A Tale of Three Cities

I wrote this blog post several months ago, before we left Europe but I didn't post it. Well, better late than never. 

After several months in southern Europe, Franklin and I headed north to The Netherlands and Belgium with two destinations in mind. Keukenhof Tulip Garden in The Netherlands Holland, was the first. Tulips are my favorite flower and there are over a million of them in this nice park. If you want to see more floral photos I have a lot more tulip photos on my Facebook page.

Tulps with a ruffled edge. 

HAARLEM
In the Netherlands, we based ourselves in the small city of Haarlem rather than nearby Amsterdam. Haarlem is a very good choice for anyone and I strongly recommend it, particularly if you have visited Amsterdam before. 

Haarlem has the same charming medieval and Renaissance architecture, cobblestone streets, coffeeshops, and canals as Amsterdam without the crowds. There was no car traffic, only bicycles on the streets, and boats in the canals and river that surround the city. 

a windmill in Haarlem

Haarlem was also the home of the artist Frans Hals and there is a museum of his work explained in interesting ways. 

Like Rembrandt Franz Hals did portraits of military groups. 

BRUSSELS

There are no two ways about it. Brussels is not a very exciting city. We were there for a special event, a weeklong tango festival. But there is very little to see and nothing to do. There is the Grand Place, the main square of Brussels and a very pretty one, However, one yearns for something else to see or do. 

Early morning in a very beautiful indoor arcade (mall)

The Grand Place in the rain. It rains a lot here. 

Franklin in the rain admiring the architecture in the Grand Place.

Of course, there is the chocolate. Lots of chocolate. All delicious. Other popular snacks include french fries with mayonnaise and waffles with or without toppings. 

GHENT

Franklin and I chose different activities for our last day in Belgium. It was the final days of the tango festival so he went dancing. Me- I took a couple of side trips by train. I visited Ghent. This is a charming and picturesque medieval and Renaissance city about half an hour northwest of Brussels. 

It was also May 1, which is a holiday across much of Europe. Here it was Labor Day which has more meaning in a socialist country that in the USA. As I arrived in the historic center of Ghent they started a parade (which might have been in honor of my visit.... but then again it may have just been a coincidence).
There were thousands of people marching, many dressed in red or waving large red flags. Ghent was the first industrialized city in Europe at the start of the Industrial Revolution and still take worker rights very seriously. I believe that most of the town was marching. Some marchers handed out red roses and gave one to me. No floats in the parade, jut a few bands and a lot of people waving to friends in the crowd. 

I won't post any photos because I didn't take any. There were no floats, just lots of happy people marching and giving out red roses. 
But back to Ghent. The architecture was lovely. I have attached some photos but have many more posted publicly on Facebook. It was similar but even more attractive than Haarlem. I took a boat ride on the canals surrounding the city (one of the few businesses open on this holiday). I also saw the famous altarpiece painted by 15th century painted Jan Van Eyke. It was huge and stunning.

The cathedral also inexplicably had a full-sized skeleton on a whale hanging from the ceiling in the back of the church. Presumably, something to do with Jonah and the whale.  

If you ever find yourself in Belgium I recommend a very visit to Ghent instead of overcrowded and touristy Bruges.

ANTWERP 
Ok, I guess I'll add one more city. Four for the price of three. 
Antwerp, Belgium is slightly grittier and less self consciously cute than Haarlem or Ghent. 

It did have nice architecture but that is not the reason for my visit. I made a pilgrimage of sorts to visit The Red Star Line Museum, a new museum commemorating a shipping line that transported hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries from Europe to th4e US. My father was one of those immigrants and several years back I donated some materials and documents to them and went to see if they were currently on display. They were not. But still, it was an interesting experience. 

It turns out that despite waiting for years to make this voyage to the US the family's timing was good. He arrived on Thanksgiving 1920. One month later in 1921 the US tightened immigration quotas and he probably would have been stuck in Europe. 

I would be remiss if I didn't mention all the bicycles. This is a popular mode of transportation in much of Europe. 
Here is a photo of a bicycle parking lot outside a train station in Ghent.

One wonders how you find your bike again. And the answer is: sometimes you never do. And you just forget about the old one and buy a new one. They don't have 21 gears like many of our,, so they are not super expensive. And the police often recycle the misplaced ones after a while. 

After our time in Europe, we landed in Portland, Oregon, for several months. Some of you are from Portland so there is nothing I can tell you about it that you don't already know. We're not quite ready to settle down yet as we're are enjoying this nomadic lifestyle and just arrived in Canada. for the rest of the summer. 

I plan to write some more about our time in Europe then share some adventures here in Canada. We are off to Tofino later in the week and I shall post some photos of these lovely beaches and dramatic forests soon.