Oh what a Beautiful Morning!

First a note: I'm probably the last person in the world to know this, but if you click on a photo you can enlarge it.  Some of the photos definitely benefit from that.

And now a note from Nancy: I think the pictures taken here in the Netherlands are the best Gerry has taken. Don't know if it is because he just gets better and better with experience or if it is because this is his homeland and gives him extra incentive. They are, for whatever reason, absolutely lovely. 

It's Sunday morning, almost Sunday afternoon, on an utterly beautiful day in Rotterdam.  Truth to tell, every day has been utterly beautiful -- sunny and warm.  I suspect it's like this all the time, and the Dutch have simply spread rumors about all the clouds and rain to keep people from moving here.  Sort of like Seattle.  In any event, we'll enjoy it while it lasts, and I have some catching up to do on this blog before we go out for a walk.

I last wrote on Thursday and now it's Sunday!  Hmm, what have we done?  On Thursday we mostly stayed in, finally emerging, as evening came on, to get some dinner.  We walked to Delfshaven which is, as it turns out, very close to where we're staying.  We ate in the pub, De Pilgrem, by the Pilgrim Fathers Church.  The food was delicious, the waitress friendly, and the cats a bit stand-offish.  I took some photos on the way there

and on the way home.

Such a lovely evening to be strolling in such a lovely place.  Delfshaven, by the way and in case you were wondering, was originally the harbor of Delft.  It's the terminus of a canal dug from Delft to get access to the sea.

Friday morning Aad and Anja picked us up and whisked us off to the Hook of Holland, but first we stopped in the little town of Naaldwijk.  You won't be surprised to learn it was lovely.  And the weather, of course, was perfect.  Naaldwijk is in the heart of flower growing country and is near the site of the largest flower auction in the world.

We walked through the Heilige Geest Hoftje which dates back to the 17th century and suggests that for some poor people, at least, things weren't so bad.  "Cute," as Evynne, our granddaughter, would say.

We strolled a bit through the town.

Turns out people actually wear wooden shoes.  Coming from the Holland, Michigan area I thought people only wore them when Klompen dancing during the Tulip Festival.

I tried to take iconic photos, so in addition to wooden shoes I photographed churches,

a bicycle,

and cheese.

Here Nancy's trying to pump some water, but the handle is stuck.

After Naaldwijk we drove to Aad and Anja's cottage at the Hook of Holland.  There are perhaps 800 cottages in this community.  People may be there all but four months of the year.  Aad's father built their cottage and several others including their daughter's.  As a boy Aad spent every summer here.  He and Anja met here, and their daughter and her family have a place just a few doors away.  Actually, that's true in Rotterdam also.  Like us, they feel very lucky to be so close to their child and to their grandchildren.

Here's the table Aad built.

And some other views of their place

And their daughter's place a few doors away.

I learned that the Hook of Holland was fortified more heavily than any other part of the Netherlands by the Germans during World War Two.  This bunker is by the cottage parking lot.  We'll see more bunkers later.

First, the Maeslantkering.  I believe I mentioned in a previous post that the Maeslantkering is the largest piece of the Delta Project which was conceived and implemented after the disastrous floods of 1953 in which nearly 2,000 people died.  The Maeslantkering is a storm surge barrier, designed to protect the New Waterway and the surrounding area (including Rotterdam, of course) from the sea.  It's difficult to convey in photos.

Here's the waterway.

Here you see one arm of the barrier.  The other arm is on the other side of the waterway.

Here you see it (the other arm) better.

I've added a photo from the web to show how it works.  Each arm pivots on one of the world's largest ball and socket joints.  When the barrier is open, the waterway is completely clear.  In fact, one reason this design was chosen was because it could be constructed while keeping the waterway open.  When the computer decides the waterway needs to be closed the troughs in which the barrier rests are flooded, floating the barrier.  The barrier is then rotated into position and flooded so it sinks onto the concrete pads placed over crushed rock on the waterway floor.  If the barrier needs to be in place more than three days it can be partially floated at low tide to let water out.  When it's no longer needed to be in place the water is pumped out so the arms float again.  They're then rotated back in place and allowed to settle in place ready for use again.  The system is tested annually and was actually used in 2007.  As I noted before, as climate change works its magic, the barrier is expected to be needed more often.  The whole Delta Project consists of several additional surge barriers as well as dikes and controlled flood areas.  It's an engineering marvel.

The Hook of Holland is an area of big engineering projects.  In addition to the Maeslantkering there are the many, many bunkers and gun emplacements the Germans put in place during World War II.

We weren't sure what these hands were for.

Some of the bunkers have been repurposed.

We walked more or less forever along the waterway

before coming to a path that went off to the north along the beach.  For all I know it goes on to Den Haag and Scheveningen.

Fortunately we only walked to the café.  When did my knees get so old!?

You never know what you'll see on the beach in Holland.

This sign informs us that Rotterdam is a heck of a lot closer than New York, not to mention Shanghai.

Did I mention the bunkers and gun emplacements?  For Aad these things are not only interesting in their own right, but he also has many fond childhood memories of playing on them.  He sort of scampered up and down recalling how they used to crawl in here and jump off from there.  I more or less tottered after him.  I asked him whether his parents had known where he and his friends were playing.  "Well," he said, "as long as we came home at night . . . ."  Precisely my point, I thought.

Can't crawl in here any more.

That evening we drove to Scheveningen for dinner, to the Simonis Fish Restaurant.  The place was jumpin'.

Nancy and Anja had mussels.  Aad and I had fish and chips.  I have never seen that much fish on one plate!

And then, exhausted, to home.

The next day, after some mutual prodding, we were off to Delft.  Tram to train to Delft.  So easy.  Gotta love civilization.  Of course, the Dutch do pay a lot in taxes, poor creatures.  It was another gorgeous day, and Delft is exquisitely lovely.

It was Saturday market day.  Lots of old things for sale, like these Hans Brinker castoffs.

Delft is the home of Vermeer, but other people of renown came from there.  This statue is of Hugo Grotius, another local man of prodigious intellect, the father of modern maritime law among other things.

Here's a delft van

and delft sculpture.

Like Wallace, in "Wallace and Gromit", I find cheese irresistable.

You won't be surprise to learn there are many churches in Delft.  This is Maria van Jesse kerk.

We're back outside now, in case you were wondering.

This is the square where animals were sold.

We wondered how often people parking their cars ended up in the canal.  I thought probably not more than once.

Kids :-).

More kids!  You simply have to smile.

This is the New Church.  It's called that because construction wasn't started until about 1380.  That's in contrast to the Old Church on which construction was started in 1246.  Of course, there had been churches on the Old Church site for a couple hundred years prior to the present church.

The New Church contains an impressive monument to William of Orange.

It also contains this stunning stained glass window dating from 2003.  The window depicts the raising of Jairus's daughter by Jesus.  Its principle elements, in abstract form, are a hand, a face, and a butterfly.  Utterly lovely.

Here's the new church as seen from across the market square, in front of the Town Hall.

And here's the Town Hall.

These openings were originally for loading and unloading cargo.  The people in the photo are eating a meal, taking on cargo as it were.

Here's a view of the Old Church.  The photo is straight.  It's the tower that's tilted.

Behold!  The smallest house in Delft.

Prince Johan Friso, second son of Queen Beatrix, lived here while in school.  Fascinating!

Jan de Huyter built this house.  He was absurdly rich.

Delft is for artists.

Now we're in the Old Church.

The little dot at the back of the church is Nancy.  Waiting for me, thank God.

This garden is in the former Convent of St. Agatha.  Some very rich sisters lived here (first they were rich, then they were nuns) and it shows.  It was started around 1400.  In 1598 William of Orange moved in with his wife and ten children.  Actually, I'm not sure how many children they had when they first moved in.  In any event, from then on the place was known as "Prinsenhof".

By this time we were again exhausted and desperately in need of some beer.  Thinking of my nephew Mattias, we picked this place to rest.  We asked our waiter about the name.  He told us it was pronounce Mat-tease and was a combination of the first names of himself and his partner.  Not only that, but it means "friendship" in Sranan.  The things one learns while traveling!

After our break it was but a short walk to the train station and a short train ride to Rotterdam Central.

This final photo is from the bridge over the tracks.  In the foreground you see the temporary (blue) station building.  An ultramodern, new station is under construction.  You can see the words on the side of the station.  It's a poem by the current Rotterdam city poet, Esther Naomi Perquin.  It says:

In Transit

YOU CAN EASILY BE HERE UNAWARES (UTTERLY RELAXED EMPTINESS UP IN YOUR HEAD)

THOUGH SOON YOU’RE CAUGHT UP AGAIN IN LINES DEVISED TO DIRECT YOU HOMEWARDS, WHAT PLATFORM, WHY
THAT TOWN, WHAT TIME THE NIGHT BUS GOES

AND I’M NOT MAKING POINTS, LEAST OF ALL PRESCRIBING A LINE, NOT CURING YOUR MOODINESS OR HASTE, THOUGH

I DO LIKE USING CONFUSION
TO KEEP THIS MOMENT IN MIND:
LOOK AROUND. DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE?

AMONG SO MANY PEOPLE DOING,
WANTING, HOPING, NEEDING SO MUCH ALL THE WHILE?

I BELIEVE WE CAN BE LESS TRANSITORY.

I BELIEVE WE CAN SAY HELLO MORE OFTEN
WITH A SMILE.

ESTER NAOMI PERQUIN

And now it's time for a Sunday afternoon stroll.