Holland
In May 2000 I attended CUG 2000 (and presented on Unicos accounting) in Noordwijk, Netherlands. While there I also visited Amsterdam, Leiden, and Liederdorp.
When I was a tender 19 (way back in 1977) my first real trip away from home
was a 8 month trip to Europe landing in Amsterdam with two friends (Jon and Doug) I grew up with.
A highlight of that visit to Amsterdam (and subsequent visit in 1984) was the Van Gogh Museum
which fortuntately reopened ahead of schedule so I could visit again.
The museum of course has an outstanding Van Gogh collection as well as
other impressionists (including some wonderful Monet).
During my first European trip I split from my friends with vague arrangements
to meet down the road, we consistantly hooked up randomly without our fall-back notes
at American Express offices: in a Copenhagen hostel, in Syntagma Square in Athens,
in the outskirts of Barcelona (as Jon emerged from his hitched ride), and in
a London train station. In keeping with that "tradition", I bumped into Doug
in the Van Gogh Museum this trip... his family spent the last year on sabatacle from UofA
and just happend to be on a week European tour.
Small world, eh?
Noordwijk
View over roofs from balcony of my hotel room with North Sea in background. On right is behind the dunes outside of town, a serene and scenic area which I believe was a bird sanctuary.
Two symbols of Noordwijk: Lighthouse and Mermaid.
Conference was held in the Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin. Nice place, but too flashy and expensive for my tastes. Beach was mostly deserted except foot traffic, too cold still for swimming (some surfers in wet suits).
Leiderdorp
The CUG Night Out was a dinner cruise aboard the Prins van Oranje built in 1908 in the countryside around Leiderdorp. Above are some classic Holland windmill and bridge shots.
Leiden
Spent an evening in Leiden which was a nice little city in spite of the rain. Canals along the street, narrow buildings, large churches, windmills... yes, this is Holland.
Amsterdam
The Rijks Museum (I did not have time to revisit... just a Sunday Afternoon in Amsterdam) and a canal view towards the Heineken Brewery (which I also did not have time to revisit).
Two more classic Holland shots.
Tulip season was past (I had visited Kuekenhof Gardens in full bloom, April 1984), but I did find a flower market in Amsterdam. There was also a major used book market in the Dam square, fortunately most titles were Dutch not English so I did not get myself in trouble buying books.
Beer... selection above (drunk over the week I was there, plus a few more on tap in pubs) included Dutch, German, and Belgian varieties (thank you EU). My favorites were Kylian (from Heineken Brewery) and Palm (a Belgian beer).
(pictures taken May 2000)
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