netsurferrr
Nov 29, 04, 11:27 am
Thursday
Cologne-Amsterdam (evening departure)
Friday
Czaar Peterhuisje (in Zaandam)-Alkmaar-Groningen
Saturday
NATO Compound near the Hague (view)-the Rotterdam Harbor (view)-Kinderdijk (UNESCO World Heritage)
(http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=818)-Dordrecht
(the oldest town in the Netherlands)
Sunday
Rietveld Schröder Huis (exterior view) (another UNESCO World Heritage) (in Utrecht)-Utrecht Revisited-Cologne
If anyone would like to see the ultimate classic (or cliche) Dutch landscape, this is the place to go:
Kinderdijk (UNESCO World Heritage)
http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=818
A truly impressive site, 19 old windmills completed with poddles and canals! The best part is that a very moving story associated with the site:
The eastern Holland (not the Netherlands) was completely swallowed up by water in the second half of the 14th century. The next thing the farmers in that part of the world knew was utter devastation. Well, they put all their babies in bread baskets and sent the baskets off via the new flood plain. You know, just like what the parents of Moses did :) (Probably) with divine intervention, all the babies in baskets ended up in Kinderdijk!
The Netherlands is the champion producer of the following food products within the EU:
-White asparagus (for Germany)
-Mussels (for France and Belgium)
It just happens that the most famous Mussel restaurant
chain in France is a Dutch company...
-Bell Peppers (Paparika in Europe) (for the rest of
the Europe)
The sight of bell peppers in European supermarkets
as omnipresent as iceberg lettce in the US :)
-Hot Coco Powder (world market leader)
I have travelled in Europe (both northern and southern Europe) extensively. The more I travel in northern Europe, the more culinary and other delights northern Europe offers I discover. Is northern Europe really the place of drab weather and insipid culinary heritage as all (including the northern Europeans themselves) claim??
I also made it to Groningen this time. The rest of the world thinks KLM is the airline for the Netherlands.Let me tell you, KLM is the defacto "Amsterdam/Altnernative UK Airways!" Many Dutch people live beyond the province of Holland fly via other airports in Germany/Belgium/France... As far as I
know, KLM does not even serve Groningen anymore. However, Groningen is a little bit of drive to Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands. Moreover,
Groningen is not close to a major German airport. I just wonder how Groningeners can access to decent air services.
As usual, I took ICE the German Bullet Train to Amsterdam. The train broke down in Arnhem, the Netherlands, because the train engine battery died as we were told. Anyway, a train bound for the rest of the original stops from
the Dutch Railways was waiting for us on another platform (whether it was by design or by accident, I do not know). Anyway, all the Amsterdam-bound
passengers reached Amsterdam 1.5 hours later than scheduled. I took ICE on countless occassions and I do not find the occassional break down as hair raising as the embrassing hicups on the Amtrak Northeast Corridor. What concerns me is that how similar break downs affect on rail-air transfer passengers in a number European airline/railroad arrangements such as
Lufthansa/German Rail Cologne/Stuttgart-Frankfurt services. Do airlines and national railroads provision any service recovery plans for the potential
situations described above?
When I was in the Netherlands/Amsterdam, I was told that cars powered by altnernative fuel resources are widely available and accepted in the country. These cars are just like regular cars; drivers can go long driving trips with them on highways. These cars still remain as concept cars in the minds of the consumers in the US.
Highways in the province of Holland are an eight-lane set-up. Well, these highways are pretty much congested 24/7. I was told that speed limits were not implemented in the past in the Netherlands.
That´s all folks:)
Cologne-Amsterdam (evening departure)
Friday
Czaar Peterhuisje (in Zaandam)-Alkmaar-Groningen
Saturday
NATO Compound near the Hague (view)-the Rotterdam Harbor (view)-Kinderdijk (UNESCO World Heritage)
(http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=818)-Dordrecht
(the oldest town in the Netherlands)
Sunday
Rietveld Schröder Huis (exterior view) (another UNESCO World Heritage) (in Utrecht)-Utrecht Revisited-Cologne
If anyone would like to see the ultimate classic (or cliche) Dutch landscape, this is the place to go:
Kinderdijk (UNESCO World Heritage)
http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=818
A truly impressive site, 19 old windmills completed with poddles and canals! The best part is that a very moving story associated with the site:
The eastern Holland (not the Netherlands) was completely swallowed up by water in the second half of the 14th century. The next thing the farmers in that part of the world knew was utter devastation. Well, they put all their babies in bread baskets and sent the baskets off via the new flood plain. You know, just like what the parents of Moses did :) (Probably) with divine intervention, all the babies in baskets ended up in Kinderdijk!
The Netherlands is the champion producer of the following food products within the EU:
-White asparagus (for Germany)
-Mussels (for France and Belgium)
It just happens that the most famous Mussel restaurant
chain in France is a Dutch company...
-Bell Peppers (Paparika in Europe) (for the rest of
the Europe)
The sight of bell peppers in European supermarkets
as omnipresent as iceberg lettce in the US :)
-Hot Coco Powder (world market leader)
I have travelled in Europe (both northern and southern Europe) extensively. The more I travel in northern Europe, the more culinary and other delights northern Europe offers I discover. Is northern Europe really the place of drab weather and insipid culinary heritage as all (including the northern Europeans themselves) claim??
I also made it to Groningen this time. The rest of the world thinks KLM is the airline for the Netherlands.Let me tell you, KLM is the defacto "Amsterdam/Altnernative UK Airways!" Many Dutch people live beyond the province of Holland fly via other airports in Germany/Belgium/France... As far as I
know, KLM does not even serve Groningen anymore. However, Groningen is a little bit of drive to Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands. Moreover,
Groningen is not close to a major German airport. I just wonder how Groningeners can access to decent air services.
As usual, I took ICE the German Bullet Train to Amsterdam. The train broke down in Arnhem, the Netherlands, because the train engine battery died as we were told. Anyway, a train bound for the rest of the original stops from
the Dutch Railways was waiting for us on another platform (whether it was by design or by accident, I do not know). Anyway, all the Amsterdam-bound
passengers reached Amsterdam 1.5 hours later than scheduled. I took ICE on countless occassions and I do not find the occassional break down as hair raising as the embrassing hicups on the Amtrak Northeast Corridor. What concerns me is that how similar break downs affect on rail-air transfer passengers in a number European airline/railroad arrangements such as
Lufthansa/German Rail Cologne/Stuttgart-Frankfurt services. Do airlines and national railroads provision any service recovery plans for the potential
situations described above?
When I was in the Netherlands/Amsterdam, I was told that cars powered by altnernative fuel resources are widely available and accepted in the country. These cars are just like regular cars; drivers can go long driving trips with them on highways. These cars still remain as concept cars in the minds of the consumers in the US.
Highways in the province of Holland are an eight-lane set-up. Well, these highways are pretty much congested 24/7. I was told that speed limits were not implemented in the past in the Netherlands.
That´s all folks:)