Blogs from Netherlands, Europe - page 14

This is a very ambitious trip. 15 countries, 16 flights + a cruise and many, many opportunities for plans to go awry. The first came when South African Airlines cancelled our flight from Frankfurt to Johannesburg with no warning, resulting in a missed connection and hotel booking in Cape Town. But following a 3 hour rest stop in Cape Town we got back on schedule. This 1st installment takes us to Amsterdam then on into South Africa. From here we move on to Hermanus, on the coast, to spend some time with Gaye & Jonathan, daughter-in-law Claire’s parents. Panoramas: It takes 5-6 seconds to move to the next pic. 1. Lambert’s Bay 2. Sunset from our accommodation, Lambert’s Bay. 3. Vineyard view, Paarl 4. The beautiful Franschhoek Valley.... read more

If The Netherlands is known as the land of windmills, then Kinderdijk is the place to see them in operation. Windmills in the Netherlands are typically used as water pumps to keep the polders dry. Viking Sigrun arrived here late in the afternoon, around 3:45 p.m. There are 19 windmills to see here, the earliest dating to the 17th century. They are positioned along two rows. The Overwaard's wooden mills and Nederwaard's brick mills use wind power to move water from the polders to the basins. The surrounding land is below sea level. Water is pumped into the River Lek. As we disembarked, we joined a local guide for a tour. It was late on a blustery and chilly day, and there were few visitors about except our cruise group. The information kiosk was closed, but ... read more

We arrived in Utrecht from Antwerp (via Rotterdam) on the quick and efficient NS intercity rail. Our hotel was nearby to the train station and also nearby was the Hoog Catherijne - one of the largest shopping malls in the Netherlands!! After a quick rest, we went to explore the town on foot. Utrecht is basically a smaller, compact Amsterdam (and dare I say prettier). On our last trip to Europe we met two girls from Utrecht, and they told us their hometown was much prettier than Amsterdam (home pride) convincing us to visit. I'm glad we did now! We had a relaxing walk around town stopping for tea and pie by the canal. I then had to walk around the shopping mall while Bill waited at the hotel. Later in the evening, craving some Japanese ... read more

Today I took a side trip to the nearby cities of Leiden and The Hague. The first is a university town famous as the birthplace of Rembrandt and a place where the Pilgrims stayed for awhile before they sailed on the Mayflower to America. There are plaques in town honoring both, but I won’t waste you time by showing you photos of plaques. Leiden also has a number of good museums. The Boerhaave Museum specializes in the history of science, particularly medicine. There is a reconstruction of an anatomical theater that was once used for demonstrating dissections. There’s also a good section on water management, a very important discipline in this country that is largely below sea level. After lunch I caught the train to The Hague and visited two art museums. The first is devoted ... read more

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