Wildflowers and Cherries

The Dutch Cherries have now made it to market. With the temperature well into the thirties, we have paused to pick some wildflowers along the way.

Life is a bowl of cherries.

BadHuis

Conveniently located in the centre of the the city is the local Bath House. It was designed by G.J Geijtenbeek in a popular style of the Amsterdam School of Architecture and dates from1926.

It was built at a time when very few houses had showers or bathtubs. Most washing took place in the kitchen sink or a zinc tub placed in the middle of the floor. Kettles of water would be boiled and added to the cooling water. Children had their turn in the tub from oldest to youngest in the recycled water.

The Bath House offered a choice of a tub or a shower, all with continual hot water. The tub was the more expensive item and included in the price was a bar of soap. The shower stalls were of coarse concrete, making them easy to hose down with disinfectant. 

Gradually more house converted their storage spaces and closets into showers. A bath tub still remaining a luxury item in these small homes.

The use of the Bath House declined and this one closed its doors in 1971. The BadHuis still stands, solid as can be and next to it is the Pomphuis for its water supply.

Smaller and more modern versions of the BadHuis are available in the form of trailers parked conveniently near harbours for the use of transient boaters. Fortunately, we bring our own shower in Zonder Zorg.

Hendrick Hamel

Every town has its heroes; many are forgotten through time. Parks or squares are reminders of them in the forms of plaques and statues. Most invite us to find out more about them, or at least pique our curiosity. Not far from where we are moored in Gorinchem stands a statue pointing to the direction of the Kortendijk were Hendrick Hamel was born in 1630.

Hendrick was an accountant and in 1653, while working for the VOC, the Dutch East India Company, the ship he was in, De Sperwer went aground. With seven other survivors he found himself on the Korean Island of Cheju-do.  They were detained and imprisoned for thirteen years by the king of a country that was unknown to Europe.

In 1666 Hamel and the seven others manage to escape in a small boat to a trading post close to Nagasaki. Japan. He subsequently wrote a broadly published journal about their adventures and the Korean Society. Without the journal the outside world would probably not have been aware of Korea's existence for many decades. In the Netherlands Hamel is known as the Columbus of Korea.

Nearly three and a half centuries have passed and Gorichum and South Korea have once again made contact. An identical statue of Hendrick Hamel has been placed in Kangjin, the south Korean town were Hamel had been imprisoned.

On Route to Gorinchem

If you pronounce this name you can stay.  It is a quant place and we are once again alongside in the heart of an old city. We have decided to stay a few days. 

The weather has been divine and has made travelling along the canals very comfortable.

It was the middle of the day and the toll keeper had left his pole and clog-on-a-string on the grass. He controls the small side lock and I am certain that he is not far away; afterall he is Dutch and there is money to be made. 

We followed the Merwedekanaal along with a string of other cruisers through the ever-changing countryside.

As the scenery changes so do the shapes of the eye-catching windmills.

Along the way are camping areas with people fishing, children swimming and families on picnic outings.

A little further along are the teenage boys, awkward and uncomfortable looking, almost asking: "So where are the girls?"

There was no shortage of geese cooling off in the canal and seemingly unconcerned as we motored by.

The canals offer us a glimpse of tiny gardens with planters and art objects placed next to bollards on private docks and umbrellas poking above plants and shrubs. The views into the gardens are inviting and are as open as their home windows, undraped with their lifestyle for all to observe.

We slid past our last windmill before entering Gorinchem and saw a couple beside it catching the last rays of the day. Another day in paradise.

Leaving Gouda

We had planned to stay one night in Gouda, but we got caught up in the pleasantness of the city. Through the narrow street and around the back of the St. Jan's Church was the public library, an historical monument in its own right. The Library offers free WiFi and had a reading room across the ancient courtyard to sit in. The courtyard itself is pleasantly quiet, under tall trees and hidden from the street. It has small tables and chairs and there are colourful pillows on wooden couches. 

I posted my last posting from there and on my way back to the boat, I listened to the church organ play as I passed St. Jan's Church. Around the next corner the traditional street organ was playing as Gouda was waking up to another day.

We left the harbour and passed through the lock and onto tidal water and joined traffic heading to the next lock. The scenery has not changed in centuries with the windmills standing on guard along the dikes.

On the water ducklings were following their mother as if they were attached by a string, all ten of them in tight formation. Further along the waterways was a mare, all dressed up with her colt.

The scenery is tranquil as we passed thatched roofs along the way with their basic reeds shaped to the contour of the roofs. We are in awe with the little nooks filled with flowers, art and cushioned benches.

The Dutch seems to understand friendships, and this is evident along the way. We regularly see two, three or four couples rent a boat, pack a picnic basket and wine and head out to have lunch or dinner aboard. There are others couples on bicycle who pause to watch the boats go by was they have lunch. We watch the childeren cast their fishing lines in the canals and wait for a bite. The simplicity of life.

We arrived at Montfoort, with a free mooring spot under the trees in the edge of town. We bought some fish for dinner and dined outside hearing "Bon Appetite" or "Cheers" from the boaters and cyclists going by. 

The Begijnhof Amsterdam

On my return trip from the Apple Shop in Amsterdam, I stopped at the Begijnhof, one of the oldest inner courts in the city of Amsterdam. I first visited it with my mother fifty years ago when it was still inhabited by Catholic nuns.

The court was founded during the Middle Ages and lies within the perimeters of the Singel, the old city's ring canal. Originally the Begijnhof was entirely encircled by water, an island on its own, with the only entrance by a bridge across the Begijnsloot, a small ditch. The Begijnhof is still at medieval street level and lies one meter below the rest of the the old city centre. This court yard was first mentioned in 1389.

The Begijnhof had a resemblance to a convent but the Beguine were not nuns, as they did not take vows. They could leave the court and return to the outside world and even marry. They did not renounce their worldly possessions, and if they could afford it, some had her own servants.

The houses in the courtyard are tall and close together giving privacy to the courtyard. There are forty seven houses, each one different from the other with new facades dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Most houses date much earlier and eighteen of the houses still have a gothic wooden frames.

The ancient restored Wooden House is one of Amsterdam's oldest wooden houses and dates from 1528. The Begijnhof has a great number of gables stones showing a strong Roman Catholic theme.

After the Protestant takeover of 1578, the Begijnhof was the only Roman Catholic institution in Amsterdam to be allowed to remain in existence. The houses were the beguines' private property and could not be confiscated. The Chapel was closed and lay empty for thirty years before being ceded to the English Presbyterian Church. In 1671, two dwellings opposite the Chapel were converted to the Church of the Saints John and Ursula, the patron saints of the beguines. The church was not allowed to look like a church.

The most famous beguine of the Begijnhof was sister Cornelia Arens, who died on 14 October 1654.

Rather than be laid to rest in the Chapel, which she considered being desecrated by Presbyterians, she chose to be buried in the gutter next to the church where her grave can still be seen.

On 23 May 1971, Sister Antonia, the last beguine passed away and was buried in the Sister's Grave in St. Barbara's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Amsterdam.

The Begijnhof was in desperate need for renovations and restorations. The houses were very small, 110 of them consisted of a single room and 25 had two rooms. A 1979 the renovation enlarged the houses to two or three rooms and since then, the female inhabitants has been set at 105.

Gouda Cheese

Gouda is world famous for its cheese. The first mention of Gouda cheese dates from 1184, making it the oldest recorded cheese that is still made today. 

The cheese is named after the city of Gouda, not that it is made there, but because it is the place where it has traded since the Middle Ages. Gouda acquired the sole right to trade in the cheeses produced by the Hollandic farmers. It was at Gouda that the cheeses would be laid out on the city market square to be tested and auctioned.

Today, on Thursday mornings, the farmers from the surrounding area gather at the market square to have their cheese weighed, tasted and priced. They dress for the part and lay out their cheeses. The milkmaids are there as well, dressed red-white-and-blue outfits with in white lace caps, handing out cheese samples for tasting.

The term "Gouda" is not protected and is used around the world for cheese made in the style of Gouda. However, "Noord Hollandse Gouda" and "Boerenkaas" are registered in the EU as a Protected Geographical Status and can be made only in the Netherlands and only from milk produced by Dutch cows. Some 300 Dutch farmers still produce cheese and "Boerenkaas", Farmers Cheese, is made in the traditional manner using unpasteurized milk.

As we left the cheese market, the simplicity of the street names caught my eye. They are called Achter de Vismarkt, behind the fish market, Achter de Kerk, behind the church, Achter de Waag, behind the weigh house. I guess they had no mail delivery in those days.

Jackass

I came across this statue on my way back from Amsterdam, spotted it across the canal and had to see what it was about. I looked for a plaque of explantation: a fable or perhaps a poem, but there was none.

It is a statue of a man carrying a jackass on his back, heading in no particular direction. Made in bronze in 1998 by the sculptor Gijs Assmann, perhaps it was a play on his name. Translated this is Ashman.

The Blue Vase

Forty-eight years ago today I left my parents home in the Netherlands. An opportunity had come for me to emigrate to Canada. I knew very little about Canada, about its history, about its culture, but I took the chance for the adventure of it.

My parents took me to Schiphol airport with my mother visibly upset. My father, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. World War II had produced a ten year gap between my two older sisters and my brother and me. It had been thirty years since my eldest sister was born, and the day marked the departure of his last child. 

The Dutch government paid for my airfare and included $40 arrival money. This was part of a program initiated after World War II to encourage emigration from the over-populated and war-torn country. The purpose was to encourage emigres to stay away and to settle abroad. If one returned within two years, the Dutch government sought reimbursement. My parents signed a notarized letter taking full responsibility for my financial affairs and no other sponsorship was required. I arrived at Toronto's Malton Airport just after my eighteenth birthday, with $70 and a suitcase filled with courage.

While returning home from the airport, my father bought my mother a large Delft blue lidded vase as my replacement. It was a common Japanese-influenced design from the time when the Dutch were the only nation that traded with Japan. My parents are no longer alive, but the vase which stood on their sideboard for many years eventually made its way to Canada as well.

On the top shelf in our loft in Vancouver sits the Delft Blue Vase. I occasionally look up at it as a reminder of my heritage and of the day my parents wished me farewell.

The Big Apple

We are moored just beyond the edge of the historic city centre of Gouda in a pleasant spot to stay a while. The inner core of the city is outstanding with its historic buildings, famous stained glass windows and a wonderful museum. The city is as cultural as Erasmus, the thinker who was born here. What is so obvious and dominant in these old cities is the Christian Reformation, with the confiscation and selling of Catholic churches to the Protestants.

Sitting at the Gouda Coffee Factory drinking my espresso and trying to post my blog using their wifi, my computer quit. The spinning rainbow appeared and stayed. I finally rebooted the computer and lost the hard drive. My computer no longer recognized itself. After some inquiries into where the closest Apple Store was, I was told that there is only one in the entire Netherlands, in Amsterdam, the city of the big Apple.

After an hour's train ride to Amsterdam and a brisk walk to the Leidse Plein, I found it. It cannot be overlooked, with its gigantic glass spiral stairwell leading from the sales floor to the upper floor were G.O.D. is located. The Genius On Duty did manage to revive my computer but I had to let go of all my worldly documents, photos and several draft blog posts. 

I wandered through the city of Amsterdam, so filled with tourists. It was chaos with many tourists trying to cycle among actual cyclists. I made my way back through the bustling old city to its heart, Centraal Station and caught the next train back to Gouda, where Zonder Zorg, my home awaited.

Of Wind and Water

When one speaks of windmills one is almost sure to think of Don Quixote de la Mancha. The windmills of that type can still be found along the Mediterranean, with five, six or more primitive sails consisting of bars rigged with jibs. They are quite different from the Dutch mills.

The Dutch windmills are so characteristic of their country and their gracefulness is unsurpassed by any other type of windmill, no matter where in the world. One cannot image a Dutch landscape without its canals, windmills and lee-board barges; these they have played a great part in the daily life of the Netherlands.

There are many types of windmill, each used for a different function. They are classified according to the task they perform: drainage mills, corn mills, sawmills, industrial mills.

The windmills are clad with either wood, brick or thatch. Reeds have always been around in abundance in the marshes and along the perimeters of the waterways. Cheap, plentiful and easily accessible, reeds are readily used for the exteriors of windmills and for roofs of houses. Thatchers, one of the old Dutch trades, are still in demand for the restoration and maintenance of these surviving mills. In the Netherlands there are still approximately 350 active thatching companies, which belong to the Dutch Federation of Thatchers. 

The beloved old mills are referred to by their name, almost like individuals, with the names carefully chosen by their owners. In many mills one can find a foundation stone in the facade, with an appropriate epigram or rhyme, which tells the visitor something about its history, its original owner and about a past so filled with tradition.

The millers and their descendants have a great attachment to the mills, as they have been handed down from father to son for many generations. 

Eight Days in Haarlem

We said good-bye to Haarlem as we headed south towards Leiden, ducking under the low bridges and waiting for a few that needed to be lifted for us. The car and pedestrian traffic patiently waited as we glided past, many acknowledging us with a wave. The bells of Bakenesse tower played a farewell  tune. All is well in our life. 

We took with us memories and awe of a city so filled with history, culture and surprises. We were able to live in the very soul of the city next to the old weigh house, the prime spot for hundreds of years. We could have spent much more time in Haarlem, but we need to continue our journey south: we are already behind schedule.

Last evening we had our first dinner guest aboard our newly refitted Zonder Zorg. My cousin El who had spent most of her family life in Haarlem, but now lives just north of the city, came and we shared a delightful time. She brought a boat warming gift of ivy, durable like the Dutch in that it can survive indoors and out in changing circumstance. It is little touches of kindness and love like this that make our barge a home.

Hofjes of Haarlem

The secret gardens of Haarlem, or hofjes can be found in various secluded courtyards around the historic centre of the city. These almshouses, normally obscure from public view, are unique to the Netherlands and have been in existed since the Middle Ages.

A Hofje is a walled-in group of small houses with a central courtyard. Each group has a communal water pump and a vegetable and flower garden, secured by a gate. The hofjes were privately funded and were often the results of generous bequests by wealthy men or women, donated in their own name, rather than from any religious group. Many hofjes were founded for the same faith as their founder. The minimum age requirement for admission was fifty, which in the  seventeenth century was considered old age.

Most hofjes were meant for elderly women, as there were more impoverished females than males. The females were mostly favoured as they were better at housekeeping and upkeep of the property.

In my walk through some of the neighbourhood hofjes, I found well maintained gardens and flowers all well hidden behind a high wall and a closed garden door.

The Artists of Haarlem

After the fall of Antwerp in 1585, immigrant Flemish artists arrived in Haarlem and added to the already thriving painting community. Between 1605 and 1635 over one hundred thousand paintings were produced in Haarlem, with competition for commissions high.

There were several guilds formed to protect the professional status of the artists. Most prominent among these was the Saint Lucas Guild, with Frans Hals as one of its members. The Saint Lucas Guild went through many changes as the demand for paintings decreased and it was dissolved in 1795, later revived and again dissolved in 1860.

The artist group KZOD, which rents the upper floor of De Waag, was established in 1821. It was approved by royal decree on 26 January 1932 as the Federated Holland Societies of Artists, Sculptors and Engravers. To become a member of the society, the artists' work had to be submitted to be juried by a panel of nine art professors. Five votes were needed for acceptance.

My father had joined the group before the Nazi occupation in 1939 and continued after he returned in 1945. It was with the acknowledgement and support from other artists that he submitted his work. His work was not accepted at the first presentation. However, as a second presentation, he submitted his self-portrait. My father was honoured with all nine votes, a first in KZOD history, and this portrait became his masterpiece.

With the mass emigration that took place in the early fifties from the Netherlands, artists looked at the new world to establish themselves. Throughout the years the membership of KZOD declined and the studio  is now rented out to a more modern group.

We climbed the heavily worn spiral stairway to the KZOD studio above De Waag. The studio was inspiring and intimate, with soft light filtering through the lightly tinted glass. We looked out the window, and below us across the street saw Zonder Zorg, secured alongside the Spaarne. She too was at peace with her surroundings.

De Waag

The painting: The Weigh House and Crane on the Spaarne in Haarlem, circa 1670 by Gerrit Adriaansz Berckheyde.

In the seventeenth century the River Spaarne was the most important transportation route for goods coming into Haarlem. The Weigh House was strategically located in central Haarlem where the Spaarne River joints the Beek, a small canal that was used to carry fresh water from the dunes to supply the brewers of the city. In the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries the city was known for its many beer breweries.

Incoming goods where weighed and taxed and the wooden crane was used for the next four hundred years for loading heavy cargo to and from vessels. The Bakenesse tower in the background on the left still dominates Haarlem's skyline.

The Weigh House was designed by Lieven de Key around 1597 and built from stone imported from Namur, which is now Belgium. It is the only building in Haarlem in this style and it was designed to function as a landmark and a building of authority. The weigh master was the judge and he ensured that correct taxes were levied on shiploads of grain and other goods entering Haarlem. Inside the building the large cast iron balance can still be seen.

In the sixteenth and seventeen centuries Haarlem became known as a mecca for Dutch painters. Artist such as Frans Hals, Jacob van Ruisdael and Adriaen van Ostade had their studios here. The city also became a refuge for the Huguenots. Many of those who arrived were textile merchants, weavers, potters, ceramicists, lace makers and glass blowers. Haarlem welcomed them, they assimilated, flourished and stayed.

In 1821 the upper floor of the Waag was rented to the artist club KZOD, Kunts Zijn Ons Doel, an inspiring  group of local artist, sculptors, engravers, graphic designers and illustrators. Leen Spierenburg, the illustrator from Panorama Magazine was part of this group. The room is still used for this function, though fewer classes are held and the room is often used for exhibitions of a more modern art.

Today we are alongside on the Spaarne, on the spot next to the wooden crane. The crane no longer resides there; it was demolished after four centuries, but the rest of this picture remains the same.

Frans Hals

Frans Hals was a Dutch Golden Age painter born in 1582 or 83 in Antwerpen, which was then in the Southern Netherlands. His father was a textile merchant and he moved the family to Haarlem while Frans was still an infant, and Frans spent the remainder of his long life there.

Hals entered the art world as an apprentice to Carel van Mander. As his art developed, he introduced a looser, more intimate style of painting with noticeable brushstrokes and he was instrumental in the evolution of the seventeenth century group portraiture.

Saint Bavo church, which dominates the heart of Haarlem, was originally built as a Catholic Church between 1370 and 1520 and became a cathedral in 1559. Less than twenty years later it was confiscated in the name of the Protestant Reformation and has been a Protestant church ever since. 

With the take over the church, its art was removed and anything too Catholic was let sold-off. Other paintings were restored by Frans Hals and were hung in Government buildings. During this time when religious theme paintings were loosing popularity, Hals started his career in portraiture. He was admitted into the Sint Lucas Gilde, Haarlem's painters guild.

Frans Hals is best known for his portraits, mainly of wealthy citizens like Pieter van den Broecke and Isaac Massa, whom he painted three times. He also painted large group portraits of local civic leaders, military guards and regents of local hospitals. In his group portraits, he innovated by capturing each character in a different pose and with individual facial expressions, offering a more relaxed atmosphere. Hals is also renowned for his character portraits of itinerant players and singers, gentlefolk, fishwives and tavern heroes.

After the deaths of Peter Paul Rubens in 1640 and Anthonis van Dyck in 1641, Frans Hals became the most important portrait painter in the Netherlands. Although Frans Hals' work was in demand throughout his life, he lived so long that he witnessed his own work go out of style and experienced financial difficulties late in life. He continued to paint and worked as an art restorer, art dealer and an art tax expert for the city councillors.

In 1644 Frans Hals became the chairman of the Haarlem painters guild. He is regarded as the master of the Haarlem school of painting. He died in Haarlem on 10 August 1666 and was buried in the heart of Saint Bavo church in the heart of Haarlem.