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Published: August 6th 2008
Rotterdam Windmill
The Dutch actually have these windmills.After leaving Germany, we headed Northwest to visit one of Sylvia's good friends in Rotterdam. On our way, I made Sylvia stop in the city of Arnhem so I could track down some World War II history. The city of Arnhem, as well as the nearby cities of Nijmegen and Eindhoven, contained bridges that were important Rhine river crossings. The allies attempted to capture these bridges in Operation Market Garden. This attack was the plot of the movie "A Bridge Too Far."
After our time in Arnhem, we arrived at our destination. Rotterdam is famous for being the busiest seaport in the world, although it is a good distance inland. Sylvia's friend Lucika lives on a well-known street in Rotterdam and her apartment is above a shop on the street, so it was a nice place to stay and right in the middle of the city.
Our first full day in the Netherlands, we took a train to Amsterdam. The city of course has many reputations. I had to convince Sylvia that we were actually in the "Red Light" district because it wasn't what she pictured. We were only there in the afternoon however, I suspect it is a different place
Arnhem Bridge
The bridge that the alliest attempted unsuccessfully to capture during Market Garden in WWII. in the evening. There were definately a large number of coffee shops though, which I expected. The city is known for its famous canals which circle the city and radiate outward from the center of town and away from the central train station, which is located near the seaport. We walked through the town to see famous points, including the Amsterdam Tulip Market, the red light district, and the Ann Frank house. I have experienced very few American tourists during my trips to Europe, probably because they don't go anywhere but Western Europe and I have never really
been to Western Europe, partially for this reason. I like traveling to places that aren't so popular in the United States. I don't know if it is that Americans feel safe in Western European countries like the UK, Germany, France, and the Netherlands because of the abundance of English speakers, but it seems that way to me. You can spot American tourists quite easily though. Here are the ingredients: white socks, sandals, bucket hat, sunglasses (with
croakies ), fanny pack, camcorder, and unfolded map. It is even easier if they are wearing a shirt with the name of their last tourism
Interesting Store
Guess where I bought you a souvenier, Em? destination. I only mention this because the line to get into the Anne Frank house was one of the longest I've
ever seen and the vast majority were Americans. I suspect because they were all forced to read The Diary of Anne Frank in school. Sylvia and I settled for a quick picture outside and moved on.
Our second day in the Netherlands, we took a train along with Lucika to see Den Haag (The Hague). The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government, though it is not actually the country's capital (Amsterdam is). The Hague is also home to many international organizations, and the Queen's residence is in the city. It is also the third largest city in the Netherlands after Rotterdam and Amsterdam. A final note on the Netherlands. It has got to rival all other countries as the shoe capital of the world. For some reason, the Dutch are crazy about shoes. We must have seen at least 1,000 shoe stores. Maybe they learned their lesson after those years of wooden clogs.
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