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Grand Holland tour
Jan 11 2006 | Views 1620 |
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It was the third time I was in the city of Amsterdam, uut I never went outside to the other parts of Holland. So, this time, I decided to go. I went to the Lindbergh Excursions on Saturday evening at around 6 in the evening and booked my seat for the next day's Grand Holland Tour. They told me that I have to report at the office at 9:40 in the morning.
Saturday I had spent the whole day roaming around the city. when i returned home, i was feeling very tired. I prepared and had my dinner, packed a bag with a bottle of water, an umbrella, an additional shawl just in case it gets too cold - the forecast said that showers are expected in various parts of the country from sunday morning. Then I set my alarm to 8 am - i cant get up earlier than that on a sunday. I was not able to sleep - partly because of the exertion of the day, partly because of excitement.
Sunday morning, i got up and by the time i reached the lindbergh office in Damrak, it was 9:45 and people were already boarding the bus. I felt very bad. i wanted the window seat on the front row. but now, that i'm late, it's already occupied. i borded the bus and found that one of the first row seats on the left side, is empty. i asked the person sitting on the window seat if that seat is free. He said Yes and I immediately took the place.
The journey started at 10 am in the morning. Jack was our driver and Maria our tour guide. The program was to visit a wooden shoe maker, the delft blue pottery, city of rotterdam and delft by bus, the Scheveningen beach, and finally Madurodam. The first sight on the trip was the floating bicycle stand near the Central station. It can accomodate around 5000 bicycles. According to Maria it's a disaster to find your bicycle from the parking.
On the way, we saw one ancient windmill. we were not getting down there. so, the driver slowed down so that everyone got to see it properly. we also passed through the side of the famous Schiphol Airport - europe's 4th largest airport after London, Paris and Frankfurt.There are about 50,000 people employed at this airport. Another speciality is that this is the world's lowest airport - lying 15 meters below sea level. The airport is constructed on the bottom of a once big lake. the land was reclaimed from the lake in the 17th centuries, to meet the need for land for cultivation and inhabitation.
we were heading towards Amstelveen where we were shown how the "Amsterdam wooden shoes" were made. these wooden shoes were used by the farmers and fishermen as their work shoes. even now people use them when working outside on damp soil. These wooden shoes are perfect for the country's weather and terrain. As most part of holland are either below sea level or at sea level, the moisture content on the soil is too high. In rainy seasons and in winter, these shoes protected the people from cold and damp.
The machines looked quite primitive. the idea used by them was simple and easy. there is a sample which is fitted to the machine. there are 2 machines which are used. The first machine cuts the wooden block into the shape of a shoe and the second machine carves the interior of the shoe for footspace.then the wooden piece to be crafted into shoe, will be fitted adjacent to the sample. Then the machine moves tracing the shape of the sample given, cutting the wooden piece also along with it.
The shoe is made out of the fresh, soft wood. it is heavy when made, but becomes light weight once it is dried. all the polishing are done after drying. One has to buy the wooden shoe 2 sizes bigger than their normal shoe sixe, because you need to wear thick socks while wearing them.
there were about 22 different types of shoes from the different provinces of holland, with their shapes differing slightly from others. there were also fishing boots, plain garden shoes, highly carved and designed weddign shoes - all made of wood. in the earlier times, the groom had to carve out a nice shoe for his bride before wedding, to show his craftsmanship. she will be wearing it for their big day. there were modern design chappals also made there - mainly targetting the tourists.
our next destination was the town of Delft, to visit one of the only two authentic Delft blue pottery which is still existing. the factory we visited belonged to de Delftse Pauw (the peacock) -- http://www.delftsepauw.com/ . the other authentic Delft blue pottery is the Royal Delft http://www.royaldelft.com/ . The delftwares are white porcalain, hand painted mainly in blue color. colourful delftwares are also available. these two factories give authentication certificates along with the item you buy.
We were given a demonstration of how this famous delft bue is created. it uses white mud imported from england. the mud is mixed with water into a semi liquid form and poured into the moulds made of plaster of paris. the mould absorbs the water from the clay on the perifery faster than in the inside. so, after about half an hour, the claywall becomes around 4mm thick and the the still liquid part in the interior is poured out to make the inside hollow. This clay vessel is taken out after about 4 hours, polished with wet sponge and knife and dried. it is then baked in elecric furnaces for 8 hours. colling down takes 24 to 48 hours, after which the clay becomes very hard. Once backed, the colour also changes to white, from the original gray.
the painiting is done on these. the paints used are metal oxides. the delft blue paint is made from a mixture od cobalt oxide and copper oxide. this paint will look black initially. other colors are also made from various different oxides. the design is drawn or traced onto the vessel and the painting done by hand. after it is painted, it's dipped in a white glaze and fired. during the firing, chemical reaction happens between the black paint and the glaze, leaving the white glaze transparent and the black paint blue. other colours only intensify during the firing. without the glaze, the black paint remains black even after firing.
each piece of delftware is unique as they are hand painted. the painting process requires a lot of effort and hence the delftware is very costly. The good thing is that you can get a lot of imitations on the way side shops, at much cheaper price, unless you are a connoisseur or is keen on buying the original. To a common eye, the original and the imitation look the same.
on the way to delft, we travelled through the aalsmer flower auction. the market where the auction is held is very long - length of 250 football grounds. the neighbourhoods were filled with greenhouses where the flowers are grown. we were surprised to hear that the main item that is sold here are not tulips, but roses. The tulips flowers do not have as much market as the bulbs. hence, soon after flowering, the flowers are cut away and the bulbs are kept. more than 80% of the flowers sold at aalsmere are exported to US, germany, france etc.The auction happens only on the weekdays and hence we couldn't visit the inside.
The lunch was at The Hague central square. So, after visiting the delftware factory, we started off to The Hague, otherwise called as "Den Hag". On the way was the city of Rotterdam, the second most important city in Holalnd. Rotterdam is considered as a mini NewYork because of its tall buildings. this is the Youngest city in the province as it was reconstructed after it was destroyed in the second world war. We found some interesting pieces of architecture like the cubicle houses, pencil house, Holalnd's first 11 storeyed building, the swan bridge or the erastumus bridge etc.
the bus dropped us near the Hague town centre for lunch at around 2 pm. we had 1 hour there. so, i spent most of the time walking around the central square. there weren't many people at the sqare or the streets around it. most of the shops were also closed, as it was sunday. two touch panel screens were provided near the square for tourist information. some people were printing the city map from there.
after lunch, we had a trip through the city of Hague which is the seat of the Dutch government where we saw the working palace of the queen Beatrix. Maria asked us if anyone know how to findout if the queen is at her office. people gave different answers like "see if her security guards are standing in front of the office", "see if the flag is hoisted" etc. Then Maria said "Ofcourse the flag will be hoisted, but check for her orange bicycle parked in front of the office, to be sure." As it was sunday, the queen was not working and hence no orange bicycle. someone asked maria why the queen has to work, to which she replied "we believe in earling our bread by working. the queen also has to work for her living". I was surprised by two fatcs -one, that the queen travels by bicycle and two, that she works to earn her living. you can find futrther information regarding the Royal family and the palaces at http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/english .
Though the Dutch government is based at The Hague, Amsterdam is considered as the capital city of Netherlands. Amsterdam got this label, after Nepolean Bonapart during whose reign, the administration was moved to Amsterdam. Nepolean lived in the Royal palace at Dam Square, Amsterdam. This palace is now closed for renovations, for 2 years. I really missed a chance to visit the palace when i was here last time.
then we also passed through the front side of the International court of Justice. It was a nice building. Maria told us that all the countries contributed in its construction. the Swiss contributed the Clock, Italy contributed the Mosaics, i dont remember who - contributed the garden etc.
other two sites whick interested me were the woods of Amsterdam and the Scheveningen beach.
The woods of amsterdam provided a very beautiful sight. the woods was artificially created by planting the trees long time back. there were small roads along the boarder of the woods where people can walk. the walks looked beautifut with the falling leaves as if it's a bollywood movie song scene. i thought i should come back here one day and walk through that lovely road. then i saw something which looked funny to me. i saw 3 men trying to push the bridge rail off the small bridge. what could be wrong with them, i thought. suddenly i realised, they were not trying to push the rail off, but they were doing the pushups. i almost laughed at the realisation.
The Scheveningen beach - "other side is London" told Maria. I imagined me standing at the beach and calling out and waving at on someone at some beach on the otherside. the thought made me laugh. then we saw the statues of that green man eating the raw fish and the statue of the mask. i couldn't click any snaps as we didnt get down there. Another thing which made me laugh was the way they pronounce Scheveningen. it was funny and we all tried to repleat like she said it.
finally we reached madurodam at 4. we had 1 hour there. maria got the tickets for us and handed a book with each of the miniature structures in the park explained. In madurodam, all the important buildings in Holland are reproduced in a 1/25 ratio. if i try to explain the views htere, it will take me days to finish. It's best to see it on your own and enjoy. i clicked lots of snaps there. by 5 o clock, it was dark. and we started our return journey soon. on the way back i fell of to sleep and woke up just in time as we neared our starting point near the central station. The trip was good and the weather was also good. it didnt rain on our trip, as predicted in the forecast. And finally when we reached back at our finishing point, Maria taught us a simple Dutch word - "Dui" which meant "Bye". So, we said dui dui to her and Jack.
During the trip, i found that the person who sat next to me was also a malayalee. we both were surprised. We had dinner together at the Gandhi restaurent in damrak and went back to our respective places of stay.
Saturday I had spent the whole day roaming around the city. when i returned home, i was feeling very tired. I prepared and had my dinner, packed a bag with a bottle of water, an umbrella, an additional shawl just in case it gets too cold - the forecast said that showers are expected in various parts of the country from sunday morning. Then I set my alarm to 8 am - i cant get up earlier than that on a sunday. I was not able to sleep - partly because of the exertion of the day, partly because of excitement.
Sunday morning, i got up and by the time i reached the lindbergh office in Damrak, it was 9:45 and people were already boarding the bus. I felt very bad. i wanted the window seat on the front row. but now, that i'm late, it's already occupied. i borded the bus and found that one of the first row seats on the left side, is empty. i asked the person sitting on the window seat if that seat is free. He said Yes and I immediately took the place.
The journey started at 10 am in the morning. Jack was our driver and Maria our tour guide. The program was to visit a wooden shoe maker, the delft blue pottery, city of rotterdam and delft by bus, the Scheveningen beach, and finally Madurodam. The first sight on the trip was the floating bicycle stand near the Central station. It can accomodate around 5000 bicycles. According to Maria it's a disaster to find your bicycle from the parking.
On the way, we saw one ancient windmill. we were not getting down there. so, the driver slowed down so that everyone got to see it properly. we also passed through the side of the famous Schiphol Airport - europe's 4th largest airport after London, Paris and Frankfurt.There are about 50,000 people employed at this airport. Another speciality is that this is the world's lowest airport - lying 15 meters below sea level. The airport is constructed on the bottom of a once big lake. the land was reclaimed from the lake in the 17th centuries, to meet the need for land for cultivation and inhabitation.
we were heading towards Amstelveen where we were shown how the "Amsterdam wooden shoes" were made. these wooden shoes were used by the farmers and fishermen as their work shoes. even now people use them when working outside on damp soil. These wooden shoes are perfect for the country's weather and terrain. As most part of holland are either below sea level or at sea level, the moisture content on the soil is too high. In rainy seasons and in winter, these shoes protected the people from cold and damp.
The machines looked quite primitive. the idea used by them was simple and easy. there is a sample which is fitted to the machine. there are 2 machines which are used. The first machine cuts the wooden block into the shape of a shoe and the second machine carves the interior of the shoe for footspace.then the wooden piece to be crafted into shoe, will be fitted adjacent to the sample. Then the machine moves tracing the shape of the sample given, cutting the wooden piece also along with it.
The shoe is made out of the fresh, soft wood. it is heavy when made, but becomes light weight once it is dried. all the polishing are done after drying. One has to buy the wooden shoe 2 sizes bigger than their normal shoe sixe, because you need to wear thick socks while wearing them.
there were about 22 different types of shoes from the different provinces of holland, with their shapes differing slightly from others. there were also fishing boots, plain garden shoes, highly carved and designed weddign shoes - all made of wood. in the earlier times, the groom had to carve out a nice shoe for his bride before wedding, to show his craftsmanship. she will be wearing it for their big day. there were modern design chappals also made there - mainly targetting the tourists.
our next destination was the town of Delft, to visit one of the only two authentic Delft blue pottery which is still existing. the factory we visited belonged to de Delftse Pauw (the peacock) -- http://www.delftsepauw.com/ . the other authentic Delft blue pottery is the Royal Delft http://www.royaldelft.com/ . The delftwares are white porcalain, hand painted mainly in blue color. colourful delftwares are also available. these two factories give authentication certificates along with the item you buy.
We were given a demonstration of how this famous delft bue is created. it uses white mud imported from england. the mud is mixed with water into a semi liquid form and poured into the moulds made of plaster of paris. the mould absorbs the water from the clay on the perifery faster than in the inside. so, after about half an hour, the claywall becomes around 4mm thick and the the still liquid part in the interior is poured out to make the inside hollow. This clay vessel is taken out after about 4 hours, polished with wet sponge and knife and dried. it is then baked in elecric furnaces for 8 hours. colling down takes 24 to 48 hours, after which the clay becomes very hard. Once backed, the colour also changes to white, from the original gray.
the painiting is done on these. the paints used are metal oxides. the delft blue paint is made from a mixture od cobalt oxide and copper oxide. this paint will look black initially. other colors are also made from various different oxides. the design is drawn or traced onto the vessel and the painting done by hand. after it is painted, it's dipped in a white glaze and fired. during the firing, chemical reaction happens between the black paint and the glaze, leaving the white glaze transparent and the black paint blue. other colours only intensify during the firing. without the glaze, the black paint remains black even after firing.
each piece of delftware is unique as they are hand painted. the painting process requires a lot of effort and hence the delftware is very costly. The good thing is that you can get a lot of imitations on the way side shops, at much cheaper price, unless you are a connoisseur or is keen on buying the original. To a common eye, the original and the imitation look the same.
on the way to delft, we travelled through the aalsmer flower auction. the market where the auction is held is very long - length of 250 football grounds. the neighbourhoods were filled with greenhouses where the flowers are grown. we were surprised to hear that the main item that is sold here are not tulips, but roses. The tulips flowers do not have as much market as the bulbs. hence, soon after flowering, the flowers are cut away and the bulbs are kept. more than 80% of the flowers sold at aalsmere are exported to US, germany, france etc.The auction happens only on the weekdays and hence we couldn't visit the inside.
The lunch was at The Hague central square. So, after visiting the delftware factory, we started off to The Hague, otherwise called as "Den Hag". On the way was the city of Rotterdam, the second most important city in Holalnd. Rotterdam is considered as a mini NewYork because of its tall buildings. this is the Youngest city in the province as it was reconstructed after it was destroyed in the second world war. We found some interesting pieces of architecture like the cubicle houses, pencil house, Holalnd's first 11 storeyed building, the swan bridge or the erastumus bridge etc.
the bus dropped us near the Hague town centre for lunch at around 2 pm. we had 1 hour there. so, i spent most of the time walking around the central square. there weren't many people at the sqare or the streets around it. most of the shops were also closed, as it was sunday. two touch panel screens were provided near the square for tourist information. some people were printing the city map from there.
after lunch, we had a trip through the city of Hague which is the seat of the Dutch government where we saw the working palace of the queen Beatrix. Maria asked us if anyone know how to findout if the queen is at her office. people gave different answers like "see if her security guards are standing in front of the office", "see if the flag is hoisted" etc. Then Maria said "Ofcourse the flag will be hoisted, but check for her orange bicycle parked in front of the office, to be sure." As it was sunday, the queen was not working and hence no orange bicycle. someone asked maria why the queen has to work, to which she replied "we believe in earling our bread by working. the queen also has to work for her living". I was surprised by two fatcs -one, that the queen travels by bicycle and two, that she works to earn her living. you can find futrther information regarding the Royal family and the palaces at http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl
Though the Dutch government is based at The Hague, Amsterdam is considered as the capital city of Netherlands. Amsterdam got this label, after Nepolean Bonapart during whose reign, the administration was moved to Amsterdam. Nepolean lived in the Royal palace at Dam Square, Amsterdam. This palace is now closed for renovations, for 2 years. I really missed a chance to visit the palace when i was here last time.
then we also passed through the front side of the International court of Justice. It was a nice building. Maria told us that all the countries contributed in its construction. the Swiss contributed the Clock, Italy contributed the Mosaics, i dont remember who - contributed the garden etc.
other two sites whick interested me were the woods of Amsterdam and the Scheveningen beach.
The woods of amsterdam provided a very beautiful sight. the woods was artificially created by planting the trees long time back. there were small roads along the boarder of the woods where people can walk. the walks looked beautifut with the falling leaves as if it's a bollywood movie song scene. i thought i should come back here one day and walk through that lovely road. then i saw something which looked funny to me. i saw 3 men trying to push the bridge rail off the small bridge. what could be wrong with them, i thought. suddenly i realised, they were not trying to push the rail off, but they were doing the pushups. i almost laughed at the realisation.
The Scheveningen beach - "other side is London" told Maria. I imagined me standing at the beach and calling out and waving at on someone at some beach on the otherside. the thought made me laugh. then we saw the statues of that green man eating the raw fish and the statue of the mask. i couldn't click any snaps as we didnt get down there. Another thing which made me laugh was the way they pronounce Scheveningen. it was funny and we all tried to repleat like she said it.
finally we reached madurodam at 4. we had 1 hour there. maria got the tickets for us and handed a book with each of the miniature structures in the park explained. In madurodam, all the important buildings in Holland are reproduced in a 1/25 ratio. if i try to explain the views htere, it will take me days to finish. It's best to see it on your own and enjoy. i clicked lots of snaps there. by 5 o clock, it was dark. and we started our return journey soon. on the way back i fell of to sleep and woke up just in time as we neared our starting point near the central station. The trip was good and the weather was also good. it didnt rain on our trip, as predicted in the forecast. And finally when we reached back at our finishing point, Maria taught us a simple Dutch word - "Dui" which meant "Bye". So, we said dui dui to her and Jack.
During the trip, i found that the person who sat next to me was also a malayalee. we both were surprised. We had dinner together at the Gandhi restaurent in damrak and went back to our respective places of stay.
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