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.

The dying European Christianity (?)

There are obviously lots of churches in Europe, one more beautiful than the other. One thing that called our attention was the fact that a few of them are used simply as museums or show halls without any religious use.

This is troublesome. If one religion dwindles, others may take over the empty space. This may be something positive or negative depending on which one occupies the space.

Leiden

Leiden is a nice little town 20 minutes by train from Delft. Like Delft it is a university town. The University of Leiden, whose main building is shown in the picture, is more dedicated to social sciences. Several members of the Dutch royal family studied there.

Like Delft, Leiden is crossed by several canals. The interesting thing is that its main canal is a branch of the Rhine River.

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.