This continues my blog about our recent River Cruise to the Netherlands and Belgium. The first blog entry about Amsterdam can be read here:
https://cbrainard.blogspot.com/2023/04/river-cruise-of-netherlands-and-belgium.html
FROM AMSTERDAM, our ship the Oscar Wilde had to be raised UP to sea-level via locks -- that was sort of mind-boggling to watch. Then overnight we sailed in the open sea, rough at times, then we were back in still canals and we sailed through locks once more.Our first stop was the picturesque city called Hoorn, in the Netherlands. We walked off our boat and saw the harbor, darling shops, cafes, and bars. Narrow winding streets, pristine canals with ducks swimming about. And it was a lovely sunny day, not too cold because the temperature could drop to 10 degrees when we were there. That was frigid for me.
I learned that "Hoorn" lent its name to the hazardous cape off Tierra del Fuego. Dutchman Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire had named "Cape Horn" in 1616. I had actually sailed the Horn and visited the Falklands on another cruise, so the name-information was interesting to me.
In fact, one of the joys of traveling is when connections such as this are made, or when I hear "Dutch East India Company" which I had heard back in my school days and then I find myself walking in its base, Hoorn.
Here is a description of Hoorn from the internet:"Hoorn is a town and a former Dutch East India Company base in the Dutch province of North Holland. It lies on the IJsselmeer, a lake north of Amsterdam. Shops and cafes dot its 17th-century town center, which is anchored by the Roode Steen, the main square. The harbor features the Hoofdtoren, a 16th-century tower. Museums include the Westfries Museum, displaying paintings of the Westfrisian Golden Age."
In the Netherlands, we also visited Arnhem. specifically the Hartenstein Airborne Museum and the Commonwealth War Cemetery. These are significant World War Two sites especially for our British companions. The Battle of Arhem, part of Operation Market Garden, occurred on September 1944. Advancing Allied Forces (primarily British) failed to secure a key bridge and many were captured and killed.
Stay tuned for more about our trip to the Netherlands, Belgium, and Paris too.
Read also:
River Cruise of the Netherlands and Belgium - Bruge or Brugge
River Cruise of the Netherlands and Belgium - Amsterdam Canals
Cecilia Brainard's Selected Short Stories Wins 40th National Book Awards in Short Fiction, English
Red Light District in Makati, Philippines
From Hanoi to Ho Chi Ming City
Kenya Safari
Ireland 1, 2
Visiting the American Southwest
Visiting Colonial Mexico
My Love Affair with France
Burma
Malaysia
Tags: #rivercruise #europeanrivercruise #Amsterdamcanal #Europeantravel #Europeanholiday
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