THE NETHERLANDS

Unexpectedly, I travelled to the Netherlands for a week on work recently. On the professional side it was good to see the collaboration, team work and learning in a well organized workshop. This blog post focuses on the places that two colleagues and I visited in the course of the stay. I plan to use photographs as the starting point to describe my feelings, thoughts and experiences. NOTE: I have avoided using names as much as possible.

 

Our Dutch colleagues did not like the fact that the onset of summer has been delayed this year. Rain and lower temperatures (around 15 degrees Celsius) have been around longer than expected. Still, my colleague and I did see pretty flowers while we went for walks in Eindhoven. The freshness and rich colour of the flowers were a treat to my eyes. My thoughts went to my wife who appreciates the beauty of flowers far more than me! I had never such a big cluster of hydrangea flowers bloom so well, seen here!

Eindhoven is a city that houses 320,000 people. The founder of Philips, Frederik Philips established a bulb manufacturing factory as described in https://www.philips.com/a-w/about/our-history.html. His sons Anton and Gerard continued the growth story. Much like the respect earned by the Tata family in India, the Philips brand and family has made its place in the hearts of most of the Dutch population. Just as Jamshedpur was developed in India by the Tatas, Eindhoven owes much of its development to Philips. The construction of this villa began in 1903. Anton Philips and his wife stayed here. When my colleague and I took a new road for a walk after lunch, we came upon this villa without knowing anything about it! We were pleasantly surprised. Next to it is a garage built to keep Anton Philips' car.

There was a Euro Cup 2024 match between the Netherlands and France on a Friday evening in Germany. It seemed that most of Eindhoven had made its way to the Centrum, the center of the city where pubs, cafes and restaurants all screened the match. The atmosphere was lively and full of excitement. The scoreless draw was probably more of an advantage to the Dutch. The people in Eindhoven Centrum certainly felt so! I took this photo with my hands in the air: it is a poor, blurred photograph, but it gives an idea of the environment on that evening. My colleague and friend's video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RigHVfi6GLg captures the vibrancy of that evening.

 

In my last trip, I had not seen any windmill up close. This time, the three of us visited Moelen van Sloten a restored windmill outside Amsterdam. Here it is, looking compact but still majestic.

https://molenvansloten.nl/en/secret-of-amsterdam/ has more information. It had rained at Schiphol from where we caught a bus to Langsom. I felt cold despite the jacket I wore. The temperature must have been around 12 degrees Celsius. This is the Moelen van Sloten which is a "polder" mill. Polder is land reclaimed from the sea, since the Netherlands is lower than sea level. When the plane landed in Amsterdam, the altitude was shown as -6m! Moelen van Sloten and other such polder mills pump out water at about 60,000 liters per minute. To me, speed equals power instinctively. On that front, windmills appear to turn rather slowly, but as explained in https://theroundup.org/how-fast-does-a-wind-turbine-spin/, appearances are deceptive!

Our guide showed wooden skates used for skating on ice in the past. She encouraged everyone to climb the few steps with a high rise and a handrail for support, which covered only part of the length of the steps. To my cautious eyes, it looked tricky. Her instructions were simple: "Keep your face and nose to the steps." I gingerly went up (and down!) the steps. The guide knowledgeably explained the Archimedean screw and the gear system. Seeing the working of the windmill was certainly a highlight for me. I was surprised to see a map from the 16th century in the windmill with text written in Latin. Our guide informed that the windmills were invented first in Egypt and China, much to my surprise.

Rembrandt was a miller's son. Wax representations of people in his paintings are seen in the windmill. Our guide's energy at 60 (probably) amazed me. This is true of most Dutch people. I believe that because the Dutch cycle regularly and prioritise fitness, they are mobile well into their 70s. During the football match, we saw several senior citizens enjoy the match also. The only thing I disliked in the visit was the smell of tobacco and cigarettes at the Eindhoven station. Despite the preference for cycling and fitness, the fondness for cigarettes and tobacco continues.

 

The discovery of unexpected places is one of the pleasures in a new place. On a relatively sunny evening, my colleague suggested going for a walk. I like walking, so I readily agreed. She and I  went around the Centrum area, choosing roads that were new to us. We saw this church with a small version of Rio de Janeiro's "Christ the Redeemer" on the top of its tower.

 

On the way back, it helped that Google Maps shows roads in Europe better than it does in India. We used it to confirm that we were in the right direction.

 

Rotterdam is a modern city, since it was bombed in the second World War. My colleague and I visited Markthal first, a food court of sorts. https://www.markthal.nl/en/about-markthal/the-building states that the artist Arno Coenen designed and painted "The Horn of Plenty" on the ceiling of Markthal, covering an incredible 11,000 square meters! As a canvas, it must rank high among the modern art works - and I don't mean that only literally!

There was a flea market that adjoined Markthal. My colleague and I walked through the flea market. Both she and I looked at the souvenirs, but we did not buy anything. Apart from souvenirs, there were shops selling dry fruit, delicious and fresh looking vegetables, herring and meat, bakery offerings, paintings, antique items like brassware and dresses.

Since I am on the topic of art, let me also talk (OK, write!) about the murals in Eindhoven. The city has several striking murals. This is one of them. https://www.thisiseindhoven.com/en/see-and-do/tips-by-locals/walls-with-paint-motion describes what made the artists paint these murals.

From art to architecture is a natural progression. The cube houses in Rotterdam are made for photo sharing social media apps!

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cube-house explains why and how these 1080 square feet houses were built. There is a living room, a kitchenette and a dining area in one level and a bedroom and a study one level higher. There is a terrace of sorts on the third level, but even on the cool day, it felt distinctly warmer. In summer, I expect that a cooler or fan would be a must in this level.

My colleague and I went to Euromast. https://euromast.nl/en/ has more information. I have visited Burj Khalifa thanks to my brother, who lives in Dubai. It is certainly an unforgettable experience. The Euromast is not that high, but two important differences make it memorable. The first is the view of the Rotter river, the Het Park and the greenery in general in Rotterdam. The second is the fact that it is open. My colleague and I felt a strong breeze that refreshed us in the mild afternoon sun. This is one of the views. The high rise building in the top left is more than ten storeys high. It gives an idea of our elevation, more than 100m from ground level.

The three of us colleagues talked among ourselves about how the Netherlands has enabled cycling. There are red cycling lanes available in all cities and separate signalling. On a Sunday morning, the sun was out and the roads were empty, inviting tourists like me to wander around!

At the end of the trip, a few experiences stand out. My colleague's husband said that one needs to taste freshly prepared stroopwafel (see https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/stroopwafel-recipe/ for more information) to appreciate it. When he made this remark, I thought to myself: "Here is something that I am unlikely to experience!" In the Saturday flea market at Rotterdam, there was a counter where stroopwafel was being prepared. The lady preparing it offered my colleague and me a couple of small pieces. My colleague handed over her piece to me. As I felt the warm stroopwafel in my palm and the taste of the syrup with freshly baked biscuit, I remembered the remark of my other colleague's husband. Much like the taste of the bread from the Iyengar's bakery in Bengaluru in the '80s, the freshness of the stroopwafel was superb. I can confirm what my colleague's husband said: fresh stroopwafels do taste better!

There are other experiences as well: I bumped into a glass wall at work in a hurry to enter the rotating gate (my forehead hurt for two days!). An unfriendly bus driver did not inform us of a stop that we missed. I spotted a small rat scurry across a relatively empty area in Schiphol airport while eating a sandwich. If it noticed me, I don't know who was more startled! The roses, hydrangea and lilies I saw in the Netherlands looked very fresh and lively. I pointed out these flowers on many times, delighted by the liveliness of their colour and their freshness. On the day I left, it was nice to see people enjoying themselves in the city centres when the sun came out. On one day, we got into a wrong train, alighting at an unfamiliar station and returned to the right destination after considerable time. Above all are the memories of lush green farms where cows, sheep and horses graze peacefully seen during train journeys! I came back energized by the successful workshop on the professional front and these experiences!