The Netherlands-0915-0920

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Yesterday and today I managed to visit
Zaanstaat
Markam
Voldham
Delft
Den Haag
and Utrecht
It sounds like alot, but really the train system is fabulous...with the Eurail Global Pass you can travel anywhere unlimited times and desitinations for two months...no reservations necessary...Hop on and Hop off...plus all these cities are very close to each other maximum half and huor betweeen the cities...
Zaanstaad is a small village by the river with quite a few windmills
Markam and Voldham are fishing villages...
Voldham was an Island, but no more...itis connected to the mainland with a dyke
Delft is famous for its blue and white dutch pottery...beautiful city...beautiful pottery...
Utrecht famous for its Dome Tower: Magnificent and Rietvield's De Stijl archutecture...It was great visiting the Schroder house, since we had studied it extensively back in our Architectural history class...
Den Haag: Visited the Peace Palace, The Dutch Parliement, the Mauritshuis definitely woth seeing, since it houses "The Girl with the Pear Earing" By Johannes Vermeer...I sat in front of thepainting and stared at it for about 10 minutes...It is beautiful...I ended up having dinner at "Tehran Sandwich stand" and talked to the waiter and the owner for well over an hour before I headed back to Amsterdam...
Few facts about the Netherlands: ( I love facts)
16.5 million population
10 milluion live below the sea level
the Amsterdam Schpol Airport is at -4 meters below sea level
5 million cows
2 millon sheeps
(the meat here taste amazing all the pastures the cows and sheeps graze on)...
2000 sweet water lakes have been drained to be able to use the lake floow for agriculture, farming, and horticulture...
40 percent of the Netherlands (Low Countries) is reclaimed land...the map of the Netherlands has changed quite a bit since the 17th century
It is a country of Dykes, canals, rivers, and eventually the North Sea...which by the way is quite beautiful...
The spend a whole of money to get rid of the water and control the rise of water...the infrastructure is built on higher grounds...
the highest point is in the southeast with an elevation of 392 meters above sea level...
what else
I love it...I have found the people very friendly, extremely helpful, chatty, and nice...
I have another 2 days here before I head north to Copenhagen or Kobenhaven...
I have mainly had international food...since the Flamish Netherlands cuisine is not as sophisticated as the French...But the Dutch have been historically sea fearers and merchants and have always importet food from beyond their borders...Amsterdam has amazing Indian and Indonasian restaurants...
Oh yes The flowers, mainly the Tulips are in full bloom between the months of March and May...They imported the initial bulbs from Turkey and Iran and developed it further...
so have you had enough facts????
Me I have enjoyed walking in the narrow canal bordered streets of Amsterdam and the rest... for me what has worked is that I try and get a sense of where I am initially and then start walking....I love to get lost in these cities (Maps are really hard to follow)...I like the element of surprise...Also while asking for directions you get to talk to people and you never know???
the weather has been great...the sun has been out for the most part...It is cool and sunny and excellent for walking...
Love you all...
Talk to you later...
Will be less factual next time...

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