Bye Bye Amsterdam

I'm leaving tomorrow for Los Angeles, farewell to the Netherlands, it's been fun.

The red car below is a DAF, a car made in Holland, originally in Eindhoven actually, and DAF's passenger car business was sold to Volvo in 1975, eventually ending production of passenger cars in Holland.The DAF was a small, fuel efficient car, capable of transporting four adults in reasonable comfort. The Dutch company had been building such cars since the post WWII era, and for good reason too.
This is the current price of gas in Holland: 1 Euro and 29.5 Cents for a Litre of gas. There are about 3.8 litres in one US gallon, so that means that a US gallon of gas costs 4.92 Euro which, at current exchange rates means a gallon of gas here costs about $6.40.

No wonder the Dutch, and indeed the majority of European countries favor smaller more fuel efficient cars. If gas prices were as high in 1975, perhaps the DAF factory would not have been sold as fuel efficient cars would have been more in demand. But the writing is on the wall for the US - we have to use smaller more fuel efficient cars if we want to reduce our reliance on Middle East oil, and do something more constructive to reduce pollution.

The DAF was a highly innovative car, well ahead of its time. It had an automatic transmission that required virtually no expensive maintenance at all because it was essentially a pair of rubber bands - see below:
Incredibly simple, effective and efficient, and like many things in Holland, well ahead of it's time.

I am sad to leave Holland, and look forward to coming back

Crossing the Road ...

... Is no easy thing for a pedestrian in Eindhoven.

Bicycles and motorcycles are seriously encouraged and often have their own lane. Quite unlike the few bicycle lanes that we see in Los Angeles, however, here the cyclists and motor scooters have a separate lane in the sidewalk.

To cross the road below (outside my flat) you first have to avoid the kamikaze cyclists, then deal with the cars.
By the way, if you want a bigger view of any photo on this site, click on it. To make matters worse, cyclists have priority over pedestrians (you have to get out of their way) and also over motorists, who must yield to bikes.

As a result, cyclists tend to be quite fearless here. Note the cyclist above plowing through the red light while the meek motorists cower at the lights.

As you can see, bicycles rule over here.

It's A Load Of Balls...

... Here in Eindhoven where they commemorate Christmas in curious (at least to me) ways. This display caught my eye for a variety of reasons...

I'd Quite Like One Of These ...

OK, I know it's obviously not Dutch, but I've seen it parked outside my apartment almost every day since I arrived here, and I vaguely remember seeing it last year too. Besides, it's inherently eccentric too, so it is sort of Dutch!
It's a BMW C1 motorcycle.

Unfortunately for BMW and anyone else interested in a motorcycle that not only protects you from the elements, but also forces you to wear seat belts and protects you against SUV's driven by Venti, Half-Caf, Extra Hot, No Foam, Non-Fat, Crapochino crazed soccer moms talking on cellphones while fixing their make up, the C1 was discontinued in 2002 before high gas prices were thought of.

An idea ahead of its time.

For those of you that are interested Click Here to learn more about this remarkably sensible solution to urban traffic congestion and high gas prices.

Christmas Spirit in Eindhoven

I'm back in Eindhoven after a pleasant trip to Zeeland, and returning to find no internet connection at my flat until last night.

They certainly get into the spirit of things here. Before I left for Zeeland I noticed a curious structure being erected in the town square. I wasn't sure what it was, but thought it was probably something for the Christmas holidays.When I returned I found it was a fully fledged indoor ice skating rink. Apparently that is something of a national tradition in the Netherlands, and most towns have an ice skating rinkWhat's really impressive, at least to me, is the professionalism of the way the rink was put together. It is huge, well lit, and obviously purpose built. It even has its own bar and cafe.

But Eindhoveners aren't apparently satisfied with merely following national tradition with an admittedly superb ice skating rink, they also installed a ski slope!

It's immediately outside the Piazza (see the first post in this blog) and has about a 100 feet of snow to fall and break your neck on. There's a snow making machine to keep the snow fresh and not too icy.

Despite the attraction of both features, I'm not rushing to break my leg, neck or both on either the piste or the ice!

The Dutch Have A Way Of Saying Things ...

A picture paints a thousand words, and this one left little to doubt.

The top floor of a restaurant in Veere offered spectacular views after negotiating the rickety staircase, and lest one got carried away by it all, this salutary warning reminded you that what goes up must come down.

The Dutch have a way with words, but no sense of PC, notice the gender of the person falling down the stairs...

Veere - A Beautiful Town

My bracing walk on Sunday morning left me with quite and appetite, so we decided to have lunch in the nearby town of Verre (pronounced 'Vera,' as in Dame Vera Lynne) before leaving Zeeland to return to Eindhoven.

The skyline in Veere is dominated by a very ornate church spire. The highly decorated spire struck me as strange, given the generally Calvinistic nature of the Dutch.
Veere is certainly an old town and has many small narrow streets that harken from a time long before the motor car was thought of. In many ways it reminded me of my native Hampstead, both in terms of architecture and atmosphere.
We visited a couple of restaurants before settling on Pieter Bliek's 'Bliek Eten & Drinken' - the menu looked good and we were not disappointed. Not surprising, as I subsequently discovered this is the showcase for this very popular chef's fashionable wholesale bakery - rather like the La Brea Bakery.

Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside ....

Sunday in Zeeland was a crisp, cold, bright day and I started the day with a brisk walk to take in the view. It's a short walk from the chalet to the shore, and with views like this on offer, it's easy to see why this has become such a popular resort.



The bridge in the distance is not just a bridge, but part of an elaborate flood control system that was developed after the 1953 floods. It's designed to protect against floods if the tide is too high, as it was in 1953 when much of the country was flooded.
It's an impressive structure, providing effective protection without dominating the landscape. This is part of a 14 km series of flood control mechanisms that protect the area, and it's precisely the sort of strategy that would have protected New Orleans against the worst of that hurricane season.

Knokke - The European Shoppers Paradise

The Lippenslaan is the main street starting at the square outside the old Grand Hotel and ending in the center of the town. It has virtually every exclusive brand name you can imagine, and it was there that I happened across Davidoff's Cigar Shop and was able, at last, to purchase a reasonably priced Cuban cigar to enjoy over dinner.

Almost opposite Davidoff's was the most mouth watering fine food shop, I hesitate to call it a deli! The quality of the food was matched only by the beautiful display of fine foods in table ready condition. The Belgians certainly know how to eat.

Another store was dedicated entirely to Rin Tin Tim memorabilia. The car with Rin Tin Tin and Snowy carried no price tag, and as the saying goes, if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it!

The Grand Hotel Motke - Knokke

Many of our most memorable childhood Knooke holidays were spent at The Motke, as we called it, or De Grand Hotel Motke as it was actually named.

It was here that our slightly mad au pair girl took us singing in the rain barefoot, and had us all watch while she donated blood at the Red Cross caravan. She also exposed us to indoor barbecue cooking, her version of Fondue!

All the while our parents sat enjoying coffee at one of Knokke's fashionable cafes in blissful ignorance. Memorable stuff indeed.

The Grand Hotel Motke was right on the promenade, above an amusement arcade and a stone's throw from the place where kids could rent pedal powered go-karts, bicycles, and virtually any type of pedal powered multi wheeled equipment. Sadly the old Grand Hotel was demolished and rebuilt, and the amusement arcade has gone. However, you can still rent virtually any type of pedal powered multi wheeled equipment.

Day Trip to Knokke Heist - Belgium

We went to the Carlton Hotel for coffee. It's a magnificent old hotel that hasn't so much been restored but maintained. The interior looks as original as it's 1910 origins. The covered patio area is a cafe where I actually managed to get a Cafe Americano that was (almost) as good as Starbucks.

Despite it being December, and with a stiff wind blowing from the North Sea making it decidedly uncomfortably cold, the cafe, indeed the whole town, was bristling with visitors.

Dinner at Emelisse Beer Brewery - Kamperland, Zeeland

Our seaside holiday resort is located close to the curiously named rural town of Kamperland.

I say curiously named, as there are no tents in site, and apart from the indigenous dykes, everyone looks decidedly straight. I'm sure there's a logical explanation...


For our Friday night dinner our friends took us to one of the best restaurants in the area; the Emelisse.

It's a beautifully restored Brewery, and is extremely popular with locals and holiday makers alike. The setting is interesting, the restaurant featuring many highly polished pieces of brewing equipment, the menu has a widely varied selection of local dishes, and the service was very friendly, but slow - book early to avoid disappointment!

Zeeland - The Roompot Park De Banjaard Holiday Resort

We arrived in Zeeland and went to meet our friends who own a couple of seaside holiday rental homes in a purpose built resort run very professionally by a company called Roompot who apparently run several such resorts catering to family holiday makers. You can buy a chalet here and use it as much or as little as you like, and leave renting, cleaning and overall management to Roompot.

Despite the fact that it was winter, hardly seaside weather, and a couple of weeks before Christmas, the place was not deserted, although I suspect that a lot of the occupants were owners, like our friends, taking advantage of a less popular rental period to enjoy a quiet weekend away from the big city.

The Chalets themselves are certainly well designed and comfortably accommodate up to eight people in four bedrooms, and are fitted with all the necessary amenities. Sadly, however, there are no phones (use your cell) and no internet access :(

The Opel Meriva - Not My Favorite Hire Car

This is an Opel Meriva, a 1.6 litre fuel efficient disaster of a car! We had booked a hire car with Hertz and reserved an automatic VW Golf as we wanted to share the driving. When we arrived Hertz they told us it was not available, so they we 'giving' us a Renault Mini Van!

I complained, and almost wish I hadn't! We got the Opel Meriva.

It's design follows the modern trend of making cars lighter, shorter, narrower, and taller. The problem is that short, light, tall cars feel very unsteady on the road. It is particularly uninspiring when cornering at speed, and it feels like it's going to topple over. Furthermore, it's light weight and tall profile makes it extremely sensitive to crosswinds, and you can feel the car being pushed around. It's not a pleasant drive on the motorways, especially when passing large vehicles.

Over course, passing on the motorway is a fairly academic exercise, the Meriva's computer-controled engine/automatic gearbox is programmed to give the Meriva the minimum amount of fuel/power to maintain progress, thus saving fuel. The problem is that the car tends to be very sluggish, you press the accelerator and very little happens! That can be quite worrying when you need a quick burst of speed to avoid a hazard, or you want to pass a truck!

Nevertheless, the Meriva transported us efficiently enough for the two hour drive from Eindhoven to Zeeland, where we were to spend the weekend.

Leaving Eindhoven ...

We're leaving Eindhoven for a couple of days to spend the weekend in Zeeland, a seaside resort about 90 miles to the east of Eindhoven.

From Zeeland, it's a relatively short drive across the border to Belgium and to Knokke, another seaside resort where we enjoyed many happy times. I haven't been there since I was a child, and hope to re-visit a few happy childhood memories there.

That's the good news. The bad news is that there's no internet access! No Internet, No Starbucks, I wonder how I will survive! Blog is unlikely to be updated until I return to Eindhoven on Monday. TTFN.

Eindhoven - A Light Hearted City!

The Philips offices dominate the skyline in Eindhoven. The contribution that Philips has made to the city is hard to escape. Just as Philips grew to be a world-leading innovator of the modern essentials of convenient life, Eindhoven has grown too.

Opposite the white office/factory complex seen here, is the museum dedicated to Frits Philips and to the many products that brought light to the lives of many.

Frits Philips was the fourth chairman of the board of directors of Dutch electronics company Philips, he died at the age of 100 on December 5, 2005, in the same city where he was born and lived; Eindhoven.

During the occupation of the Netherlands by nazi Germany in World War II, Frans Otten and Anton Philips, the other managers in the company, fled to Great Britain. Frits, however, stayed in the Netherlands. From May 30 until September 20, 1943, he was held in the concentration camp Vught because of a strike at the Philips factory.

During the occupation, Frits saved the lives of 382 Jews by indicating to the nazis that they were indispensable for the production process at Philips. In 1996, he was awarded the Yad Vashem reward by the Israeli ambassador for his actions.

Colorful Sunrise in Eindhoven

One of the interesting things here is the sunrise - very colorful and very late. This was the view from the living room window at 8:20 am this morning.

It is really strange waking up in darkness and experiencing sunrise after breakfast.

Eindhoven Has Some Strange Sights

For the most part the locals in Eindhoven are very "house proud," and the sight of a statue on a relatively modest home is not that unusual.

At first glance one just thinks "Oh that's nice, a statue on a house, how quaint."

However, take a second look and actually examine the statue itself and it really is a little puzzling. It's not as if this is an old house where such architectural features are commonly found.

Clearly the home owner wanted to make some kind of statement...

I wonder if the statue bears some form of discrete allusion to the nature of the household?

I didn't see a red light, but then again I wasn't there at night time. Perhaps all is revealed then?

The Tipsy Duck Pub in Eindhoven

The use of the English Language is quite pervasive in Holland generally, and Eindhoven is no exception.

Quite what the reason is or was for naming this pub "The Tipsy Duck" is a mystery to me, but not being a pub lover I will never know the answer. I suppose the sign writer could have made a spelling mistake with "Duck," that would make sense...

What Not To Do On A Transatlantic Flight

I love my notebook computer, a Mac Powerbook G4, and I use it everywhere I go, and understand only too well how other notebook users love being able to do their work (or blog!) from anywhere - even on a plane.

Unlike the person I photographed here sitting across the isle from me on my flight to Amsterdam, however, I am always conscious of others around me. I took this photo because while everyone, well nearly everyone, on the plane was trying to sleep, this man was lighting up the cabin with his Dell. He didn't seem to mind the fact that anyone and everyone could see what he was doing. In this case, putting together what looked like a very boring powerpoint presentation. As boring as it was, however, the glare from the screen, and his painstakingly slow key pecking, kept me awake.

Note to self: Don't use my Mac on a transatlantic flight when others are trying to sleep!

Go to www.seminis.com to see the subject matter of the boring PowerPoint

They Get Everywhere!

While taking a stroll around the shops in Eindhoven, I couldn't help smiling when I saw Wallace and Gromit proudly displayed in a shop window.

However, even the waft of pungent smoke from a nearby 'coffee shop' did not prevent me from baulking at the price!






Great heavens above! Think of all the cheese you could buy for 160 Euros!

Still, a very nice piece to gather dust on a shelf!

Eindhoven Is A Mac Friendly Place!

Oh what joy!

A real Mac shop at the Heuvel Galerie, another of Eindhoven's fashionable shopping centres, located right in the centre of the city.

The shop, 'YouMac,' is an Apple Centre, and its friendly and knowledgeable staff really know Macs.

They have the latest of Apple's delicious offerings on display to tempt all.


So many Macs, so few Euros :(

There's Something For Everyone In Eindhoven

There are no Starbucks retail stores anywhere in Holland, but there are plenty of "coffee shops."

You won't get a tall, half-shot, non-fat, decaf, extra-hot, foamy latte at this coffee shop, 'The Grasshopper," located to the west of Eindhoven's centre, but the 'atmosphere' is such that you probably won't mind, or at any rate, won't remember that you wanted coffee of any multi-syllabic variety anyway! And you certainly won't be able to order it coherently.

Eindhoven Is A Lovely Place

The city of Eindhoven is 127km (78 miles) south east of Amsterdam. It should be an hour and a half drive, but traffic congestion generally means a two and a half hour drive.

Although some might disagree, Eindhoven's main claim to fame is that it is home to Philips, one of Holland's leading companies, and much of the city's development is due to their presence. There's a fascinating museum in the city centre, where many of Philips' innovative products are proudly displayed, with quite an emphasis placed on early electric light bulbs.

The city itself is a thriving place, with the centre having been characteristically thoughtfully developed into a fashionable pedestrian retail shopping venue, with a smattering of equally smart restaurants.

Hi-tech and professional businesses abound, and no doubt accounts for the The Piazza is one of the latest shopping centres to open in Eindhoven. It's a very striking place, comprising a semi-enclosed, semi-open-air building.

Today, in the pouring rain, the centre of Eindhoven was teaming with activity, and the sheltered Piazza was one of the busier places.

The third floor of the Piazza affords a commanding view south to the centre of the city and the throngs of wet shoppers making their way to fulfill their Christmas shopping needs. There's no shortage of choice in Eindhoven, with almost every retailer represented here.















And it was a rainy day in Eindhoven...