Windmills and Tulips - the Netherlands

TULIPS AND WINDMILLS – The Dutch Waterways

I was delighted to be invited to take a river cruise on Dutch waterways by Uniworld River Cruise company, and the Signature Travel Network had arranged for sixty of its top American travel agency owners to hold a meeting on board for a week’s voyage. I have done the Rhine river cruise several times, but not this route, Antwerp, Veere, Rotterdam, Kinderdijk, Hoorn, and Amsterdam on Dutch rivers and canals.

The Netherlands has 90% of its land below sea level, so flooding has always been an issue. It is said that God made the earth, but the Dutch made the Netherlands. Springtime is a lovely time to go, it was chilly, but we had sunshine for most of the week.

Uniworld’s new ship, the Maria Theresa, is absolutely gorgeous. Very spacious cabins, all- inclusive which meant I didn’t need to spend a penny, Fantastic service, wonderful restaurants, amazing food and entertainment, and I thought I was in Heaven.

The most fascinating excursion for me was a visit to the Delta Project. It took them thirty years to build a series of dykes, dams and barriers to keep the sea from coming inland. They reduced the coastline by over 400 miles and you are in absolute awe of their achievement when you go through the facility. They can now control the spring high tides and never have another disaster like in January of l953 when l800 people were drowned and over 200,000 animals were lost in one nights flooding. The river mouths of the Rhine, Maas, and Eastern Scheldt have been dammed up, although the sea routes to Rotterdam and Antwerp were left open.

Every little town we stopped at was a delightful place, old, picturesque, full of narrow alleys and cobbled stoned streets with lots of flowers and lace curtains on every window. The houses vary from a row of miniature cottages with gabled roofs, to patrician mansions beside the canals with their boats anchored outside.

Veere I wandered around for several hours, admiring the gardens and the architecture. I saw people in their National dress, with the wooden clogs which you need to keep your feet dry. Makes sense, in England I grew up wearing wellies (rubber boots) and the Dutch wear wooden clogs.

Rotterdam is the world’s third largest port, and a busy shipping harbor. It was flattened in 1944 so it is a very modern city now. We went to Kinderdijk which is an area with 19 well preserved windmills, dating back to the l500’s. At one time, there were 10,000 windmills pumping the water but today, they use diesel powered and electric pumping stations to control the water in the canals, but it is well worth touring the windmills to see how they used to keep the Dutch people safe from rising waters.

A visit to the famous Delft blue and white pottery factory is a must. They will mail purchasers home for you with a great tax free discount.

Hoorn was a colorful little seaport with lots of history. The town had complimentary bicycles you could borrow to ride around the village. Cape Horn in South American was named by a captain from Hoorn but it got spelt incorrectly.

Amsterdam is one of my favorite European cities. Beware of the bicyclists since there are thousands of them. It has over 100 museums but the two most people go to are the Rijksmuseum, home to Rembrandts “The Night Watch” and the Van Gogh Museum. They have done a wonderful job of remodeling the Rijksmuseum since I was there a year ago, and it is easier to wander around.

The highlight of the cruise for me was the all day visit to Keukenhof Exhibition Grounds in Lisse since I am a gardening lover

I enjoyed this route, each stop was interesting and easy to walk around. They had a “slow” pace for those who might be on a cane and the staff of the “Maria Theresa” went out of their way to make everyone feel special. You can’t go wrong in sailing with Uniworld River Cruises.

A wonderful spring time experience. Go on our web site www.allhorizonstvl.com and dream

Maureen Jones

All Horizons Travel/Frosch

825 Santa Cruz Avenue

Menlo Park

650-941-5810

Maureen.Jones@Frosch.com