Dutch Scenes: movable bridges II

To complement a previous post, more movable bridges, both in Delft. The first is the Reineveldbrug bridge.

The other movable bridges shown in a movie is the swing Oostpoortbrug bridge. You can see in operation in a sunny Summer Wednesday here.

Dutch Scenes: train and tram

Public transportation in Holland is composed of trains, trams and buses. I think that trains and trams are the most popular of them. They work in an interconnected way and can take you almost everywhere. They are totally reliable except when they brake down. One exemple was when we had to go to Schipol station, located right at the airport, to take a plane to Munich. The train ahead of us broke down and blocked the track. This fact delayed our trip in 2 hours and we missed the plane.

The first picture shows a train in Delft station. The second picture shows a tram at Amsterdam Central station.

Dutch Scenes: locks, dams and storm surge barriers

We listen all the time that portions of Holland are below sea level and the Dutch throughout their history have learned to deal with water and managed to create "new land." I thought that this was something of the past and that the issue was settled. What I learned is that this is still an issue and that the Dutch has continued to use all their creativity and ingenuity to deal with the problem. A permanent barrier, was built in the North in the 1930's, the Afsluitdijk (enclosure dam), part of the project called the Zuiderzee Works. This barrier turned the dangerous Zuiderzee (Sea Zuider), a shallow bay of the North Sea in the Northeast of Holland (North of Amsterdam), into the calm Lake IJsselmeer, allowing the creation of 1650 km² of new fertile land.

Later on, as a consequence of the great flood of 1953, a series of storm surge barriers were built in the South, in what is known as the Delta Works (constructions ended in 1997). To prevent the destruction of the fishing industry, these storm surges barriers are movable. For example, there is the De Oosterscheldekering, which looks like a long bridge, allowing therefore the water to flow, but that can be closed if necessary.

The Zuiderzee Works and the Delta Works are considered among the seven wonders of the modern world.

We visited the most amazing of the Delta Works, the Maeslantkering Stormvloedkreing (Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier), in Hoek van Holland. There is an information center, het Keringhuis, located right beside it. This is a massive barrier that closes if a storm surge higher than 3 m approaches in order to protect the port of Rotterdam, the busiest in the world.

I made a short movie out of the model in the information center that shows how the barrier closes if a storm surges approaches: watch it here.

The first picture shows the real thing; the second just a model.

More information about the Maestlant Storm Surge Barrier can be found at het Keringhuis website.

Dutch Scenes: cows

When I was young, back in Brazil, people with a strong athletic performance was said to have the health of a Dutch cow. It was also common for farmers to put effort to have Dutch Holstein cows due to their high production of milk and also because they are adapted to feed on grass.

Cows can be seen everywhere in Holland.

The picture shows Holstein cows grazing in Zuid (South) Holland, close to Rotterdam. It is interesting that there are some mock cows in the grazing area. In the picture, we can see the back of one of them. I do not know what their usage is. Scarecrow?

Dutch scenes: Saturday market

Like many cities in Holland, Delft has also its Saturday market. And, I have to admit, it is slightly larger than Fredericton's. Besides fruits and (obviously) cheese, there you will find fish, flowers (including tulips, lots of them), meat, handicraft (including Delft Blue), antiques, old books, vinyl long players, old coins from everywhere, clothes, suitcases, ..., and street musicians performing, some using music machines. Quite nice to stroll around and invest some Euros into the local economy.

Dutch Scenes: Haring

Eating fish is a very Dutchy thing. Specially herring, here called haring. The traditional way of eating it is raw, with onions, either alone or in a bun. When alone, there is no way to eat it but by doing the same as the Dutch soccer fan is doing: you hold the tail and bite it. Quite good, actually. A Dutch sushi? Or is it sushi Dutch?



I was told that today there was freshly arrived herring. Then I went to the market to had some. Then I started to ponder: what does "freshly arrived" mean? Does it mean that the herring I had last month was not fresh?

Well, in the market, there are also other type of fish: cod, shrimp, even fish eggs (not caviar), etc.

Dutch Scenes: boat tours in the canals

What is the result of breeding tourists with canals?

Boat tours.

Dutch Scenes: bike thrown into the canal

A more common thing to happen is to see bikes, instead of cars, thrown into canals. I was even told, jokingly, that the most economical way to "purchase" a bike is to look for them inside the canals. Well, I finally saw one. Actually, my wife saw the whole affair. A person, angry for whatever reason, simply threw his bike into the canal just in front of our house. We can just see the wheels out of the water in the picture.

Dutch scenes: boat houses

I was told that at one point there was a shortage of housing in Holland, what left the government to allow boat houses. They are essentially floating trailers, some quite long and nice. They are docked and connected to the land by means of pipes and wires for water and sewage and electricity. I am not sure if there is still shortage of housing today, but the fact is that there are boat houses everywhere. In the upper picture, a boat house in Amsterdam. In the bottom, boat houses in Leiden.

Dutch scenes: taxi boats

Yes, that is a taxi!

Dutch Scenes: elections

During our stay in Holland there were national elections. Actually, we quite didn't notice them. Very few election ads here and there on the streets, we would have been totally unaware of them if not due to the fact that we received a list of all candidates through the mail (I suppose they are sent to all households).

This list made me aware of the political parties that exist in Holland, some of them with very perculiar names. Among the traditional names like Christian-Democrat, Labour, Socialist, and Democrat, there are other party names that are a bit ambiguous, like People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, Proud of Netherlands, Freedom Party, Party One, and All Netherlands. There are also party names that get close to curious, such as Green Left (that is a redundancy), Animal's Party and Pirate's Party.

Unlike in Canada, there is no Marijuana Party. I guess they do not need that anymore. :-)

One of the key issues in the Dutch election was immigration and how to treat immigrants who reject Dutch values, such as freedom of speech. Probaly the most outspoken among all candidates is Geert Wilders (photo), leader of the Freedom's party. In his line of argumentations he even compared the Koran to Hitler's Mein Kempft (Horror of horrors!). Well, the fact is that the Koran has been criticized over the centuries by the likes of Tocquevile, John Adams and Winston Churchill, to name a few. The reaction of some people is just to label Wilders as 'racist.' But, what race is Islam?

The fact of life is that whenever someone just 'labels' the other it indicates that whoever 'labels' has lost the argument.

Independent on what the Freedom Party suggests I hope that the Dutch will be corageous enough to discuss the issues, freely, even under threat.

Dutch scenes: There is life in the canals

Dutch canals are really a trade mark of Holland. They are used for regulating the water level. They are used for transporting goods. They are used for recreation. They are good for "resting our eyes". They are simply beautiful!

Besides all that, the canals also sustain lots of life. Denise has been monitoring with particular interest a few young coot families, the way they prepare their nests, the way they take care of the eggs and their young, and the way the male keeps scaring away other ducks which get close to the nest.

A short movie showing them preparing a nest can be seen here. The upper picture shows a coot mother with a young cootling. The lower picture shows father coot running after other ducks, which can also be seen in these short movies here and here.

On the down side is the garbage. The canals are not as clean as we would like to see, specially in the large cities (particularly in Amsterdam). Humans are to blame. We saw some people throwing empty soft drink cans into them. Shameful.

Dutch scenes: fries with mayo

Eating fries with mayo is an authentic Dutch experience!

Dutch scenes: cheese

The Netherlands is definetly a cheese nation. No wonder there are cities named after cheese (or is it the other way around?) like Edam, Gouda (pronouce 'houda'). Besides the Dutch cheese, called here as kass, we also find any other possible kind of cheese, including my favourite, brie. For those who think that brie is a French cheese, think again. Brie was first made in Middle Earth, in the village of 'Bree', and sold at the Inn of the Prancing Pony (you will understand this pun if you read or watched The Lord of the Rings).

A list of Dutch cheese: Boeren Leidenkaas, Delft Blauw, Dutch Mimolette (Commissiekaas), Edam, Friesekaas, Friesian, Gouda, Kernhem, Leerdammer, Leyden, Maasdam, Smoked Gouda, ... Do you want to complete the list?

Dutch scenes: car in the canal

Something I read before coming to Delft was that, on average, one car falls into a canal somewhere in Holland, every week. Well, after two months in Delft we finally saw it happen. The interesting was the fast response from the police and the firefighters.

What intrigues me is why did the car fall into the canal? Withouth knowing the actual reason, I especulate what happened. The driver was likely being directed by a GPS navigator ... "in five metres ... turn left" ... plop.

Dutch Scenes: Theo van Gogh

Freedom of speech and expression is a as Dutch as cheese and wind mills. A recent, iconic figure, Theo van Gogh, was murdered in 2004 by an islamic fundamentalist who did not like (or felt offended as it became fashionable to say) with van Gogh's movie Submission. This 10-minute movie, written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, tells the story of a fictional Muslim woman who has been abused in many different ways. It can be interpreted as a criticism on how women is treated under Islam. Ultimately, a movie like this should be treated as an invitation to discussion, not an invitation to murder. If there is no freedom expression and flow of ideas there is no enlightment and we are all condemned to live in the middle ages.

The more we discuss our problems the closer we become to solve them. That is likely why Theo van gogh was mudered. His murderer's mind set belongs to a 7th century sect. What is worse is the fact that he is not alone.

A monument, De Schreeuw (The Scream) Memorial, is placed in the Oosterpark in Amsterdam, celebrating Theo van Gogh and as a symbol of the freedom of speech.

Dutch scenes: tulips

It took us some time to see them, but finally, we did. And lots of them! There are several tulips "plantations" along the way to Amsterdam, like the one in the picture. Will the ones we see end up in Ottawa?

Dutch Scenes: movable bridges

With so many canals, everywhere, and most of them navigable, it is not surprising to find movable bridges. The most common of them is the drawbridge. The one shown in the sequence of pictures is located in the town of Edam. Other movable bridges can be seen in another post.

Dutch scenes: wind mills

The wind mills, this trade mark of Holland. Nothing is more connected to the Dutch then them. I have to take my hat off to the Dutch, who, over the centuries, built this intricate system of canals making use of wind mills to move the water around. Wind mills had other uses, though, like grinding for the production of flour. This is the case of the De Walk wind mill, in Leiden (left photo). It is quite high, elevated by a tower to make the best use of the wind, partially blocked by the walls of the then fortified city of Leiden. Today, this wind mill is a museum, and the mill still operates, as can be seen in this video.

The lower picture shows another wind mill, as seen from the train.

Dutch scenes: croquette

Croquettes in Holland come is every shape and size. They look like sausages. They look like patties. They can be eaten individually. They can be eaten as a hot dog. They may come with mustard or even with mayonnaise as sauce.

Enjoy!

The ones you see were savoured in Leiden.