Our Visit to Holland

September 2, 2008, we began our grand adventure to visit Holland and Ireland. To alleviate jet lag, we decided to stop in Ireland on the way to Holland. We arrived at the Charles Stewart Hotel in Dublin, Ireland about noon – checked in and went to sleep. The room was cold, because we were informed, they do not turn on the boiler for heat until October! They were kind enough to offer more blankets. Later we walked to a local restaurant for some Sheppard’s pie. We had been looking forward to this, but were somewhat disappointed.

Jessy and Rob were waiting for us the following day at the Amsterdam airport with an orange flag and flowers! What a greeting!! They live in a suburb, Heerhugowaard, north of Amsterdam, where they have an apartment. The first floor is called the ground floor in Europe. So, though they say their apartment is on the 9th floor, we would say the 10th floor. They have wonderful views from three sides because their apartment extends from one side of the building to the other. From their balcony, we could see directly below a park for kids to ride their bikes and skateboards on a series of ramps. There was also a theater that was built partly in the edge of a canal. Jessy is able to walk to both an outdoor market and a major shopping mall two blocks away.

Rental apartments and houses in Holland are not finished off with carpet and appliances as they are in the US. Usually, the renter/buyer is responsible for the kitchen, wall covering, or painting, and floor covering. Most bedrooms come without closets, so furniture is added to hold clothing. Rob and Jessy were lucky in that their apartment came with basic bathroom and kitchen appliances. The master bath is a little unusual in that the shower, which is one corner of the room, has no enclosure. The floor slopes toward a floor drain so that after your shower you can squeegee the water on the floor toward the drain.

Rob took us to the old cheese market in the village of Alkmaar, which dates back to the year 1582. This is a re-enactment of the way cheese was sold long ago by the farmers to the buyers. The cheese is in the form of large wheels encased in yellow wax. They haggle over price with hand motions. Then the wheels of cheese are carried to an antique scale, weighed, put on carts and taken to the buyer’s conveyance. The participants wear period dress and the cheese is carried by two men with a wooden cradle hung between them from their neck with ropes.

On our way back to the car, we were crossing the bridge over a canal when Pete’s hat blew off! A tour boat was coming toward us. Rob waved frantically to get the captain’s attention. They fished the hat out of the canal to much cheering from the passengers of the boat! Then we had to dash off the bridge quickly so it could raise to allow the boat through. Rob had to jog a block to get the hat back from the boat! Made their day and ours too!

We timed our arrival in Holland so we could be a part of Rob’s 65th birthday celebration.
This is a special one because he then starts to receive the Dutch version of social security from the government. (Every recipient in Holland gets the same amount, be he a doctor or laborer.) So, Jessy planned a big party for him. He knew something was up, but not what! At 10 AM sharp the family arrived along with one set of in-laws and another couple for cake and coffee.

About 11:30 Rob’s son, Erwin, who is a chef in a local hotel, asked his dad to help him go pick up the food he had prepared for lunch and dinner. They left and we got busy decorating the apartment! Jessy had made decorations for a Mexican party, and a friend brought umbrellas like those you would find at a Mexican palapa. We were a busy group, covered the walls with old photos of Rob, the ceilings with crape paper streamers, and even put up a piñata in the entry hall! Everyone dressed like Mexicans! Jessy made serapes for Rob, Pete and Jo. Everyone else made their costume, except Rob’s daughter and daughter in law rented Mexican dresses with lots of frills. Rob’s brother dressed up like a Mexican bandito, complete with guitar he bought on the internet. When Rob arrived with his son, he WAS surprised! He didn’t even recognize his brother until he walked over to introduce himself and shake hands!

After cake at 10 AM, THEN we had sandwiches for lunch, THEN guacamole and salsa for appetizer, THEN a huge dinner, including sorbet and fruit for dessert! And we THEN continued to party until people finally began to leave about 10 PM. This was our first 12-hour party!

Holland is mostly below sea level. Flooding is controlled by dikes, canals and pumps. The dikes hold back the sea and the many canals carry water out of the country to the sea. Rob took us to see the North Sea dike which closes off a section of the sea, and helps to create more land in that area. Jo walked to the water’s edge so she could say she had put her hand in the North Sea. Many other shorter dikes were built so the water could be pumped out to create more land. There are more planned for the future. We were below sea level in Holland, except when in Jessy and Rob’s 10th floor apartment!

We also drove across the 30 km dike that created the large Isselmeer Lake. The dike was planned in the 1800’s, but construction started in 1927 and it was complete in 1933. The dike carries two lanes of heavy traffic each way. The dike was completed to further close off the North Sea, create the lake, and control tidal action and flooding of existing land in the interior of the country.

Many of the larger canals are also used for navigation and recreational boating. Pete was fascinated by all the different kinds of small boats tied up along the canals. Many of them were very old by our standards, but still in use. Some of the flat bottom sail boats used for fishing 100 years ago have survived and are in use for charter and personal use. Because of the flat bottom, they cannot have a keel. Instead they have two “dagger boards” one on each side of the boat. These can be raised and lowered by cables individually. There are many houseboats along the canals and in the harbor in Amsterdam. These are really concrete barges with a mostly normal house built on them. They can only be moved by a tugboat. Land is scarce, and very expensive in Holland, so folks do what they can to have their own house.

Speaking of tugboats, Rob took Pete to see a restored 1920’s tugboat. One of his brother’s friends lives on board. The “stateroom” is aft and the living area is forward, with the wheelhouse in between. Yep, they have to go out on deck to go back and forth. It has all the original equipment and still will run although they don’t take it out much anymore

Originally, the traditional Dutch windmill was the power for the pumps that moved the water from one canal to the next and eventually to the North Sea. The purpose, of course, was to make more land. Many are still in existence. When the windmills were constructed in the 1600’s, a water wheel was used to lift the water into a canal. However, in about 1850 the water wheels were replaced with a “jack”, a giant screw that carried the water up to the next canal level. It was much more efficient. After three centuries, in 1928, the windmills were replaced with electric pumps. Since then some have become homes, but some still operate and are open to the public. The newer electric pumping stations were each named after a Dutch queen, Emma, Juliana, and Wilhelmina. They were replaced recently by two computer controlled pumping stations named after the reining queen and crown prince, Beatrix and Willem – Alexander.

We visited the Schermer Windmill, which was built in 1635, later restored and is open to the public. All the wheels and gears are made of wood. Not metal as it would be today. While we were touring inside the windmill, the wind picked up outside and the whoosh, whoosh of the vanes became faster and louder! The whole building shook for a few minutes. The speed of the vanes is controlled by the amount of sail attached to them. The less wind, the more sail it takes to keep them moving at the right speed. Each windmill was occupied by a “miller” who lived there with his family, and was responsible for changing the sail and manually positioning the windmill into the wind.

We went to Den Oever, a fishing village at the north end of the country. It is the home of a fishing fleet made up of large boats that are 40 to 60 feet long. One day a year, they celebrate the beginning of the fishing season. The boats form a line and have a parade out into the sea and back. The thrilling part is they take passengers on the trip. Anywhere from 50 to 100 people crowd on each boat and go along for the ride. (Can you see that happening in our country?) While we were “at sea”, the crew served us a sample of the shrimp they gather from the North Sea. They are very, very tiny and taste quite fishy, but it was a special experience for us.

We spent a day in Amsterdam with Rob’s brother Ed and wife Corrie. They are full time RVers and dry camp (park with no hookups) on the south side of the harbor, where they have a great view of the city and all the shipping. .When we arrived, Corrie had coffee and pastry for everyone and we watched ships go by. Across the harbor is a “Boatel” which is a 1000-foot ship set up as a hotel. Also nearby are apartments for college students constructed of shipping containers in all colors.

We took the free ferry across the harbor to downtown. Rob and Ed were raised in this area and know it all like the back of their hand. We learned Amsterdam is circled by three canals, each added as the city grew. We saw the Central Train Station and Rembrandt’s museum (outside). We went to a very expensive penthouse restaurant for coffee. The only rain we had the whole day was while we were drinking coffee. From up there we had a bird’s eye view of the very beautiful city.

We walked around the courtyard at Beginhof, which was a residence for single women who helped the poor, but did not take vows as nuns do. We saw a “coffee house” that has become a “church” so that members can smoke pot there without being arrested. Pot smoking in not legal but is tolerated in “coffee house churches”. The odor wafts through the streets as one walks by. One can get a buzz from the second hand smoke. The Chinese are allowed to smoke opium, but it is not allowed for other nationalities! Because cars and fuel is very expensive, the city is alive with bicycles! Women in skirts and heels ride to work. We saw one “3 story” bicycle “parking garage”! We estimated at least 1000 bicycles parked there. This was just one such facility. However, we also saw several chains on the ground where they had been cut and the bike stolen!

There are about 250 miles of canals in Amsterdam! We took a boat cruise on some of them for an hour and a half and went by five and six story homes that are several hundred years old, including the Anne Frank house where she was hidden from the Germans during WW II. Because land is scarce all the buildings in Amsterdam are tall, narrow and on wood pilings. One building we saw was only about one meter wide! Only just wider than the door. The wood pilings hold up well as long as they are not exposed to air. However, with underground construction and other activities, the water level has not always been controlled in the downtown area and a few buildings are now leaning toward the street. We walked by a TV crew who had cameras set up in case one of the multi-story buildings toppled over. We understand they will have to be torn down brick by brick and then rebuilt the same way on new pilings. (We wondered who pays for that.)

Everyone has asked and the answer is “Yes!” We did go to the Red Light District. After dark, Ed led us through the “red light” district where sex is for sale and sex shops are on every corner. Girls in very skimpy bikinis stand behind glass doors and windows and display their wares. (No cameras allowed) If an interested customer stops, she opens the door to negotiate! There are red lights burning and the frames around the windows are also painted red. There is no mistaking where you are! We saw several deals consummated but for some reason Jo would not let Pete talk to the girls! She kept a firm hold on his hand.

Not only are cars more expensive in Holland, the “sales tax” is approximately 50% of the cost. So, a $50,000 car costs more like $75,000. We saw models of cars by major automakers we had never heard of, and are not imported to our country. Almost all are smaller and more efficient than anything that we are familiar. They even have a 4 wheel mopeds that looks like a car, but has a 49 HP motor. They can be driven on the bike paths and do not require a driver’s license. Many seniors who can no longer qualify, or afford, to drive a regular car own one of these. We were told the cost of all that goes into acquiring a driver’s license is about $2,000. All of this helps explain the number of bicycles.

We took a drive to Volendam, another very old, quaint fishing village. From there we took a ferry to Markem, an island that is now connected by a dike. Much of this village is original (read 1600’s) and the houses are less than 3 feet apart in a haphazard layout. It is like walking a maze for someone who does not live there.

The Netherlands is a monarchy and the current ruler is, Queen Beatrice. Unlike in England, the Dutch monarchy maintains a low profile in order to stay out of the lime light. In Holland the reining monarch delivers the “State of the Union Address” to open the parliamentary session. The day involves much pomp and circumstance. Of course, it is all carried on Dutch T V. Their gold carriage with eight horses carried the queen, and her Crown Prince son, from her palace to parliament through the streets of The Hague. The entire route was lined with military, and hoards of people stood to watch her pass. It has become known as “hat day” All the women in parliament were wearing hats, some totally absurd. Another interesting fact is that, although Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, The Hague is the seat of government.

We visited the town of Markkum where we toured a china factory that has existed in the same location for the last 400 years. They originally located there as it was very close to their source of the clay used in all their products. Their china is VERY expensive. A 3” saucer was over $100! They also manufacture decorative tile for art and home construction purposes. An advantage in dealing with them is one can always match a broken item no matter how old it may be. It only takes money!

And we said sad goodbyes to Holland and flew back to Ireland.