful daylight is lasting past 2200 (10:00pm) and that is throwing Syd off. I recently introduced her to the first two Beatles movies (“That poor Ringo”) and in an oblique nod to this fact we have started calling the time just after 10pm “The Long Days Night.”

We were a little better off jet-lag wise today but I still scheduled all tours for the afternoon so we could sleep in a little. With our first stop at the Anne Frank Museum scheduled for 1:00pm we could wait until 12:30pm to leave the hotel. As we were finishing preparing a curious siren rang across the city.  At first I thought it was a noon signal but it went on for quite a while. Since no one outside was reacting I decided it was routine and after some research turns out it was. Amsterdam still tests its air raid system once a month on the first Monday and we just happened to be there on the right date. A rather curious sound, you can hear it in this YouTube video. I will admit to a little disappointment, looking outside I felt like I was in a SciFi movie from the UK. Couldn’t a saucer land?  Would an insect from Mars or a threatening Dalek been to much to ask?

The visit to the Anne Frank Museum was as moving as it should be. Overall the “Secret Annex” was bigger than I thought it would be but after the visit I realized it was only so because all the furniture was removed at Otto Frank’s request. However still having the blackout curtains up reminded us of how dark it must have been during the day for many years and actually seeing the physical building showed how they were able to hide away for so long and may have succeeded if it was not for a betrayal by an unknown person. A place you should visit at least once in your life, pre-order your tickets or you will be waiting longer to take the tour rather than the duration of the tour!

After a nice walk along some of the canals we toured the Van Gough Museum. It gave a interesting history of this tortured artist’s life, it gave me a good feel of what he went through while alive. Unlike the Rijksmuseum, no pictures are allowed so if you want to see please visit.

Better weather today...
Better weather today…
Anne Frank Huis
Anne Frank Huis
Anne Frank Huis from across the canal.
Anne Frank Huis from across the canal.
The only picture allowed inside the Van Gogh Museum.
The only picture allowed inside the Van Gogh Museum
The kids visit I amsterdam.
The kids visit I amsterdam.
Behind the Rijksmuseum.
Behind the Rijksmuseum.
Performance art.
Performance art.
Boats and the Magere Brug ("Skinny Bridge").
Boats and the Magere Brug (“Skinny Bridge”).
Amsterdam, Anne Frank Museum, The Netherlands

A Touching Tale…

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I look at a quote on the wall telling me what it is like in WW2 it makes me think how lucky I am because I am not alive back then. I think “Learning about Anne Frank is like reliving WW2 and makes me want to change the world and how badly we treat different races.” To tell the truth i want to go back in time and smack Hitler 1,000,000,000 times to knock some sense into him. Today is my last day in Amsterdam and I feel that I want to stay longer….

From,

Syd