Newsletter #45 - April 22 - 29, 1960
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Newsletter #45
April 22-29, 1960
Netherlands, Germany, Denmark
Mailed Denmark 5/2/60
Recd. Philadelphia 5/10/60
Greetings:
Old Man Weather was very good to us today [April 23]
and seemed to smile during the entire Flower Parade which we
viewed between Sassenheim and Lisse. We were waiting by the
road for two hours before it passed, as the cities and
highways were crowded and jammed as the parade continues
through three cities and along the main highways. The floats
were elegant and done in very tasteful and intricate
designs, with flowers, such as tulip, daffodils, hyacinths,
amaryllis, frescias and pansies, being used extensively. The
theme of the parade was "The Tulip for 400 Years," and they
first had four floats which represented four historical
events out of each of the four centuries during which the
bulb farming has been cultivated in Holland. The remaining
34 floats were of varied titles giving impressions of
different countries, as Turkey, to which country the tulip
seems to owe its origin; and many were humorous, such as "At
First the Bulbs, then Bols" — which is the famous "Gin" of
Holland. Each float was attractive and the costumes used
were traditional with dignified Hollanders adding to the
decor. We certainly are glad we took time out to see this
dramatic event. Traffic was terrific after the parade, but
we drove to Haarlem again and viewed this city of flowers
and then went on to Hoorn, a lovely old village with many
ancient and interesting buildings. We also drove to
Enkhuizen, a fishing village devoted to the great cultural
heritage of the Zuiderzee, where we saw some of the real old
time way of life, often only found around the former
Zuiderzee. The streets were so narrow in most of this town
that you could only walk in them. Our next quaint fishing
village was Medemblik, where we especially enjoyed the
scenic surroundings as well as the Castle of Radboud. We
then continued driving until we reached the famous dyke
locks at Den Oever and started across the very magnificent
Enclosure Dam, which is a massive 18 mile-long sea dyke
which started off the gigantic scheme to drain the
Zuiderzee. Along this dyke we stopped at the monument which
indicates the point where the dyke was finally closed. This
reclamation scheme must really be seen to be fully
appreciated; the amount of labor skill and engineering and
money which was needed to build this dam, completed in 1932,
was enormous. The bulb fields which we saw late this
afternoon in the Friesland Area were glorious and here we
also saw millions of pansy plants, creeping phlox and
primulas being raised for commercial purposes.
The farms in Friesland are exceptionally large and very
prosperous as well as being extraordinarily delightful and
dignified in appearance. Here the traditional headgear of
the Friesland women costs hundreds of dollars and they wear
satin brocade dresses with aprons of fine linen and lace. We
were told the interiors of their homes are quite elegant
with beautiful hand-carved furniture and all the furnishings
of the finest workmanship. Tonight [April 24] we are
staying at a very modern hotel which has been open only to
guests for the past four months, and our meal tonight was
super-ultra, with the finest of service.
Today [April 25] we spent half of our time in
Holland and the remainder in Germany. Before leaving Holland
we drove to Groningen, a very prosperous and modern city in
the Northern Section of the Netherlands. Here we saw the
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University, which was founded in 1614 and the school where
the students wear different colored caps to denote their
course of study. From Groningen we drove to Winschoten,
which is the only town in Holland which still contains four
windmills. (Two of these were in rather bad condition.) This
area is the center of one of the richest agricultural
districts in Europe and in this area two towns (Sappemeer
and Hoogezand) are peat colonies and the fields look as
black as coal. (Perhaps some of the peat moss we use at home
may have come from this area.) The last three towns I've
mentioned also flourish in shipyards and we saw several
ships in different stages of contraction, which was quite
interesting to we landlubbers.
Since we have completed Holland, I must tell you how much we
enjoyed our two weeks traveling over its countryside. Here
where everyone owns a bicycle, motor scooter or motor cycle
is a countryside more unique than any other we have visited.
The Dutch countryside, their homes, their farms and every
inch of ground is as neat and clean as human hands can
possibly make it and even their cows, pigs, horses and other
animals seem better groomed than anywhere else. Today we
were even fortunate enough to see two storks nesting on a
farmhouse, although it is to be a common sight later in the
summer. In this wonderful little country the scene changes
with surprising swiftness, for the modern seems to mingle
with relics of the past at each thriving town or
sleepy-looking little hamlet. I believe I'm safe in saying
that in no other place in the world is there such a riot of
color as in the thousands of acres planted with tulip and
other bulbs in the spring when they are flowering, as it is
one of the most magnificent sights you can imagine. To sum
up Holland, I would say it is crisp, spanking clean, very
hospitable and has charm galore in its land of tulips,
canals, windmills, wooden shoes, medieval castles, cheese,
flower and fish markets, and its colorful traditional
customs and costumes. (Even the language barrier is easier
here as many Hollanders speak excellent English and they are
quite at home with tourists.)
Tonight [April 25] we are in Hamburg, the largest
northern city in Germany, which has an important seaport and
is a commercial and industrial center. It was one of the
most heavily bombed cities during the war, but there has
been much rebuilding as you see very few signs of war
damage. Before arriving here we visited Oldenburg, Germany,
a very old town which was surrounded by gardens and had a
lovely 17th Century castle. For miles before and after
Oldenburg we enjoyed the picturesque farmhouses and colorful
peasantry which was much like the Friesland areas of
Holland. We also stopped in Bremen, where we enjoyed the old
part of the city with its narrow streets, small houses and
ancient walls, which seem to nestle near the Weser River,
while the modern harbor and suburbs stretch out in a large
radius. Here we saw the old Rathaus (Town Hall) with its
beautiful Renaissance facade, also St. Peter's Cathedral and
the Roland Monument which is an enormous statue of a
medieval knight and considered Bremen's landmark. This city
was quite lovely and we should have lingered longer, but we
had rain, snow, sleet and hail at different intervals this
entire day and we wanted to be in Hamburg for the night.
Went shopping in Hamburg this A.M. [April 26] and as
usual found a few items of interest to purchase, as this is
our last day in Germany. The wind has howled all day and it
has been as cold as any day this winter, Meredith is sorry
he sent his long underwear to Sweden, as he has really
minded the last few days of severe winds and rain. We saw
several of Hamburg's quaint old buildings, some fine
churches and their many parks and gardens, which are
throughout the city. They have several canals in
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this very old city, which are lined with some very unusual
buildings and homes. From Hamburg we drove north about
noontime to the cities of Neumunster, Schleswig and
Flensburg and then crossed the frontier into Denmark.
To summarize Germany, we must admit it is an extremely
interesting and beautiful country with ideal roads for
driving, fabulous autobahns, which we seldom used as our
desire was to see the scenery and attractive out-of-the-way
places which are usually bypassed by the autobahn. The
scenic highlights of Germany to us were the Bavarian Alps,
the Black Forest, the scenic Romantic Road, the castle trip
along the Rhine, the Ruhr District and the visit to Berlin,
The Germans were very hospitable and accommodations were
excellent everywhere, although we are not fond of their
feather puffs or sharing tables in restaurants. (Two customs
prevalent all over Germany).
Tonight we are in a very beautiful hotel whose dining room
overlooks Lillebaelt Sound and the island of Fyn. Wish you
could have seen the wonderful dinner we had and the
exquisite way in which it was garnished and served. Our
first course was a lovely fish (head, eyes, fins and all!)
with hollandaise sauce, boiled potatoes, fresh tomatoes,
etc., then the main course was breaded veal with six
vegetables and salad, and our dessert was ice cream with
strawberries and luscious whipped cream. (If all our meals
in Denmark are of this caliber, I fear my waistline will
surely suffer.)
We left Kolding this A.M. [April 27] after a meager
continental breakfast, which always consists of coffee or
tea, bread, butter and Jam, (For two weeks in Holland we had
very large breakfasts of eggs, cheese, ham, cold cuts, plus
the regular continental fare, but only Holland and England
serve this heavy breakfast. The price is high everywhere for
breakfast considering the little food you get, except the
two countries I've mentioned.) The weather was cold, cloudy
and miserable all day but we managed to visit the cities of
North Jutland, such as Vejle, a popular resort along one of
Denmark's fiords; Horsens, an important city since the
middle ages; Aarhus, the capital of Jutland, with a busy
seaport and a lovely cathedral; Randers, an ancient town
with narrow streets, quaint old homes and lovely parks;
Aalborg, with its burgher houses built by the great
merchants of the Renaissance, and its castle built in 1539
by King Christian III; and tonight we are in a small fishing
village called Nykoobring, which is famous for its oyster
beds (it is on the Island of Mors).
Today we finished the middle and southern section of Jutland
in the same cloudy, miserable weather as yesterday, except
we had quite a bit of rain. We visited the cities of this
area, such as Holstebro, with its popular old church;
Thisted, a popular resort city; Esbjerg, an important port
city where we saw many fishing cutters, as well as several
ships in construction; Ribe, the oldest town in Denmark,
with many half-timbered houses and the town noted for its
many storks' nests, which we did not see as they haven't
arrived in this area for the summer; Tonder, a quaint city
with many old houses and cobblestoned streets; Krusa, the
lovely autumn residence of the present King and Queen in the
Grasten Castle of a Baroque style which was built in 1759;
Sönderborg, the city which is
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noted for the Sönderborg Castle, an old medieval fortress
which is now a museum, and also the Dybböl Mölle, a national
memorial with a windmill as part of its memorial; Aabenraa,
situated on a fiord in South Jutland and a fishing village;
Haderslev, a popular area for sail boating; Christianfeld, a
small town founded by a religious group with some quaint
homes and back to Kolding, where we saw the ruins of an old
castle and returned to the pleasant hotel we enjoyed our
first night in Denmark. Again our dinner was excellent and
the sky looks clear, so we hope tomorrow will bring us a
lovely sunshiny day.
Our wishes were not granted, as again we had rain
intermittently all day, with dark gloomy skies the rest of
the time but we went to the Island of Fyn, where we saw some
lovely castles. One castle was near Faaborg and it was a
gorgeous one known as Brahetrolleborg and was the home of a
renowned family called Reventlows; another castle we saw was
the Egeskov Castle, a most beautiful Renaissance style in
wonderful condition and with very extensive and
extraordinary gardens. We then went to Odense, a city famous
because it was the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen and
here we saw his home and the museum as well as the Odense
Castle, which is now the residence of the mayor of this
city. Our next city was Nyborg, an old fortress town where
we saw the Danehof Castle and then took a ferry to the
Island of Sealand, which took about one hour for the
crossing. We landed at Korsor and then drove south to
Naestved, a town with many beautiful old houses, as well as
the impressive Gothic Church of St, Peters.
Tonight [April 28] we are staying in another
Nykobing, but this town is on the Island of Falster, while
the one we stayed in on Tuesday night was on the Island of
Mors. This town is another popular beach area, as it is
located on the Guldborg Sound and has several sandy beaches
nearby.
This morning [April 29] we left Nykobing and drove
to Stubbekobing, where we took a ferry to the Island of Mön,
as we wanted to visit the unusual chalk cliffs on this
island. In order to see these cliffs we had to hike about a
mile downhill, mostly by crude steps; reaching the foot of
the hill you see the majestic peaks of snow-white chalk
which are in many odd formations and at the same time you
enjoy the many colors of the Baltic Sea waters — the waves
beat against the lower area of these many formations. The
climb back to the car was an exhausting one, but also
interesting as we enjoyed the many wildflowers during the
climb. We next drove to Stege, a town with a very
interesting mill tower, and then on to the island of Zealand
or Sealand again. (Two ways of spelling this large island.)
In the southern part of this lovely island we saw the Goose
Tower and then the Gisselfeldt Castle, a remarkable
Renaissance- type building constructed in 1547 and later the
Bregentved Castle of Rococo style, built in 1891, which has
a magnificent old chapel as well as a very beautiful
garden-like park with canals, small lakes and remarkable
landscaping. Our next place of interest was the Valla Castle
of Renaissance style, which was built in 1535 and has been
used since 1737 as a home for unmarried ladies of rank. This
castle was very gorgeous and in a very good condition, with
gardens and lovely grounds surrounding it, and it had many
bulb beds arranged in unusual formations. Near this castle
was the City of Köge, with many fine old houses in the
center of the city, which also had a unique square and a few
lovely old churches. From Köge we drove along the coast road
to Copenhagen, passing Copenhagen's holiday Riviera with
hundreds of summer homes and unusual beaches.
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Tonight [April 29], the end of another NewsLetter
week, finds us in Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark,
the seat of the government and the home of its king. We only
know that it is a busy city, as we had a difficult time in
the bicycle traffic, which is really terrific and
frightening as the cyclists seem to need no kind of rules of
the road, but they just seem to keep moving and swerving in
front of you at all times. We are staying at the Baltic
Hotel, which is a very attractive place and conveniently
located. We plan to be in Copenhagen for at least four days,
so we will tell you about this popular city next week.
We are still feeling very well and except for the bad
weather and the extreme cold we are quite happy and just as
adventuresome as ever. Until next week,
Fondest regards,
Meredith & Charlotte
P.S.: Today was our sixth successive day of no sunshine and
few pictures, so perhaps you can understand our reason for
griping about the weather. All winter we have had people
tell us "But you should have been here last year, as we had
a wonderful winter with balmy days and mild temperatures,
the entire season." We appreciate their telling us this, but
it does not alter our feelings of disappointment.
M & C
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