Back from our big trip over the pond to visit Holland (the Netherlands to be more correct) and Belgium. Both countries sport great chocolate, beer, French fries with mayo and very very old buildings. And don’t forget the water…lots and lots of water. As one tour guide put it, the Dutch live, and die, by the words ‘Pumping or drowning’…there are no other choices.
The children learn to swim, ride a bike, sail and skate in order to survive living 7 ft below sea level. And oh, the bikes….everywhere there were bikes whizzing by, parked in huge parkades or locked to lamp posts, bike stands, whatever. The Europeans are so much more advanced IMHO about transportation…they have dedicated SAFE bike lanes where bikes pass each other to and fro with the same rules of the road as on the motorways. They don’t wear helmets, smoke too much and yet seem very fit. Odd to see businessmen in suits with briefcases, women in skirts and heels often with children sitting in wheelbarrow type attachments to the front of the bikes, housewives with shopping and all on bikes.
The rivers are full of barges transporting all sorts of goods pushed or pulled or all-in-one units where the workman lives on board and keeps his car or two cars in some cases on his roof top. When he arrives at his cargo’s destination, a crane moves the car off and he’s ready to go. Skinny trolley buses skim up and down at ground level to quickly move people around. Canal boats act as’ hop on, hop off’ tour boats. People live on barges and house boats in the canals but we were told this is very expensive with costs commonly $400,000 Euros to purchase.
Because much of Holland was damaged during the bombing of WWII, some new buildings, esp
ecially in Rotterdam, are very unusual to say the least. Creative energy abounds. And yet, the Dutch embrace their past and continue to honour Anne Frank’s memory by maintaining her house as a museum. The crowds, mostly young adults, line up daily to see where Anne spent two years of her life in hiding. The buildings in Holland and Belgium not uncommonly sport dates as early as ‘1601’ proudly displaced above the doors.
ecially in Rotterdam, are very unusual to say the least. Creative energy abounds. And yet, the Dutch embrace their past and continue to honour Anne Frank’s memory by maintaining her house as a museum. The crowds, mostly young adults, line up daily to see where Anne spent two years of her life in hiding. The buildings in Holland and Belgium not uncommonly sport dates as early as ‘1601’ proudly displaced above the doors. And oh, the doors are magnificent. Shiny lacquer paint with elaborate door knockers or decorations look inviting. The Dutch crave light due to 2/3 of the year being rainy and grey so their 
homes contain many large windows to let all the light in. They shy away from drapes and are proud to have their homes, inside and out, on display. Many put beautiful vases with flowers or pottery on the window sills for display. The Belgians however love lace and so use their windows to put on a showy display. If not lace curtains, then lace patterns hang in the window panes much like stained glass panels.
homes contain many large windows to let all the light in. They shy away from drapes and are proud to have their homes, inside and out, on display. Many put beautiful vases with flowers or pottery on the window sills for display. The Belgians however love lace and so use their windows to put on a showy display. If not lace curtains, then lace patterns hang in the window panes much like stained glass panels.The homes and buildings in both countries were mostly constructed of brick ranging in color from yellow to red to brown. Cobble stoned roads and narrow streets added to the charm and to think th
at horses hooves and wheeled wagons, hundreds of years worth of common folk and soldiers having marched over them was mind numbing. The vastness of the history was sometimes overwhelming..these countries had buildings and history dating easily back 500 years. Here in the ‘New World’ as they call it, if a house is 85 years old it is called a ‘Heritage House’ and a plaque is erected.
at horses hooves and wheeled wagons, hundreds of years worth of common folk and soldiers having marched over them was mind numbing. The vastness of the history was sometimes overwhelming..these countries had buildings and history dating easily back 500 years. Here in the ‘New World’ as they call it, if a house is 85 years old it is called a ‘Heritage House’ and a plaque is erected.The people are proud and somewhat reserved but eager to help. English is spoken widely but in the smaller towns it was a bit of a struggle to be understood in some places. Pointing to menu or bar items resulted in us ordering 3 very odd beers in Dordrecht, Holland but still we enjoyed them outdoors in the open market on Good Friday.
Travelling the world opens up your eyes to the beauty and flaws in our own part of the world It is always educational to see how others solve problems that we all share whether it is recycling (which they vigorously do…containers on city streets to help sort, right on the spot, garbage into paper, glass or cans instead of just one big garbage can), transportation, flood control or infrastructure construction.
Europe may be the ‘Old World’ but they can sure teach the ‘New Kids on the Block’ a thing or too.
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