For The Love of Travel

It was a very foggy, misty and bracing start to my adventure further south this morning @ 7 degrees. Traffic around me on the freeways seemed unconcerned but I was a bit more wary in my journey. By the time I reached Roermond, the weather had cleared a bit.

Roermond is a historically important town on the east bank of the river Meuse in the Limburg region. Limburg culture is characterized by its Bourgondish lifestyle, a deep-rooted Catholic heritage, and a distinct linguistic identity that often makes the province feel “un-Dutch” to visitors. The region—spanning both the Netherlands and Belgium—shares a history where culinary, social, and religious traditions frequently cross modern borders.

I have it on reliable tourist info promotion, that one of the most beautiful squares in the Netherlands can be found in the city center of Roermond: the Munsterplein. The 13thC Munsterkerk, late Romanesque in style, with 55m spires… takes centre stage, with a beautiful garden with wooden sculptures to the side; there are many cozy outdoor terraces and cafes surrounding the square.

And I then saw one such cafe – the Munster cafe – gorgeous comfortable and bright interior fitout; sensational cheese omelette and delish coffee with a small whipped cream option presented as part of the offering.

In the summer, music from big bands, orchestras, and brass bands, among others, can be heard. On Wednesdays, the Munsterplein is particularly lively because the well-attended weekly market is held here. From April to October, you can also visit the antique and flea market.

I discovered a puppet maker in a nearby street (Atelier Joseph Thissen) who designs bespoke beauties; and Klein College – is a historic neo-Renaissance primary school built in 1890, featuring an attached headmaster’s house. Designed by architect Jan Jorna, it served as a prominent school for decades before being redeveloped into seven apartments in 1993.

As I drove out of the area, I noticed a walled area with people disappearing inside…so I parked and went to investigate. Wow, Stadspark de Kartuis, is a garden that was part of a monastery complex where Carthusian monks once lived in silence. You can still see remnants of the monastery walls and the “cells” where the monks resided; it contains a small, child-friendly hedge maze; pond with sculpture; and lovely tree and spring flower plantings. A delight to walk around, or sit in and relax/read in an urban context – so peaceful.

Next, off to see the “white town of Thorn” (white houses, nostalgic squares and lovely cobbled streets) one of the pearls of Central Limburg, located in the municipality of Maasgouw. It has a unique history as an independent, female-ruled miniature principality (circa 975–1794). Founded as a Benedictine nunnery, it evolved into an exclusive convent for noblewomen who minted their own currency and governed the area. The town’s iconic white houses were created after the 1794 French invasion, when residents painted their homes to hide the bricks used to seal windows, which were heavily taxed by the new government. 

Thorn is a classic example of how you visit a historic town in the Netherlands. You drive slowly into the area (15-30kms/hour) and find the defined parking area …and then its pedestrian walk-about everywhere. Or get a taxi and get dropped off. Or bicycle in.

I have been struck by the bicycle culture in the Netherlands – it really is a way of life, with over 23 million bicycles for 17 million people. It is —from school runs to commuting. Cycling is rarely seen as exercise, but rather a functional, daily necessity for transportation to work, school, or social events. The primary, everyday mode of transport for all ages.

 

On my way from Delft to Eindhoven today, decided an itinerary that mostly took me off the freeways. Very pleased about that. Unfortunately, a very grey old day, so not great for pics but I did my best. Drove through the extremely pleasant village of Harmelen on the way to a castle….lots of tulips, blossoms and canola oil blooming with gorgeous houses lining the very narrow canal roadway….which at times decreased to one lane, requiring cars to ‘give way’ regularly as we drove the route. I loved the calmness of this scene with the little bridge, beginning blossoms and trees still bare but on the edge of being re-leafed…

I wanted to put droney up to take pics of the Castle de Haar, but got a message on the remote control that I needed to register as an operator, apply for a pilot’s license and pass a test at a Dutch flight school – all this despite the fact that when I was last in France, I devoted a good 10 hours, getting all those. I have done an exam with the EU Aviation Safety Agency and qualified for an EU open category licence until September 2028 to fly A1 and A3 drones (over 250g but under 25kgs). Argggh! So droney will stay in its bag until Ireland. Will see what I need to do there. Here is what I potentially could have taken ( thank you to Kastelen Magazine for this image) vs reality…

Loved this little canal view as I was driving on a country road around Krimpen aan de Lek.

And finally saw some real windmills @ Kinderdijk. To get there, had a car ferry experience. I think all PT modes have now been sampled in the Netherlands :).

Veerdam street that leads from the ferry landing, has a very cute collection of renovated dike houses – some examples of window dressing and doorway entrances…

There are 19 windmills – all on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997; built starting from the end of the 15thC, but the current windmills almost all date from 1738 and 1740. The windmills of Kinderdijk were built to pump water up from the low-lying polder (a low-lying tract of land, often below sea level, enclosed by embankments, that has been reclaimed from bodies of water like the sea, lakes, or marshes). The area, and the surrounding region, was a large peat bog, caught between major rivers. The first farmers settled on the higher-lying banks of glacial sand and clay deposits, called donks. This is where their struggle against the water began. To make this wet, unpassable landscape habitable and fertile, they first dug separate ditches for drainage. Later, they joined forces to build dikes, tilled the peat bogs, and drained away the water via a network of ditches.

On arriving in Eindhoven, saw the Next Nature Museum building, quite the interplanetary spaceship design. It’s been established to show how innovation in the arts, sciences and design are colliding to shape our future. Closed today of course.

Turned the corner and waaah! What is it about Eindhoven? A creepily designed building looking like the squished back end of a huge bug ….or maybe another alien spaceship concept……but discovered it was actually the southern corner of the imposing Philip’s stadium. The neighbourhood is called Philipsdorp, a former factory workers’ village that Philips built for employees.

Caught at the lights during ‘rush hour’, and waiting to proceed for 3 sets of light changes… I focussed on and rather liked this building facade featuring a vibrant mosaic style artwork, with stylised faces and figues in primary colours.

When you visit The Hague, it is customary to visit the Mauritshuis to see masterpieces like ‘the Girl with the Pearl Earring’ (Vermeer) and ‘the Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp’ (Rembrandt)….and also to see ‘the Peace Palace’….incorporating the Court of Arbitration, the UN International Court of Justice and the Hague Academy of International Law….but the queues were incredible at both, so I decided ‘smaller fish needed to be fried’.

I’ve always loved M. C. Escher from the day I came across a book of his art in my 20’s. So took the opportunity to visit a museum of over 100 of his works. The museum is located in the Lange Voorhout Palace, which used to be a royal residence, and as you explore it, you get to enjoy the beautiful rooms and learn about the palace’s history. Escher was born in 1898, was a sickly child, struggled in all school subjects except art, and failed his high school exams. He studied graphic art under the kindly tutorship of Samuel de Mesquita (who appreciated his talents and was very encouraging) at Haarlem’s School of Architecture and graduated in 1922.

One of the most striking aspects of Escher’s work is his use of perspective as a metaphor for perception, and recurring themes of eternity, infinity, time and space. I loved his landscape phase, particularly during his sojourn in Italy in the 1920’s and the beginning of his tesselation motifs in the 1930’s, after encountering the mosaics of the Alhambra in Granada.

In his graphic art, he portrayed mathematical relationships among shapes, figures, and space. Integrated into his prints were mirror images of cones, spheres, cubes, rings, and spirals. I really enjoyed my visit here.

Next cultural visit, to the Panorama Mesdag in The Hague – the largest circular canvas in Europe (14 metres x 120 metres). You have a 360º view of a magical optical illusion created by this panorama of Scheveningen from 1881. The view is never the same; the incidence of light changes from moment to moment. The building that incorporates this panorama was constructed specially for the painting. In the centre of the building, an artificial dune has been created on a roundabout. From a viewpoint above the dune, visitors see the same panorama as if they were standing on the Seinpost dune levelled off in 1881. Its pretty amazing. (Thanks to the Panorama Mesdag for the next image).

The vista of the North sea, dunes and old fishermen’s village Scheveningen was painted by H.W. Mesdag,  a famous painter of the Hague School. He specialised in painting seascapes.
His wife Sientje Mesdag-van-Houten and painters Theophile de Bock, George Hendrik Breitner and Bernard Bloomers also made a significant contribution.

Stopped off at El Bar, a delightful tapas place and thoroughly enjoyed these very yummy tostadas.

I start a new day with plans to explore Rotterdam and I decide to challenge myself to use public transport – walked from my hotel to catch bus no. 60 to Delft station; then transferred to the intercity train to Rotterdam Blaack. Goodness me, the carriages were full to capacity at 8.50 on a Sunday, standing room only. Something was up…discovered it was a marathon in Rotterdam that was starting at 10am.  The NN Marathon Rotterdam is an annual, world-renowned marathon held in Rotterdam, recognized as one of the fastest and most popular in the world. Held annually since 1981 in April, it features a flat course, iconic scenery like the Erasmus Bridge, and attracts over 17,000 runners and hundreds of thousands of spectators.

As I emerged from the station, not only did I see marathon runners limbering up, but also the incredible Cube house architectural landmark designed by Piet Blom that revealed itself in all its glory…waahh! Designed in the 1980s, the houses are tilted 45 degrees, intended to resemble trees forming a forest, with each cube representing a tree. These are functional residential units, though some are used as a hostel and one operates as a museum house. They are constructed on top of a pedestrian bridge and support pillars, offering an unconventional living experience with tilted walls. 

I then worked out which metro line to catch to visit ‘Westersingel’ – a walk along the edge of a canal that features sculptures …and found a great little cafe ‘Served’, which had the best coffee. Had a lovely surprise…as a rather large goose came in for a landing on the water. Just managed to open the camera to get a passable shot.

Next to Witte de Withstraat, by the no.8 tram, Rotterdam’s hippest and liveliest cultural entertainment street. It features many art galleries, popular cafes, restaurants, and shops that are just a little bit different.

After about 4 hours of ‘farnarkling about’…hopped on the intercity train to The Hague, changed at Kurhaus station to the no.1 tram, for a 45 minute journey back to Delft train station, boarded the no. 60 bus back to the stop close to my hotel. Well done me, proud PT geek that I am 🙂

Off to Eindhoven tomorrow…woo hoo!