SURPRISES

                                            New Things Here and There

• In Germany I saw the tallest lupines I’ve ever seen. They came in all colors and seemed to be a garden favorite. Quite different from our Texas bluebonnets.

• In the Bahamas Cable Beach was a beach with no name until 1907 when it became the starting point for laying the trans-Atlantic cable to Florida that connected the island to the US mainland.

• In Croatia a linden tree is always near a church so people can sit under it to contemplate and solve problems. The tree has a heart shaped leaf and is a symbol of hospitality. The linden tree is the Croatia’s national tree. Tea is sometimes brewed from the leaves. In Belgium the linden tree is severely cut back each year. 
   
• In Belgium bell towers have a clock on all four sides---this is also true in other places.
• Scotland has 2 million sheep—two for every person in the country.
• It is possible to exchange money in at the post office and may be the cheapest place to do so.
  
  
• In Switzerland many stairs lead to a ravine tunnel elevator that took us to another stairway leading to Trummelbach Falls where the noise was deafening—the noise of 20,000 liters of water per second cascading down the mountain!. It was a damp and slippery walk up to the falls that are glacier fed from the Mts. Eiger, Monch and Junfrau. The sight was spectacular and difficult to capture on film and because of the noise it was impossible to carry on a conversation.
   
• Dutch auctions start high and go down, opposite of most auctions.

Small villages in Holland have hand operated draw bridges.

Dutch people are friendly and have a great sense of humor.

• In York, England streets are called gates from the Viking word. So gates are bars and streets are gates---confusing! I’ve seen many ancient city gates in my travels but York had the most extensive and different gates still intact. Bootham Bar is the defensible bastion for the north road. Micklegate Bar on the south was traditionally the entrance for monarchy, and the place where traitor’s heads were displayed. Monk Bar, the last bar built, is the tallest and has kept the portcullis (iron grating) in working order. It has a couple of levels and each one is defendable. On the street level is a tax door, as everything entering the city was taxed. Walmgate Bar is the only town gate in England to have preserved its barbican, a funnel-like approach forcing attackers to bunch together.

• We walked a good part of the  ancient three-mile  wall surrounding the inner city of York. The population inside the walled city is 2000, the city’s population reaches 60,000 and greater York approaches 150,000.

AXEL, HOLLAND

                                   A Charming Village

      We berthed alongside a small pier in Axel, a sweet little Dutch town.  We walked to the 18^th century grist mill that burned in a 1911 and was rebuilt in the 1950s. It operates on demand and we were lucky it was working the day of our visit. The mill grinds only local grains and delivers it to a local bakery.  

         As we walked the narrow cobbled street we had a good view of the miller turning the sails to catch the wind. He was turning a large wheel similar to a ship’s wheel, and I finally understood how the cap moves. I just couldn’t visualize how the whole top of the windmill would move, and it doesn’t, just the cap on the top moves.

       An interesting video was playing on the ground level explaining how the mill works. The mill is run by the 5^th generation of the family. Afterward, I climbed up two flights of narrow stairs for a good view of how comfortably a family lives in a wind mill.

       On Main Street is a small museum, Land of Axel.  As we entered the museum, a couple dressed in traditional costume of the early 1900s greeted us. We gathered round to hear about the rather unique costumes.

      The lady bent over at the waist moving her hair forward, twisted it and pinned it to the top of her head. Then she placed a metal coiled form on her head to hold her white lace bonnet in place. This metal has a 2-inch coil, as if wrapped around a pencil, at each side of her forehead. She wears no earrings but can place decorations on the coils.

  

     If a woman can afford a choker she wears it at her neck; in this case the choker was coral with a gold clasp in the center. A vest, decorated from the neckline to the bust line on both the front and back with semi-precious stones, is worn over the blouse. I thought this was best described as bib shaped. A woman of lesser means might decorate her bib with beads.

      The shoulder wings are formed by pleating a triangle of fabric over heavy paper, then bending to form the wings which are pinned in the center, front and back. Years ago ladies wore no underwear but she wore seven skirts! The first, next to the body, was flannel. Others were cotton, linen, or velvet and topped with a black on black silky print.  After 1860 black was the color of the day. Some of the skirts had a bottom ruffle. Only the first three layers were washed.

      The docent explained, “When out in the fields and she had to go, she just stopped, spread her legs and peed.” She demonstrated for a visual effect!

      She wore woolen socks and leather shoes if she could afford them, wooden shoes if not.

She had long black sleeves to cover her arms if it was cold, and a large wool scarf to wear as a shawl for warmth. A lady had three outfits, one to wear, one to wash and one in the closet.

     The male outfit was a bit simpler. A flat black hat topped his head. A wool vest with buttons sown on each side was worn over a pleated sleeve blouse. A colorful small scarf was worn at the neck. His pants were cotton/linen and had no zipper. The front flap was held in place by a large silver buckle.  The flap reminded me of old sailor uniforms where the flap was held up with 13 buttons. 

The pants were full in the back by means of gathers. The man wore no underwear either.

      Laughing the docent said, “The front flap of the pants was referred to as the big barn door.”

     The fellow wore wool socks and the same shoes as the female. He always wore a good size knife with a wooden handle, often carved, in a side pocket of his pants. The blade of the knife was in a sheaf. It was an excellent, very interesting and entertaining demonstration!

      Axel is one of a few cities in the country having a distinct costume. The small museum highlights life of centuries past.

      From the museum it was only a few steps to the café that once was home of the first practicing physician in the area, dating back to the 1500s. Here we to enjoyed  sticky buns and hot drinks.

Delightful!

     The 60-meter high water tower can be seen from anywhere in town. It houses another small museum on the ground floor.

     The charming small village of Axel has a population of 8000. During WW II under heavy fog the people were liberated by Polish forces. Today the area is a popular art colony.

     I love charming small villages and this one was wonderful.

HOORN, HOLLAND

                            An Historic Town

Hoorn, established in 716, on the Ijsselmeer, offers a combination of old and new. Monumental facades tell of the history of this former headquarters of the Dutch East India Company town dating back to 1357. During Holland’s Golden Age, Hoorn was an important trading center for the company especially in the exotic spices of pepper, nutmeg, cloves and mace.

The street plan has basically remained intact and historic buildings have been retained. The town has at least 300 monuments. Once one of Holland's richest port cities, the town has a rich past. Hoorn is the beating heart of West Friesland and the hub of West Frisian business life.

On a walking tour our guide pointed out a building that originally was a shipyard, then a prison and now it has 28 apartments and a new museum. Of the East India Company’s 325 ships, 40 of them were built here. The tower dates to 1532 with the top being added later.

Many pavement cafes, restaurants and benches for people watching surround the harbor. Hoorn is also a museum town with six museums within walking distance of each other. The West Frisian Museum is the oldest, and the building itself is an exceptional example of Renaissance art. 

The inland area consists mainly of polders. A polder is reclaimed land from marshy areas or the sea via dikes. What used to be water is now land encircled by dikes–the Omringdijk (encircling dike) is the oldest. Man and animal live closely with one another in what is usually a combination of past and present day agriculture with green pastures for cows and sheep, alternating with traditional Dutch farmhouses and villages. A variegation of color begins in the spring with flowering bulb fields.

Hoorn's 70,000 inhabitants, representing about 80 different nationalities, live in the old city center and the districts built around it. Young and old coexist happily and that extends to both people and buildings. Modern architecture is carefully blended into the historic townscape.

All of the little towns/ villages we had the pleasure of visiting were a real treat. It is so nice to see preservation working, and it is alive and well in the Netherlands.

A STEP BACK IN TIME

                                     A Different Way of Life

      It was a scenic ride to the town Broek op Langedijk, the Netherlands, established in 1063.  The area was swampy and after building a 4-mile dike people settled along it. Originally there were 37 islands and after digging and dikes, started in 1100, the number of islands climbed to 1500.   Originally the area covered 50 square kilometers. The canals are used for transportation by punt---flat bottom boats.  
     In the 17^th century pig farming gave way to vegetable farming. The soil is very rich and there is no need for fertilizer. The area is noted for its vegetable farming, primarily root vegetables plus cabbage. A huge amount of cabbage is grown here which used to be stored in cabbage attics. Most houses  had hoists on the side of the house to lift the cabbages up for storage.
      Because of water plants the canals need to be dredged every three years. If they are not, it’s not long before the plants close the canal and two islands will join each other to form a larger island. The canals are one-meter deep, and the lake is seven-meters deep in the center. All the islands are named.
      Auctions started in 1887 when the auctioneer stood on a wooden platform and vegetables were sold from small boats. In 1903 a clock was added and the auction building built.  The last auction  was in 1973; then all of the area plus buildings was turned into Broeker Veiling Museum.
     Built over the water, the impressive mooring halls, with 1,900 wooden posts to support the imposing wooden structure, is a national monument. The boat hall was covered in 1922. It was massive with wide sturdy walkways throughout. Moving from one part of the museum to another we stopped in the boat hall to see how the boats were constructed.
      Made of oak, they were  painted with tar containing crushed shells making the decks less slippery.
      Following a museum tour, we enjoyed a boat trip to the interesting Realm of the Thousand Islands where we were introduced to a fascinating area in the province of North Holland. Many of the islands are owned by the state for a nature reserve. Over 2500 people live in the Realm. While on the boat we noted the definite aroma of potato chips and learned the stack belching smoke was a Lay’s factory. They sure smelled good!
      We had an intimate lesson on Dutch trading in the 1912 historic auction room. It was fun to experience and witness the excitement of a traditional auction. The auction room was very light with large windows and a roof sky light. This was the oldest water vegetable auction in the world. I wonder where there might have been other ones.
      It was an interesting afternoon learning about another way of life.

ENKHUIZEN ( enk=HOW-zen) HOLLAND

                    A Wonderful Visit to a Charming City

Enkhuizen is a striking, magnificently preserved town established between 1000 and 1200, and

became a city in 1355.  Prospering from its herring fishing industry and trade from the Dutch East India Company, Enkhuizen reached its peak in the 17th century when it boasted the largest herring fleet in Holland.

The thriving port sat on the edge of the Zuider Zee, an inlet of the North Sea until it was enclosed in 1932. Now, Enkhuizen sits on the Ijsselmeer, the large inland lake created by the damming of the sea outlet. The 20-mile long dam has two highway lanes on top.

With a population of 16,000, this historic city retains its old charms, and its harbors attract thousands of pleasure boats. The delightful city walking tour concluded at St. Pancras Church, where we had a lesson on its famous murals followed by a brief organ concert that ended with the Star Spangled Banner. We all joined in the singing---nice!

This Church dates back to the 15th century, with the 75 meter high tower being built in 1450. Originally, it wasn't that high, but in 1526 the octagonal section and onion dome were added. It also has a 45 bell carillon. There are paintings on the wooden ceiling dating back to 1484. Originally covered in whitewash the paintings were revealed only when the roof needed repair in 1900 and the wash was removed.  The church was restored after killing an infestation of beetle termites with temperatures of 130 degrees.

It took a hundred years to build this church. It is rectangular facing east with the entrance on the west side. The choir is in the east end and the pews line the long way of the rectangle. The wooden cross came from Norway. Originally the church was Catholic, but during the religious wars in 1572 the priest became a minister and the church became Protestant---practically overnight.

The Drommedaris is an old defense tower located at the entrance to the harbor. Many warehouses originally used by both the East and West India Companies remain.

A cherry tree by the city hall was in full bloom. It was a drizzly day but not enough to bother with an umbrella.

         In the afternoon we went a bit out of town for tea with a delightful local family. The home was large by European standards, it was also new, about 15 years old, and this family had lived here a little over a year. Dad,  a school principal of two small schools with a total of 300+ students,  came home to visit with us. Mom, a psychotherapist, worked from home, seeing most of her clients in the evenings. The older daughter was attending college in Amsterdam where she commutes by train, about an hour each way. The teenage boy has one more year of high school. Both teenagers were friendly, talkative and fun.

            The furnishings were a bit modern and stark for my taste, but had clean cut lines. The dining room was off the living room and the kitchen was behind the garage, next to the dining room. Homes come with no appliances or closets. The dining room was very light with very large windows and glass door on two sides that looked out onto a garden area that  housed a small shed to store bikes. A narrow spiral staircase led upstairs where there were three rooms and a small sleeping alcove which the son occupied.

            The son brought  his girlfriend after school. She was a delightful young lady, animated, friendly and talkative. It was interesting to converse with both the parents and the young people, few of whom are as friendly and talkative to strangers. They all spoke good English.

            We enjoyed coffee or tea and stooperwafles. We did it the proper way by putting the stooperwafles on top of the steaming coffee cups. Yum! It was a charming visit—one for the books.

WINDMILLS OF HOLLAND

                                Kinderdijk

            Kinderdijk is a small village 16 kilometers from Rotterdam and a little less than 10 kilometers from the city border of Dordrecht, the oldest city in Holland. The village is unique for its 19 windmills dating from the 1500s.

The name is derived from a 16^th century legend about a baby, a cradle and a cat that all survived after being tossed into raging waters. For centuries the Dutch were at the mercy of floods. The innovative structures drain water from  polders (reclaimed land below sea level) pumping it into rivers and canals. This distributes the water levels and prevents devastating flooding. Today engines turn paddle wheels that scoop up water to redeposit it. Understandably the country has a unique bond with windmills.

            Kinderdijk is the only place in the world where one can find so many windmills concentrated in such a small area, and is the reason Kinderdijk is a UNESCO site.

            The Kinderdijk milling complex consists of 8 stone brick windmills,1738, of the waterboard Nederwaard; 8 thatched windmills, 1740, of the waterboard Overwaard; 2 stone windmills, 1760,  of the polder Nieuw-Lekkerland; and 1 windmill, 1521,  of the polder Blokweer. The last windmill  burned down in 1997, but has been rebuilt and operational since the spring of 2000.  

Kinderdijk is the final station of water of the Alblasserwaard, an area approximately 10 by 20 miles, before the river Lek empties into the sea. Even today rain water needs to be disposed of. Since the 1950's water has been pumped by one of the largest pumping stations in the world.  However, in case of emergency, the windmills that were operational until WW II still can be used.

Windmills have two doors on opposite sides because the blades are always facing the wind, and the direction of the wind vary. The blades turning in front of the door make for a dangerous situation!

The top floor of the windmill rotates with the blades and the tail of the mill, and therefore a chimney cannot be attached to the roof. Sparks of the open fire used to heat the windmill might set the thatch roof on fire. The chimney of a windmill is horizontal instead of vertical. The smoke would be blown down if there was only one ending. The second ending creates a natural draft through the chimney pulling the smoke out.

A windmill is a windmill. Not necessarily so! Watermills, can drain the land like in Kinderdijk. Grindingmills, grind flour, as well as colors to dye fabrics. Sawing mills cut wood. There are also modern two or three-blade electricity windmills. Windmills have different shapes and constructions. Windmills in old cities were built on a house, so they would reach over the buildings of the city. Windmill blades are 42-feet long and mills are placed at least 1300-feet apart. There are 1000 windmills left in Holland, a tiny fraction of the many mills that once dotted the landscape.

When there is a hole in the sail, it is patched, if there is another hole another patch is made, and when there are more patches than sail the sail is replaced. The old sail would be used for making children’s clothes. Capacity of an older windmill is 40.000 liters/min while capacity of the Nederwaard pumps is 1.350.000 liters/min.

TULIPS

              The Netherlands in Springtime

 

            The tulip originally came from Asia and the Mediterranean. The word is said to come from

tuliban, meaning turban. The upside down turban-like flowers were cultivated for centuries in Persia before the first bulb arrived in Europe. The first bulbs sent to Europe were sent to Vienna, and the Crown Imperial tulip takes its name from the imperial gardens of  that city.

            The first tulips were long stemmed red cultivars and were illustrated in 1559. After 14 years at the Viennese Imperial Gardens, botanist, Clusius, moved to Leiden, Netherlands where he founded the first botanic garden (Hortus Academicus) to focus on ornamental plants rather than medicinal ones.

            He developed a private tulip collection from which he sold specimens for outrageous prices. Unwilling to pay the steep price, yet desirous of the plants, local gardeners broke into his gardens one night and stole many specimen tulips. It is from this that the now famous Dutch bulb industry developed.

            Today tulip bulbs are a major Dutch export product. About 93% of all bulbs in the word come from the Netherlands. 2700 growers cultivate 52,000 acres of bulbs, plus more than 23,000 acres of land are dedicated to greenhouse production. The industry employs 20,000 people. However, the average bulb farm is only 20 acres. Over 9 billion bulbs are produced annually, one third of which are tulips. Those three billion tulips, if planted four inches apart, would circle the globe at the equator seven times!

            Tulip mania occurred in the early 1600s. This sprang from the tendency of tulips to be infected with a virus, resulting in odd, yet often attractive colored streaking in the flowers. These broken tulips became prized, sought widely, and worth many guilders (money). This led to widespread trading and speculation until in 1637 when there was a sudden market collapse. Those lovely tulips are depicted in the art of Dutch masters and today tulips with streaking, but without any virus, are called Rembrandt tulips.

            Tulips adapt well to any soil type that is well drained. Tulips require cool spring temperatures to bloom at their best. Between September and December, tulip bulbs are planted in the ground at a depth equal to twice the bulbs' height.

            One must visit The Netherlands in mid springtime to see the absolutely gorgeous displays of tulips growing in fields creating huge pallets of vibrant color.