HOLLAND

    On work, I visited the Netherlands (or Holland) for a week in the beginning of September 2023. It was exciting to meet colleagues whom I had only met on video calls. I had a couple of days during the weekend when I visited Amsterdam and the city of Maastricht. The rest of this blog post describes some of my experience and memories from those days. NOTE: As always, I have avoided mentioning names of hotels and people.

    An observation about me from my wife is: "You are the only person capable of getting lost near home!" On a Sunday morning in the city of Eindhoven, I proved her observation to be correct! This time, I will blame technology to some extent: on my smartphone, I typed in the station that I was supposed to go to. However, the app took the first location by default, an area near the station but NOT the station itself. I happily followed its directions thinking how smart I am! It took me a few minutes to realise that I was not near the train station!

    As I found my way back, I heard a voice calling my name. It was a colleague from Pune, who had seen me on video calls. He had landed just that morning but he requested me to wait for a few minutes and said that he would join me. This is how a mistake made using an app turned out well in the end for me. I had company for the whole day thanks to the mistake I made!

    The train journey to Amsterdam kept us both engaged. The monitors in the train display the next station, which is also announced in the train. Train speeds are around 130kmph. The journey of about 125km to Amsterdam Centraal station took about 80 minutes. There were fields of lush green. The landscape resembled the Indian countryside. To complete the picture, there were many cows in the farms also. One difference: the cows looked more well fed ! Throughout the journey, we saw cycling paths in most towns adjoining the station. Even in the Eindhoven station, we saw students, professionals and senior citizens confidently cycle, park in the station and then board the trains. Cycling (called biking there) is very common. The roads are designed for it with dedicated cycle lanes in many places. We saw a few windmills on the way to Amsterdam.

    Our journey ended at Amsterdam Centraal station, a stately building like the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai. I asked the tourist center representative how to get to the Rijksmuseum. She mentioned two electric trams that would take us there. A friend of mine in Bengaluru had advised me to buy a OV Chipkaart card as soon as I landed. This advice was extremely helpful. The card opens up all buses, trams and trains: one just has to remember to swipe in and out and ensure that it has at least 20 Euros. My colleague and I took the tram. On the way, we saw sights typical of European cities everywhere: buildings with vintage facades, squares filled with people drinking coffee and beer and prominent brands (mostly clothing) advertising their wares.

    At the Rijksmuseum, my colleague and I had to keep our backpacks at a baggage counter. Before we did that, we ate biscuits and snacks since it was already well past noon. The Rijksmuseum is famous for art and paintings, but there are also other attractions. I was enchanted by an old globe with old names of places that are part of history now. I was impressed by the section of pottery from the town of Delft too. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200623-delftware-porcelain-the-global-story-of-a-dutch-icon explains how porcelain pottery became popular in Delft: a Portuguese ship seized by the Dutch contained 100,000 pieces of porcelain pottery which were auctioned in Amsterdam. This is how the Dutch were introduced to porcelain pottery. French potter refugees settled in Delft, making it a hub and establishing Delft pottery on the world stage. The English queen Mary popularised the Delft pottery further.

An example of Delft pottery is seen here.

 

 

 

It is interesting to see that we call now as the Arabian sea was called as the sea of Arabia and India (Mare Arabicum et Indicum) in this globe !

The library in the Rijksmuseum is a bookworm's paradise !

    For people interested in art, the paintings in Rijkmuseum could easily take up a day if all paintings are studied. My colleague and I had decided that we would spend a maximum of 3 hours. As it turned out, we spent about 2.5 hours. The web page https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/stories/one-hundred-masterpieces describes the importance of some of the masterpieces by artists like Rembrandt and Vermeer with short videos. "The Night Watch" is a painting that occupies an entire  section in the museum. The painting is being restored.

    Walking through a museum can be tiring ! When my colleague and I came out of the museum, we were ready for lunch. Our plan was to roam about and take the Amsterdam canal cruise in the evening. We ate decent pizzas for lunch at an Italian restaurant. http://www.maps-of-europe.net/maps/maps-of-netherlands/maps-of-amsterdam/detailed-map-of-amsterdam-city.jpg shows that Amsterdam Centraal station is at the centre of concentric roads. My colleague observed this as we roamed about: "Whatever we do, we will reach Centraal. Let us explore.", he suggested. This is exactly what we did. We found many bridges across many more Amsterdam canals, roads and lanes lined with shops selling souvenirs, real and artificial tulips and the ubiquitous windmills! We could hear a church bell tolling the half hour and the hours as we looked and passed through squares full of cafes and pubs. I had a busy time looking this way and that: buildings that appeared to have been constructed in the 19th century appeared every now and then. https://www.amsterdam-advisor.com/architecture-in-amsterdam.html informs that there are buildings dated from the 15th century in old Amsterdam !

This is not quite Venice, but it is probably just as pretty.

    My colleague said that his friends recommended the canal cruise near the Centraal station as the water was clearer there. We reached there at around 5:30 p.m. and purchased tickets for a cruise. We took time to unwind at a pub and then boarded the cruise boat. Our guide knew the history of the Amsterdam canal and the sights on the cruise well. He pointed out attractions on the left and right: the ship museum, Heineken museum, the zoo. There are buildings that tilt front, right and left in Amsterdam. The reason is explained in https://thetravelbunny.com/canal-leaning-houses-amsterdam/. Our guide pointed out houseboats on the canal. Prices range around 14,000 Euros per sq. m. for the houseboats - and we spotted several in the one hour cruise ! The water in the canal appeared unclean. Our guide asked: "Do you think the water is good?" There were several of us who shook our heads and said "No". He took a plastic cup, leaned into the canal and showed us the cup: it appeared completely transparent and the water was clear ! "There are green and brown plants in the bottom of the canal that make the water look muddy, but the water is actually quite clear. The government says that the water is good enough to drink, but I would advise against it!", said our guide. There are more than 1500 bridges across the Amsterdam canals. One of them is the Skinny Bridge, picturised in the James Bond movie "Diamonds are Forever". In the evening, with the lights on, the bridges make a lovely sight. Our guide pointed out hooks on the underside of the bridges that boats used to push against.

Dusk begins as our cruise ends. The light, the sky and the water make it appear somewhat like a painting.

    Our cruise ended at around 7 p.m. The light was still very good, since it was summer. We were lucky: the previous week had seen heavy rains and bad weather. We took a train to Eindhoven from Amsterdam Centraal. I picked up a meal to go from the Eindhoven Centraal station, satisifed about a day well spent.

    I had time to read about tourist attractions in Amsterdam. I like history and culture. Anne Frank's museum was a place that I could have visited, as also the Van Gogh museum. On the other hand, there were other places that I could visit: Rotterdam (recommended by many friends and colleagues), Delft, Maastricht and The Hague. I read about these places also. A group of colleagues from Pune decided to visit Amsterdam one more day, see the windmills in Zaanse Schans and cover other places, but they planned to leave early. I can be incredibly lazy at times. I told them: "Please go ahead, I will make my own plans. I want to spend time eating a lazy breakfast and then leaving!" While reading about Maastricht at https://www.visitmaastricht.com/discover-maastricht/history, I discovered that the town has Roman history dating from 100 A.D. I decided that I would go to Maastricht. I ate breakfast relatively late, at around 9 a.m. This meant that I have missed many attractions of Amsterdam, but this is a choice that I made consciously.

    At breakfast, a Chinese colleague with whom I had interacted only on calls joined me. He mentioned a group that I work with and updated that he was now with another team. Casually, the conversation veered to our plans for the day. "I want to visit the countryside.", said my colleague. "I plan to take the train to Maastricht, which seems to be a historical town.", I replied. "How far is it?", enquired my colleague. "It is about 70km, it will take an hour or so by train.", I replied. "I have rented a car. I will join you: Let us go together.", offered my colleague.

    So he and I set off for Maastricht a few minutes later in his rented car! We used the GPS and reached a free parking lot in Maastricht. There were buses to the city center, around 2km away. A Belgian family had parked and joined us in the bus. The sun had come out by this team, at around 11a.m. We took a bus to the Centrum area in Maastricht. This is a European concept: the center of the town or city is simply called as the Centrum. There are shops and places of tourist interest around the Centrum. Maastricht was no exception. It was a Saturday: there was a fair. I saw shops selling souvenirs, stoles, pottery and antique items. The village fair or farmer's markets are events that are common across cultures! It allows one to shops and socialise. I could see mostly tourists in the shops.

    Our first stop was the Basilica of Our Lady, a historical church. There was a small church which was built in the fifth century at the same spot originally! The door is dated from the 13th century according to https://catholicshrinebasilica.com/basilica-of-our-lady-maastricht-netherlands/. The interiors were dark, particularly contrasting with the warm sun outside. The smell of frankincense and the silence in the church made the place extremely peaceful.

     Like I had done in Amsterdam, my colleague and I roamed about the city. We listened to organ music in the Basilica of St. Servatius, another church with a lot of history as indicated in https://www.sintservaas.nl/en/treasury/highlights/Servatius. En route, we went through a narrow road which led us into an unexpectedly wide area. This was a Roman bathhouse according to https://www.visitmaastricht.com/blog/maastricht/soaking-up-roman-culture-in-maastricht. I remembered reading about this and seeing the signboard for the road, I led my colleague through it. Walking leisurely, we looked at the sights of Maastricht. There were old buildings, famous brands, a lively shopping area and local chocolate shops on the way.

    We crossed the St. Servatius bridge described at https://www.visitmaastricht.com/locations/1335944557/st-servatius-bridge. The European Union treaty was signed in Maastricht in 1992. We saw the area where this was done and headed back by another more modern bridge.

This is a view of the Maas river and the St. Servatius bridge heading from the newer part towards Hell's Gate.

    Hell's Gate is an ancient entrance to the city. We passed through it and entered the old city again. By this time we were hungry. Even as we explored places to eat, we saw that there was a small museum on the way. By coincidence, that Saturday was National Monuments Day. The museums did not charge any fee. So, we walked in. The fresco on the ceiling was one of the oldest in Holland, according to a helpful volunteer there. From there, we went to the Bishop's Mill, Bisschopsmolen, described at  https://www.visitmaastricht.com/locations/354251038/bisschopsmolen-bishops-mill. One of the people there shared pieces of bread prepared at the mill !

    Our tummies craved for a proper lunch by this time. We went to a restaurant near the Basilica of St. Mary. There was an open cafe nearby with a lot of tourists enjoying the sun. We sat down, ordered our meals and spent 30 minutes savouring the food and the ambience. I was ready to head back, but my colleague pointed out one more church that was shown as a landmark online. We used the map to get there. This was the Sint Janskerk (St. John's church), a church that has been painted red. In the square located in front of the church, drums were being played in a concert. It seemed to be part of the fair. There was a crowd that enjoyed the music. We entered the church, where a surprise awaited me.

    I am a big fan of the author Tolkien and his "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. To my astonishment, I saw that there was a model of a dragon in the church resembling Smaug, a dragon from the movies based on Tolkien's work. The volunteers there said that if we climbed to the tower, we could see where Tolkien may have been inspired to write about the stairs of Cirith Ungol in the book "The Two Towers"., Cirith Ungol is a long and treacherous journey for the protagonists in the book. Curious, I told my colleague that we should go up. He was equally ready to do this. The winding staircase is narrow and pretty steep in places. By the time we reached the top, I was huffing and puffing. https://www.stjanskerkmaastricht.nl/monument/ indicates that we can ascend 43m, around 130 feet, which would be about 13 floors high in India! The climb was worth it. There is a fence around the top, but I could see the houses and other buildings of Maastricht. It made for a pretty sight.

Maastricht looks pretty from the top of Sint Janskerk. Some of the crowd assembled for the music is seen here, on the bottom left.

    Is Cirith Ungol in Tolkien's book based on this church? Maastricht has limestone caves: were these caves the basis for the mines of Moria in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy? https://www.observantonline.nl/english/Home/Articles/id/60688/tolkien-in-maastricht-and-a-motor-scooter-mystery explores the link between Maastricht and Tolkien. Did a young Tolkien visit this area of Holland and think of how this could be a setting for a fantasy? The possibility is enticing for me! In the church tower, we saw a model of Gandalf the wizard and Elvish script while descending. The Elvish script appears to be similar to text on murals in the church.

    After this, we decided we had to head back, particularly since my colleague had another personal appointment in the evening. He purchased chocolates and we went back to the bus stop. This is when we realised that we were in some trouble ! We knew where the bus stopped to drop us: where would the bus pick us back to go to the parking lot where we had parked the car ?! "The bus stop may be opposite.", I suggested. We crossed the road from where the bus had dropped us to look for a bus stop. We were unable to find it. Meanwhile, a bus came in the opposite direction. We crossed back and asked the driver where was the return stop. Ready to leave, he only pointed in the opposite direction, waving his hands that way. By now, we saw the Belgian family who had joined us from the parking lot moving around to find the bus stop as well. We followed them and stood in what looked like a bus stop a little further away, opposite. A bus came, but it was headed elsewhere. The Belgian gentleman asked the driver about heading to the parking lot. After conversing in Dutch with the driver, he told my colleague and me that we needed to go a little inside Maastricht.

    He and his family took the lead to the bus stop. We walked quickly towards the direction indicated - and saw a bus approaching the stop. Immediately, our brisk walk changed to a jog. Suddenly my backpack with water and biscuits seemed heavier to me as I jogged ! All of us reached the bus and caught our breaths. This was when we learned from the Belgian gentleman that they had driven down for the day to Maastricht. He was critical about the directions - or the lack of them ! I agree: if he had not been there, my colleague and I could easily have spent about 30 minutes trying to locate the bus stop. I gulped the water I had brought and shared it with my colleauge: it was welcome after the jog ! We reached the parking lot soon, got into the car and switched on the air conditioning as we prepared to head back to Eindhoven. Though the limestone caves and a couple of churches were missed, overall, we were extremely pleased with the Maastricht trip.

    The next morning I headed back to Schiphol airport in Amsterdam in a cab. The cab driver was originally from Aruba in the West Indies, a former Dutch colony. We spent the journey talking about G20, the role of India in distributing vaccines, geopolitics and development in general. It was an engaging conversation. I reached the airport well in time. For the first time, I checked in my suitcase myself under the watchful eyes of the airline representative. I had enough time for a couple of purchases in the duty free shopping area. I struggled to find coffee shops though. I ate sandwiches at a restaurant that showcased Dutch culture. There was pottery that may have been from Delft in the restaurant. I found a place that served hot coffee. As I sat down to drink the coffee in front of a window that showed many planes, I felt good. The check in formalities were done, I had completed shopping and a cup of coffee was in front of me followed by the view of planes in different stages of readiness for take off. I saw that there is a library in the airport with books showcasing Dutch history, architecture and art.

    There was a taxi strike in Bengaluru on the day I landed. I called a private taxi provider that my wife had recommended. When the plane landed, the taxi driver called me, which was a pleasant surprise. The immigration and baggage were completed with some time. Soon, I was on my way back home. I reached early in the morning, slept for a couple of hours and got ready for a house warming ceremony the next morning with renewed enthusiasm.

    In the next few days, I shared pictures and memories with my family and friends. The stroopwaffel I purchased in Eindhoven and Schiphol airport were appreciated by friends and relatives. Every time I ate a mini stroopwaffel, memories of the Holland trip came to me. The memories include the feeling of peace in the Basilica of Our Lady in Maastricht, the sound of the church bells tolling the hour in Amsterdam, the exquisite Delft pottery in the Rijksmuseum and the taste of the bread in Bisschopsmolem. Now, more than a month later, what I treasure are the unexpected surprises that made the trip special: first, my colleague from Pune finding me when I was lost and finding my way back ; second, a chance meeting with another colleague during breakfast that led to a drive to Maastricht and finally, the unexpected link (which may be!) between Tolkien and Maastricht. Apart from work and training, these are the other experiences that made this trip memorable.