Travels with the Arctic Blondes 2018 - Land-loping thru the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas

Aug 24 - 27

It's history goes back to 1270 and is now a major logistic and economic centre. Rotterdam is Europe's largest port.

During World War II, the German army invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Adolf Hitler had hoped to conquer the country in just one day, but his forces met unexpectedly fierce resistance. The Dutch army was forced to capitulate on 15 May 1940, following the bombing of Rotterdam on 14 May and threatening to bomb other Dutch cities. The heart of Rotterdam was almost destroyed by the Luftwaffe. Some 80,000 civilians were made homeless and 900 were killed; a relatively low number since many had fled the city because of the warfare and bombing going on in Rotterdam since the start of the invasion three days earlier.

Rotterdam was gradually rebuilt from the 1950s through to the 1970s. It was a quite windy and open city until councils began developing an active architectural policy. Unlike other cities devastated during WWII, the people of Rotterdam made the choice not to rebuild replicas of what had been destroyed. Instead varied architectural landscape, daring and new styles of apartments and office buildings, including sky-scrapers (an uncommon sight in other Dutch cities), and recreation facilities resulted in a more 'livable' city centre with a striking new skyline.

Rotterdam's logistic success is based on its strategic location by the North Sea, at the mouth of the Nieuwe Maas channel leading into the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. The rivers Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt give waterway access into the heart of Western Europe, including the highly industrialized Ruhr. The extensive distribution system including rail, roads, and waterways have earned Rotterdam the nicknames "Gateway to Europe" and "Gateway to the World"

We checked into our hotel, the H2otel and then did some wandering around the city as our room wasn’t quite ready. This is why it is called the H2otel, it is on the water, and is a converted barge

Amsterdam is a young city by European standards. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river and a dam across it, giving its name to the village: "Aemstelredamme". The earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27, 1275. Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague.

Amsterdam has more than 100 kilometres of canals, most of which are navigable by boat.

Amsterdam has a rich architectural history. The oldest building in Amsterdam is the Oude Kerk (Old Church), at the heart of the Wallen, consecrated in 1306. The oldest wooden building is Het Houten Huys at the Begijnhof. It was constructed around 1425 and is one of only two existing wooden buildings. It is also one of the few examples of Gothic architecture in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam’s oldest houses, with their ornate gabled façades, are a national treasure. Many of these stunning examples of architecture, found around the city’s Canal Ring, date back to the Dutch Golden Age when a building tax was calculated by the width of a property’s façade.  The house typically referred to as the narrowest in Amsterdam was built around 1600 at Oude Hoogstraat. It stands at a minuscule 2.02 metres wide and only 5 metres deep, with just one small room on each floor.  The house at Singel 7 is unique in its structure, with a façade that is just over one metre wide. Standing between two much larger houses, it makes for a striking photograph, with arms outstretched in front of it. However, this is just the back of the house; the front is considerably wider.

The Trippenhuis (trip's house) at Kloveniersburgwal 29 is the widest house in Amsterdam, which was built between 1660 and 1662 for brothers Lodewijk and Hendrick Trip. This palatial space even hosted the Rijksmuseum between 1816 and 1885, before it moved to its current location. However, its impressive neoclassical architecture mirrors that of an extremely narrow house across the street. As the story goes, the brothers commissioned the second house for their coachman after he remarked that he would be delighted with a house as wide as his masters’ front door.  Amsterdam’s Trompettersteeg (Trumpeter Alley) is another unusual example of narrow urban spaces. This skinny street in the Red Light District is just one metre wide

August 22

Our first full day we were up real early, had to wait for breakfast to start at 7 AM. After that we headed out and about. Again it was too early for anything to be open, but by 9AM the Hop On Hop Off boat office was open and we bought tickets that would take us around the canals to see the highlights of the city.

The locals checking out the tourists

And, we are on our way

Our first stop of the day was the A'dam lookout - where we could get a great 360 degree view over the city

River cruise ships waiting for a new crop of cruisers

On the left i the A'dam Lookout - the more interesting looking building on the right is the

Eye Film Museum, the building looks like a stylized eye

Lots of traffic on the water - the long building is the Amsterdam Central train station. There is even a little boat with three people fishing, in the middle of it all

At the top of the Aèdam Lookout is a giant swing that takes you out over the edge of the building - for brave souls only.

For my trucking brothers - a marine B-train

Next stop was the Anne Frank house. We opted not to try and get in as the lines where extremely long, and only a limited number of people can be let in at anyone time. So we did a bit more canal cruising to the next stop, he Rijksmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands. It has many great 1600 and 1700 paintings, the most famous of which is the Night Watch by Rembrandt. We picked up our tickets for an next day admission.

After that we continued our boat tour and made a stop at the city hall and the daily flea market that has bee running there for decades. Didn't find anything compelling to buy. All in all we spent about 8 hours getting on and off the boat - these are some of the things we saw along the way.

All that keeps car from going into the canal is that small etal railing

different styles of roof tops

short and tall,, all together - there are no really tall building in Amsterdam because the soil substrate an not support the weight of taller building.

Four different roof styles - all the buildings along the canal, are equipped with a jib and pulley out from the peak. The purpose of this is to get merchandise, furniture up to the upper floors of the building. Because the houses are so narrow, it is difficult to get stuff up the equally narrow stairs. Also, all these houses lean out at the top, for the most practical of reasons - when you are hoisting your items up into the building, you don't want to be continually hitting your building - bad for the building and the merchandise.

This building, becaused it faced 2 streets was tilted forward on two sides.

Aug 23

Well not a good start to the day. We meant to get up at a decent hour and get out and do some museum touring. Well, as they say "best laid plans...", we both slept in getting up at 10 AM - jet lag still in effect! Finally got to the Rijksmuseum about 1PM. Some of the beautiful things we saw.