Well, Sunday morning is certainly the time to take photos in old Amsterdam, there is noone around. We walked lonely and leisurely to the tour bus stop on a street where we had to elbow our way the other day.
The countryside is flat, flat, flat, but what can you expect from a land where the airport is on the bottom of a former lake, 4.5 m below sea level. But it is green, dotted with cows or sheep on fields separated by ditches. The curious part is the major waterways which are higher than the fields.
Rotterdam is the major port in all of Europe being on the mouth of both the Maas and the Rhine rivers. Unfortunately it was bombed three times during the war and the rebuilding was speedy which now makes it an ugly city, by their own admission. But they do have a tower, only about ⅓ the height of the CN tower, but still tall enough to get a good view of the rivers, the bridges (yeah Erasmus!), the harbour and the islands.
Delft, just a few kilometers from Rotterdam is the city of thy royal china, handpainted and very expensive. We toured one of the only 2 factories left. Nowadays, there are just copies of everything.
There were many impressive buildings in The Hague, but nowhere to get out and tour, so we saw numerous embassy buildings (it actually is the seat of the government) and the famous Peace Palace.
Madurodam is a fun place for adults as well as kids. Many of the Dutch landmarks are represented in 1/25 miniature and there are interactive stations for locks, dikes, loading container ships, using fireboats to extinguish a ship’s flames, etc. It was a wonderful stop even though we recognized only a few of the landmarks. What fun for Dutch children to come and experience.
The riot police are in front of our hotel this evening, as the local soccer club won the Dutch championship this afternoon. I don’t know why this location is potentially so explosive, but we will see.
today’s photos -- the Erasmus bridge (also known as “The Swan”) in Rotterdam -- a modern beauty!
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