Newsletter #44 - April 15 - 22, 1960
|
Newsletter #44
April 15 to 22nd, 1960
HOLLAND
Hello,
Tonight we are in The Hague - the seat of the government of
Netherlands as well as the part-time residence of the queen.
We left Rotterdam this morning in sunshine, but before we
arrived in Schoonhoven we had another good April shower. In
Schoonhoven we saw several old windmills and drove on to
Kinderdijk and Albasserdam. Here we saw a unique collection
of windmills which was a very impressive sight. The drive
along the river Lek (the name of the Rhine in this part of
the country) was also quite impressive and we saw lovely
Dutch landscape of the typically known canals and meadows
far below sea level as well as the polders on the other side
of the dike with the cows grazing on the beautiful green
countryside. In Holland we saw many cows with covers similar
to coats over their backs for which we have found no reason
-- thus far. We then drove to Vlaardingen which is an
important port in Holland for cod and herring fishing.
For the next twenty miles we drove through a part of Holland
which had greenhouses by the thousands and tulips in field
after field. These glass hot houses, which amazed us, are
famous for their grapes, tomatoes, peaches and, naturally,
for their flowers. It is one of Holland's greatest
horticultural regions.
We then drove to the Hook of Holland and watched many large
freighters and a few liners leave the river and sail out
into the North Sea. This is a very unusual sight and most
interesting. Our last stop for today before checking into
our hotel here in The Hague was Scheveningen - a very
delightful seaside resort and a suburb of The Hague.
Scheveningen is divided into two parts: one is the old
fishing village where we saw women wearing their traditional
costumes (though not very colorful as their skirts and
aprons were of somber colors). The other part of
Scheveningen is a fashionable resort containing many lovely
hotels and recreational areas which offer tennis, riding,
golf, swimming and even horse racing. Along the dikes, young
people were using areas about 15 x 20 feet to make designs
which looked like mosaics. These areas were designed and
composed of hyacinths in all colors and hues. As you walked
near them, the perfume emitted from the flowers was
delightful. This, we thought, was perhaps a contest since
there were at least 12 to 15 different groups at work
creating the mosaic pictures. However, we learned that this
is a custom which the young people practice just for the
love and thrill of achievement during this season of the
year. These mosaic designs of flowers were really
magnificent and so colorful.
|
- 2 -
Today is Easter [April 17] and it was a cool as any
winter day — at least here in Holland! However, during the
few periods of the day when the sun shone, it was quite
comfortable. We drove to all the important buildings,
churches, palaces and monuments; such as, the Peace Palace,
Royal Palaces (of which there are three), the Binnenhof
which is an area containing the Hall of Knights, the First
Chamber of the States General or Parliament and the Second
Chamber of the Parliament as well as the fountain and statue
of Count William II and the Plein with the Ministries of
Foreign Affairs, War, Justice and Netherlands High Court.
Another section of The Hague which was most interesting was
the Hofvijven. This is a lake area in the heart of the city
which is flanked by stately patrician mansions and which has
graceful swans and fountains adding to its beauty. We also
saw the Mauritshuis which is an old Dutch mansion that is
now a very celebrated art gallery. During our drive, we also
saw The Hague Woods with its Deer Park as well as its
hundreds of acres of beautifully landscaped gardens. The
Hague is really a royal, aristocratic city with large
squares, broad streets, beautiful parks, imposing buildings
and fine mansions. One of its main attractions which opened
in 1952 is the "Madurodam" - a miniature city, one
twenty-fifth the size of a typical Dutch city with old and
new quarters reproduced. Traffic actually moves in the
streets, miniature trains run on a complicated network of
railroads, a busy airfield with "Jets", helicopters, etc.
are included as well as a very excellent seaport
Installation which is very similar to Rotterdam's harbor and
possesses "flagships", "freighters", etc. These ships
actually move in synchronization with the lighthouse and the
modern type of constructions applied. In Hamburg,
Pennsylvania, we have a similar miniature town, but it is on
a much smaller scale and with not nearly so much complicated
engineering features. The one in Hamburg, Pa., is located
inside of a building while the one we visited today was
outside. There, were huge crowds of people at this unusual
attraction.
During the late afternoon, we drove to the coastal resort of
Noordwijk Aan Zee and enjoyed the hundreds of tulip fields
enroute. Traffic was bumper to bumper as I believe that
one-third of the German, Belgian, Swiss and other European
tourists are in the Netherlands this month and every other
car has an out-of-the-country license.
We thought we'd see an Easter Parade at the beach, but it
seems they celebrate Easter entirely different from us. Very
few people were dressed for Spring and we saw not even one
woman wearing a corsage. However, many cars, bicycles and
motor-scooters and buses were decorated with leis of flowers
made from daffodils and tulips. We again enjoyed seeing the
many mosaics of flowers along the highway today. These were
done in the same manner as those I described seeing in
Scheveningen.
Tonight we drove to three different Netherlands towns and
asked at six hotels before we found a place for the night.
This was because of all the tourists jamming each town and
hotel.
|
- 3 -
This morning [April 18] we had cloudy weather and
also found a flat when we went to the garage to get the car.
In addition to this, we discovered that the inside of the
tire is ruined and we had to buy a new tire and tube. We
certainly have had our share of flats as today was our
seventh. It seems that these two-ply tires flatten and take
on nails very easily. However, it is the best type of tire
we can buy for this size wheel. After an hour-and-a-half in
the garage, we started for the bulb fields in Sassenheim and
Lisse where we saw field after field and acre after acre of
tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, etc. We went to Keukenhof,
which is a colorful pageant of floral beauty set amid sixty
acres of lovely natural scenery. Here the narcissi, tulips,
hyacinths, iris, anemones, etc. are in bloom and in their
regal glory. We were only two in a crowd of thousands of
people as this is Easter Monday and a holiday in this
country. We again drove bumper to bumper to and from
Keukenhof and had to "queque-up" to pass about in the
gardens. Even amidst these crowds we felt relaxed and
enchanted with its attractive displays, its natural lakes
where swans, ducks and other waterfowl float idly on the
smooth surfaces of the water. The fresh air is quite
fragrant with the scent of all the various flowers. This
garden is really a springtime fairyland and certainly made
an unforgettable impression upon us. We're very sorry that
we won't have pictures to show you, but the sun didn't seem
to shine very much today. If we can spare a day later on,
we'll come back again next week.
Today we also visited another interesting city called
Leiden. This city is the birthplace of Rembrandt, Jan Steen
and other Dutch painters as well as the former home of most
of the Pilgrims who came to America on the Mayflower. Leiden
is also a renowned university city and a city which has a
famous past. Here we saw several lovely old churches, a very
old mill and the very picturesque stepped gable or facade of
the Stadstimmerwerf (Old Carpenter's yard) which dates from
1612 and is still very colorful and interesting. The narrow
shopping streets and many canals of this city are also
quaint as well as the two remaining old city gates, the
Weight House and the Town Hall.
From Leiden, we drove to Katiwijk which is a popular seaside
resort with an excellent beach. Then on to Zandvoort which
is a bulbgrowing center and one of the most fashionable
bathing resorts in Holland. We later drove through Aalsmeer
where the big flower auctions are held and then on to
Hilversum, Bussum, Laren and tonight we are in a lovely
little aristocratic town called Soestdijk. We are staying at
a very antiquated hotel almost across the street from the
favorite Royal Palace of Queen Juliana and her family. It is
a beautiful estate and resembles our White House except that
it has acres of wooded area oh all sides and is a much
larger residence.
Another day [April 19] and you find us in Amsterdam
- the capital and largest city of the Netherlands. Amsterdam
is very much like Venice as this city has fifty canals and
400 bridges. Therefore, we took a very complete sightseeing
tour in a glass enclosed modern boat through the many canals
and the modern harbor. One of the most interesting canals is
known as the "Gentlemen's Canal" where you see the
|
- 4 -
former homes of the fabulously wealthy merchants of
Amsterdam. Today these homes are office buildings and
consulates. On this boat trip we saw such famous places as
the Mint Tower, the Weepers Tower, the Montelbaans Tower,
the huge round Lutheran Church with its colorful green dome,
St. Nicholas Church, the Old Church which is the oldest
building in Amsterdam and was consecrated, in 1306 and the
New Church which is known as the Dutch Westminster. The most
fascinating part of this boat excursion was the harbor
because we saw constant streams of ferry boats, canal boats,
barges and oceangoing liners as well as men painting hulls
of ships and scrubbing the decks. After this fascinating and
most interesting boat trip, we walked along the canal which
has the Flower Market and visited the Dam Plein which is the
principal square and the site of another Royal Palace as
well as. the Rembrandt Square and the Museum Square. The
colorful charm of this city lies in its mixture of the old
and the new. The center of the city has quaint towers, old
gabled houses, tree-lined canals with lovely reflections,
romantic bridges, winding streets and unusual architecture.
The new part of the city is ultra-modern with too much glass
and many gaudy colors used in straight lines and stinted
manner. We prefer the old to the new everywhere we've
visited. Amsterdam seems to have the best collection of
unusual facades or gables of any Dutch city and the facades
have style names called bell, spout, neck, step, straight
and crow. Each home has a hoist on the top floor as this is
used to move furniture and other items into the upper
stories since all of the stairways in the homes are very
narrow and steep.
Today [April 20] we took another trip to Spakenburg and
Bunschoten. These are two fishing villages which are quite
quaint and here we saw more than half the people wearing
their national costumes. The women wear a very stiffly
starched shoulder collar which is very unique. After a good
look at these two small towns, we drove to Urk. This is
another interesting fishing village about twenty-five miles
from Spakenburg located on a branch of the Rhine. Here the
women also wear their national costumes. In Urk the streets
were quite narrow and walking was your best mode of
transportation to see this village which was most
interesting.
We next went to Kampen, a very ancient city, with some old
buildings such as the Town Hall, the Renaissance Gate of
Brothers, the Gate of Cellites, the Corn Market Gate, the
old Meat House and several old, medieval churches.
We later returned to the very Dutch town of Staphorst which
we had visited in February and were once more charmed with
its attractive and delightful homes an the traditional dress
which is worn so tastefully by the inhabitants of the town.
The headgear worn by these people is also very attractive
and costs at least $125.00 to $150.00 (in our money) and is
made predominately of silver and gold with a dainty lace
undercap. The homes are small while the barns are enormous
and the gaudy blue, green and red paint is used as trim
which makes their village look like a Christmas tree yard.
You can see wooden shoes on many doorsills as well as
scrubbed shoes on the
|
- 5 -
fence posts drying. The thatched roofs of the homes also add
to the town's dignity. The milk can storage racks on the
sides of the barns are very decorative with designs similar
to our Pennsylvania Dutch barn symbols.
Today we also went to Giethoorn which is a village without
streets and even the postman and local cows must travel by
canal to get from one polder to the next. In this area there
are many many miles of polders (reclaimed lands) with new
farmhouses possessing red roofs and several neat, tiny
villages. We had a drive of about fifty miles back to
Amsterdam.
We are staying in Amsterdam for the night and on our return
watched several farmers doing their evening milking chores
in the fields. Some even used electric milkers in the field
with a special machine which is mounted on wheels.
Another day [April 21] finds us driving among the
many bulb fields and on into Broek in Waterland and then to
Monnickendam. In former centuries, Monnickendam carried on a
worldwide trade and here we saw mansions and a famous tower
with its chiming bells. The fishermen of this town were very
busy doing their daily fishing chores.
From here we took a boat to the Island of Marken. There is a
quaint fishing village located on this island where
colorfully dressed Hollanders live in houses possessing
picturesque interiors and built on piles.
We next went to Volendam where we saw girls in their lace
caps, colorfully striped skirts and long aprons while the
fishermen wore full, baggy pants, double-breasted coats with
shiny buttons and clever caps. We watched them as they
unbaited their hooks and hung their nets up to dry. Our
hotel here in Volendam is very pleasant and all the
employees in the hotel wear their native costumes. The
waitresses are lovely in their large lace caps and colorful
skirts and aprons with always a double or triple strand of
red beads and a large gold button claps in the front. This
is part of the typical Volendam native dress and we have
noticed that no two villages dress exactly alike.
Today [April 22], being Friday, we drove to Edam and
then to Alkmaar to see the world famous cheese market. This
cheese market takes place every Friday morning and is a most
picturesque open-air occasion set against the background of
a lovely Dutch town. The center of this activity is the l6th
century town weighing house and the routine here has not
changed in centuries. The cheese porters, wearing the
traditional white costume of their guild and their peculiar
hats (red, yellow, blue and green depending upon their
particular guild), bring up thousands of round cheeses as
well as the immense wheels of cheese in huge scales. The
bidding ends with the traditional handclasp between seller
and buyer. This was most interesting and, to make the day
even more unusual, we met Mr. and Mrs. Horace Ports of York
at the market. They had arrived in Holland only two days
|
- 6 -
ago and told us what wonderful weather you had been having
in
York - particularly on Palm Sunday and Easter. (Suppose you
remember from my July newsletter that we also met them in
Japan
last year when they were returning from another trip.) This,
we
felt, was quite a coincidence and made us very happy to have
someone tell us about home. We've shipped home about 30-35
pounds
of cheese and we hope that perhaps most of you will get a
sample
as it is really good.
After visiting the cheese market, we drove through bulbland
once
more and went to Lisse to view the floats which will be in
the
annual Flower Parade tomorrow. It was most interesting to
view
the men, women and children at work on the floats as well as
to
see the many flower mosaics in the yards of the various
homes all
along the highways. If weather permits, we hope to see the
parade
tomorrow.
Thus ends another newsletter week. Hope you are all feeling
as
chipper as we are.
Fondest regards,
The Neimans, Meredith & Charlotte
|
|