First, a discussion of…..
Jackets: When Suzanne looked at the forecast for Amsterdam before we left, she swooned with delight; highs in the high 60’s or low 70’s, lows in the 50’s. As we discussed the weather, I mentioned “I might bring a jacket”.
Suzanne immediately heaps scorn upon me…who needs a jacket?, blah blah. So, of course, I don’t pack one.
We arrive, and I find that Suzanne has packed a jacket!
For most of the events you read about below, I am bordereline cold (if the sun was out, I was good, when the sun went away and the wind was blowing, well, that’s a different story. Especially on the boat ride down to Kinderdijk. During these moments, Suzanne had her light green jacket. Jacket-controversy was one of the big themes of Saturday in the Netherlands.
The other big theme is….
Trains: This was the first of our misadventures with trains; the initial plan was to see Delft first, and then go to Kinderdijk (via Rotterdam)…..but, the train we were on, even though it went through Delft, didn’t stop there. We realized our mistake as we pulled up The Hague, and I suggested getting off, but, the sign said something that I translate as “next stop in Delft” when it actually read “no stop in Delft” I guess. So, the day starts out in……
Rotterdam: Not the most touristy of spots, but, I’m glad in the end we went, but, there doesn’t seem to be enough here to make a day of it. Didn’t really have time to do the full harbor tour, and that may have made the trip more worth it.
One panorama from the top of the Euromast; looking at downtown Rotterdam….
The other direction……if you head up the Meuse river you’ll get to the port ‘parts’ of the city…we didn’t make it there…
As we were walking from the Euromast to where we needed to board the boat for Kinderdijk we were blocked from one area by the police; someone had fallen in to the river and a rescue was in progress. As we got further away and headed up towards this open square, this helicopter comes and lands about 100 yards in front off us. Very loud, very windy, and the boys would have been very impressed if they would have been here.
A monument of I don’t know what, there’s a display of the flags of all the countries in the world along the river here as well.
Kinderdijk: We could have taken a tram and a bus to get here, but, instead, we took the boat down the Meuse to the windmills. The boat trip was fun; the boat was slow, and whenever the sun went away I was pretty cold. And Suzanne had her jacket on….
Like Rotterdam, there’s not a lot of things to do here, but, the one thing is impressive, this is the site for windmills. And they’ve been here since for 400+ years.
The best thing here was the sound the windmills made; it was really windy, and you could hear the sails ‘swoosh’ as they rotated around and around and around.
My one attempt at a panorama; octogonal-base windmills on the left, round-base windmills on the right. Suzanne like the lily-pads in the water…..
For the most part, I try and keep the blog to pictures I’ve taken….it’s easier for me to remember what pictures I’ve taken and to write descriptions around them. But I didn’t get this shot, and Suzanne showed it to me while we were there and I really like it….
Delft: After the boat ride back up the Meuse to Rotterdam, we make sure to get on a train that will stop in Delft. It may not have been our original intent, but, I’m kind of glad we got to Delft when we did….it was quiet and peaceful, and I don’t know if the city is like that all the time, but, I’ll always remember walking along the streets with nobody around listening to the church bells play on and on (and on and on!) in the distance.
Just quiet and peaceful with a lot of shadows as the sun was getting lower and lower…..
The Market Square, or Centruum, as all the signs would say. Dominated by the two churches on either side of the square. This one was the one you could hear all the way from the train station (a ten minute walk)……we saw a wedding party pass us, maybe the bells were for them…..
And then there’s even another church off in the distance
The front of the church you see the back and side of in the earlier pictures. We ate dinner at a nice Italian restaurant directly behind this church
Saw this swan as we walked out; you can see the canal behind the swan with multiple bridges crossing it. Hopped the train back to Amsterdam and that was it for the day.
