In the Netherlands
Visiting places in Europe often gives this feeling that you have seen one and you have seen all. Generally, the places have a similar layout of cobbled squares or plazas in the centre surrounded by a church or a cathedral, a town hall, eateries/pubs with extended sit-outs full of people lazing around with a glass of beer or wine. The architecture may be different but the theme remains the same. Therefore, the real motivation behind our journey to the Dutch country of the Netherlands or Holland in the last week of April was not so much to see the places as to catch the ‘blooms’ for which this land was so famous before the blooms faded away and the sight became like any other in Europe. We were definitely not disappointed.[simage=1297,200,y,left,][simage=1410,200,y,right,]
Flowers in Holland are in the Lisse region, also known as the “Dune and Bulb Region“. Lisse is also the home to the world famous and, perhaps, the largest flower garden, Keukenhof. [simage=1345,200,y,left,]A beautiful beach town, Noordwijk, nestled smugly on the North Sea at a convenient distance from Keukenhof naturally became our choice for stay in Holland. We were, indeed, lucky in our choice. Apart from a pristine beach flanked by the pretty and happening Koningin Wilhelmina Boulevard and a typical Dutch City Centre, Noordwijk was also the venue from where the annual flower parade that passes along Holland’s flower fields and the gorgeous Keukenhof gardens was to start on April 24.
Driving around and into Noordwijk, we came across never ending belts of Tulips in different colours and, occasionally, Daffodils vying with one another for prominence. Oh what a riot of colours it was! Literally, “ten thousand saw I at a glance tossing their heads in sprightly dance”. I felt and realized what Wordsworth must have felt on seeing the fields of Daffodils. I am sure the unforgettable sight is going to flash by whenever I am in a ‘vacant or a pensive mood’ and become the bliss of my solitude. [simage=1296,160,y,right,][simage=1279,160,y,right,][simage=1264,160,y,right,]And then my heart with pleasure filled when I witnessed the famous carnival of Flowers called the ‘Bloemencorso van de Bollenstreek’ along with the thousands come from far and wide. Standing on the Boulevard in front of the Palace Hotel, we saw the parade of a spectacular display of flower bedecked floats and an assortment of other florally decorated vehicles interspersed by marching bands. The parade themed “Journey Through Europe” was to make a slow march from Noordwijk to Haarlem, passing the Keukenhof Garden on its way.
Visiting Keukenhof (literally, “Kitchen garden”) thereafter with its exquisitely laid flower beds in glorious colours and shapes was a feast for all our senses. It is said that about seven million flower bulbs are planted annually in the park and every year the exhibition is organized with a theme, the current year’s theme being “From Russia with Love.”[simage=1335,160,y,left,left][simage=1321,160,y,left,right]The Garden offers a variety of flower and plant shows in its three pavilions: Beatrix, Willem Alexander and Oranje Nassau, Art exhibitions, thematic parades, etc. Going atop the Windmill and getting a view of the Park on the one side and the multi-hued Tulip fields on the other from above is a delightful experience. [simage=1351,144,n,right,]The sheer beauty of this entire package of experience literally drained me to such a pleasant exhaustion that I had to lie down against the trunk of a tree to let the jostling emotions find their peace in my system.
Serenity and restraint define the Hague (Den Haag) just as it would define majority of the capital cities of the world. Perhaps, the serenity and restraint of such cities emanate from the place being the centre of governance. Location on the North Sea with the face of a beautiful and commercially well developed beach, Scheveningen, and lots of other attractions, including the Centrum (City Centre), characterize the Hague, but I would rather remember this city for being host to the Panorama Mesdag and the Madurodam in that order. [simage=1383,160,y,right,right]Visiting the Panorama was like a magical experience in time and space. It was simply mesmerizing. The depiction of the maritime life of the Hague has been done so ‘realistically’ and so deftly that I refuse to accept even today that the experience was largely an illusion. Despite knowing that I was looking merely at a series of paintings kept at an easily measurable distance, I felt as if I was looking sometimes miles into the sea and sometimes at certain tokens of life littered close by. The power of visual manipulation was so strong that almost everyone seemed to be in a state of wonder and admiration. I was definitely overwhelmed rather stunned by it all.
Though not of that scale and nature, yet the experience of looking at ‘all of Holland in miniature‘ at the Madurodam was almost equally wonderful. [simage=1369,144,y,left,left]Not the miniature replicas of the Schipol Airport or the canal houses of Amsterdam or the Parliament buildings of the Hague, the Harbours, the Railway Stations, the Bridges etc created with minute details on 1:25 scale amaze you so much as the engineering behind making the ships sail, planes move, windmills turn, trains run in this miniature world.
Well, visiting Amsterdam is like completing a ritual. The city never ceases to amaze you no matter how many times you have seen it in the past. The simple vibrancy of the place full of people at any time in the city centre is amusing. The magnificent Central Station built on reclaimed land consisting of three islands joined on the support of 8600 wooden piles seem to bear a silent and dispassionate witness to all the humdrum that goes on incessantly right under its nose. Amsterdam the name first used in 1215 obviously draws its source from river Amstel which along with a network of well regulated canals as well as the backup provided by the harbour continues to be a major mode of transportation. Rightly called ‘the Venice of the North‘, an unavoidable canal cruise reveals the true nature of the city. Cramped for space due to shortage of land, the waterways are lined up with gabled canal houses on both the sides. A hoisting beam on the upper facade of all the houses is a unique feature for transfer of goods to various floors due to limited space for movements, generally, on the narrow, steep and winding stairs connecting them. It was in one such house at Prinsengracht that Ann Frank had remained holed up for two years during the Nazi occupation and written her famous Diary. Looking at the said house, our moods became so sombre and contemplative that we sat there on a bench ruminating for quite a while.[simage=1401,160,y,right,none][simage=1384,160,y,right,none][simage=1399,160,y,right,none]
Amsterdam offers a vast and variegated range from the sublime to the mundane, from art and culture to drug and sex. Though the city administrators are trying to play it down, yet the almost legal drug and sex remain the city’s major tourist attractions. The only changes I noticed from my visit a decade earlier was the missing red neon sign indicating ‘The Red Light District‘ prominently on the left of Damrak as you emerged from the Central Station and the silence of the recorded voice about the area during the canal cruise. Otherwise, everything in this place of vouyers’ delight seemed to be happening just as before. Scantily clad, age defying prostitutes displaying most of their ‘assets’ were still standing in the famous framed windows awash with red lights; stores full of hardcore videos, magazines and sex toys were still doing brisk business; sex clubs, pubs and theatres were still fairly crowded; and the roads, lanes and by-lanes were still thronged with hordes of tourists of both sexes from all nationalities. It is a unique place, sleazy but generally safe. There is no ‘coy mistress’ here, nothing to hide or feel embarrassed about. If you do so, it is your problem. We were surprised and also a bit amused to see batches of young Japanese boys and girls as if on an educational trip being led in and out of the Casa Rosso, a theatre known for its live sex shows.[simage=1409,640,c,center,]
“In the Netherlands”