Holland at Tulip Time

This is a travelogue of our late-April 2005 trip to Holland. Our trip started with a ten and one-half hour flight to Amsterdam. We left at 4:00 p.m. Saturday and arrived in Amsterdam on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport is about eight miles away from the center of town where our ship was docked, so we took a taxi and got there in about 20 minutes.

Day 1

The nonstop flight from Los Angeles was on a KLM 747 Combi. "Combi" means that the plane carries both passengers and cargo.The flight was full because it's the quickest way to get from Los Angeles to Holland, and because Schiphol Airport is a hub for other destinations in Europe and the Middle-East. We were in Coach class, and although crowded, the service was very good.

This is a picture of the plane at LAX, just before we boarded.

Our ship, the River Empress, was docked very near the center of town and the train station.The ship was built in 2002, and was refurbished in 2005. Like most large river ships in Europe, the River Empress is longer than an an American football field.

Although not the most luxurious river ship in Europe, it's very new and comfortable. The staff were great, and the service excellent. This ship is owned by Uniworld, and it caters to American customers. A full English-Speaking crew, open seating at all meals, jeans acceptable at dinner time, and a non-smoking environment make this ship a great choice for a short or long vacation.

We've been to Amsterdam several times before, and we've visited most of the main sites. Sights not to be missed on your first visit are the Van Gogh Museum, the Riksmuseum, and the Anne Frank House.

Many canal houses in Amsterdam have gabled roofs. "Gable" refers to the front apex of a roof. It disguised the steepness of the roof under which goods were stored. In time, gables became decorated with scrolls, crests, and even coats of arms. In Amsterdam, the interiors of many of the canal houses have been modernized, but the gables remain intact. The protruding hoist beams are used to move objects (like furniture and appliances) through windows since stairways very narrow.

Our cabin was on the middle level of the ship. It was very quiet and comfortable. This was only the third cruise since the ship was refurbished. Although built in 2002 the River Empress had to be completely refurbished because it was severely damaged from being crushed in a lock by a large barge.

Day 2

The day started with an early wake up call and breakfast because we were going to tour the Aalsmeer Flower Auction. An average of 19 million flowers and 2 million plants change hands every day within this gigantic building. The flowers and plants are supplied by more than 6,000 growers world-wide, and bought by 1,100 wholesalers and exporters.

There are a lot more tulip pictures to come later on in this travelogue. (The story of the tulip is interesting too.)

From the floating flower market, it was back to the ship for lunch. Below are a few canal pictures that I took while on the bus.

Shortly after we returned, the ship departed Amsterdam and entered a lock to get to the IJsselmeer. The IJsselmeer is a man-made lake on the coast of the Netherlands. Until 1932, the IJsselmeer was part of the Zuiderzee, a saltwater inlet of the North Sea. By 1968, the Dutch had transformed 764 square miles of the Zuiderzee into blocks of usable land, called polders. Here is how it typically happened:

• In 1932 the Dutch completed a dike across the mouth of the Zuiderzee, creating the IJsselmeer. This dike can be seen in the upper middle portion of the satellite picture below. The freshwater from the IJssel River flushed out the saltwater creating a lake.
• Between 1930 and 1968 dikes were built around five portions of the IJsselmeer.
• The polders were drained using pumps.
• Reeds naturally grew on the former sea bottom. To help dry out the soil, the Dutch let the reeds grow. Transpiration moves water into the air faster than evaporation alone would.
• When the soil had dried the reeds were cleared, and colza was planted. Colza is related to cabbage and turnips.
• The colza was cleared, and grain crops were planted.
• The polders were cultivated for up to five years before the land was ready to produce commercially.
• Land was then leased to commercial farmers, or towns were built.

It doesn't look like we would fit, but when we entered the lock, we pulled right alongside the Amadeus Symphony, another river ship that was on it's way to the IJsselmeer too. To the right is the Amadeus Symphony on the IJsselmeer. We were on a ship of the same design (and called the Amadeus) on a trip from Amsterdam to Vienna in 1997.

Below, just after we entered the Ijsselmeer, we were required to join the lifeboat drill on the top deck.

It may look like we were on the open sea, but it really is just a big lake. The water is very shallow, and there aren't any swells.

We were bound for Hoorn, and we entered the harbor about three hours after leaving Amsterdam.

Founded in 1357, Hoorn rapidly grew to become a major harbor. During Holland's 'Golden Century', Hoorn was an important home base for the Dutch East India Company and a very prosperous center of trade. In 1616, the explorer Willem Corneliszoon Schouten braved furious storms as he rounded the tip of South America. He named it Kaap Hoorn (Cape Horn) in honor of his hometown.

Shortly after docking, we were taken on a walking tour of the town. The pictures below (as well as almost all of the pictures on this travelogue) are in order so that you can get the same feeling that I had discovering the town for the first time.

This picture was the last taken on our walk. Our ship spent the night in Hoorn. It had been a very long day for us, starting at the flower auction and ending in this beautiful and historic town.