River Cruise of the Netherlands and Belgium - Keukenhof Gardens

 

 

Tulips were introduced to Holland in 1593 from Turkey. These flowers became very popular, so much so that "tulipmania" occurred. In the mid-1600s, tulip bulbs were so coveted that the Dutch invested in them. There was a tulip market, and bulbs would be auctioned, and people paid for the bulbs. But then speculation of how much money one could make from the bulbs came in and the bidding soared. At the height of the bubble market, tulips sold for 10,000 guilders, which was equivalent to the value of a mansion in Amsterdam.  The bubble occurred around 1634 to 1637, but then the bubble burst. 

River Cruise of the Netherlands and Belgium - Bruges

 

IN 2013, WE HAD PLANNED to visit Bruge as part of a driving tour through Normandy and Belgium. As things turned out, Lauren had an accident in Paris, broke his hip, ended up in the Clinique Blomet where he as he puts it "got screwed by the French."  His French doctor, Dr. Atassi, put two stainless steel pins to hold the bones together.  

When we explained to the doctor that this accident had messed up our plans to visit Bruge and other places, he scrunched his face, and poo-pooed and said, "Oh, it always rains in Bruge anyway." It was at that moment, raining in Paris.

River Cruise of the Netherlands and Belgium - Ghent & Ypres

 

   

BY THE TIME we visited Ghent Belgium, I understood that Belgium is a wealthy country. I see it as more lowkey than countries like Spain, France or Switzerland or Germany. It is probably because of my own ignorance but I had a better sense of the history and personalities of other countries.

 

River Cruise of the Netherlands and Belgium - Antwerp

 

 

OUR FIRST STOP in Belgium was Antwerp, known as the capital of the world's diamond trade. No, I did not go shopping for diamonds there, and we didn't even visit the Diamond Museum. 

River Cruise of the Netherlands and Belgium - Hoorn and Arnhem

 

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.

 

River Cruise of the Netherlands and Belgium - Amsterdam Canals

 

  

We did a River Cruise of the Netherlands and Belgium and I'll be posting pictures and short videos of that trip, so stay tuned. 

 

In  Amsterdam, we did a canal cruise. One of my advocacies is cleaning up rivers in Cebu, Philippines. The canals and rivers are chock-full of garbage there. When I see clean and beautiful canals in other places, like Amsterdam for instance, I feel sad about the rivers and canals in the Philippines and hope that people will stop throwing garbage in the waterways, and and the government will do more to clean up the Philippine rivers.

I digress because this blog entry is about Amsterdam.