We love a good restaurant. Actually who doesn’t.
On our way back from our park and museum visits, we walk through a residential street. And I spot the quality of the bread on the table. John asks if I think it is a real Buffet. I said not with bread like that!
It was wonderful. Small menu, fresh made and great bread.
Buffet con Odette
We decided to pop into a gallery after our park adventure. So fortunate to be able to get into the Stedelink Art Museum. Fun way to spend a couple of hours.
It is in the museum district which is just a fun area to see so many beautiful galleries and also open air places that celebrate art.
There was one artist I found very interesting. Louise Lawler. She took a Koon sculpture of a boy pushing a pig with the help of angels and placed the work in another place and took a picture and then produced in large format. Then the two pieces are juxtaposed together. Splendid.
My photo really doesn’t do it justice.
We made our way to Amsterdam today.
It is a bustling messy city, lots of people and bikes and cars….and way too many tourists. It is also rich with Architecture and Art.
We picked to walk through the city to Vondel Park to get the feel of the place. Yes, we walked through the red light district at 2pm, more annoying to dodge the pedestrians, so crowded, then any thing sultry. We ended up walking through the lower end to get to more into the neighborhoods of Amsterdam. Lots of town squares with magnificent buildings
After our park walk and in the same area is the museum district. So fun…we ended up in a great Modern art gallery.
You may remember the cube houses in Toronto at 1 Sumach. https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2020/03/toronto-cube-house-future/
Yes, the cube houses in Rotterdam were by the same architect. We got to go inside one of them and they are pretty awkward. A lot of too small steps usher you up and down and I know I would fall many times during the day.
However, it was cool to know they are the grandfather of our own cube houses. (Thanks Tony for the link above)
Early in the Second World War, Hitler bombed severely Rotterdam. The only building left was the church. This has given the city an opportunity to rebuild with a new architecture and some old influences.
We arrive through a magnificent market, it is multiple stories high and includes multimillion dollar condominiums. It is a new take on the town square. Multiple food stalls you can get food from anywhere. The inner shell of the building is the most beautiful graphic art piece. It is an enormous celebration of food, plants, flowers and buildings. Designed by two artists and printed on the metal panels and assembled in place.
Outside the market is a building called the pencil and cube houses and a wonderful mix of architecture that creates a future and past vibe.
While out chasing windmills, our guide took us to a small cheese manufacturer. They are unique in the Gouda cheese family as they use full milk cheese and don’t skim the cream.
We made grilled cheese for supper. French baguette from a local baker, tomato, cucumber, red pepper salad from the Vietnamese market close by to the house we rented.
Yumm
There is an experimental farm in The Netherlands called the floating farms. It is cattle production on the water with the concept of it being fully self sustaining.
Cows are housed in pens over water and can go down to muddy grassland, but for the most part stay put and munch on grass from soccer fields or golf clubs or rejected fruits and vegetables from the food depot.
I think this is posh factory farming. It is just experimental. It still makes me cringe.
We had a wonderful day tour today with the theme of “What makes the Netherlands, The Netherlands” and it is about water management.
In the 1500’s, The Netherlands had a flash flood killing 2000 people. The Netherlands is the lowest point of the European land gradient, meaning if the water overflows in Europe, the water drains through The Netherlands. You can imagine with Climate Change this situation isn’t getting better. 40% of The Netherlands is below sea level.
So, what do you do? You build a water management organization which moves and manages the distribution and draining of water.
In the 1700’s, the Kinderdijk windmills were built that used a system to move water in three stages from the low lands to the river and out to the North Atlantic. These windmills are still operational today. And are majestic.
Now today, Delta Works. No more a finger in the dike. This is an engineering masterpiece. Fully automated, When sensors sense that the water levels from the North Atlantic will drown the countryside, giant arms move out an automated, fill the dam structure to sink it, blocking the water from flowing. It is amazing to see.
https://www.rijkswaterstaat.nl/en/water/water-safety/delta-works
Generally, I drink water or tea. Never fruit juice or pop. However, I discovered earlier this year The Mojito mocktail. Mint mangled with lime, ice and water. This gets me now into pubs and bars.
John and I enjoyed our beverages outdoors. It was so lovely out in Delft with few cars and many bikes and people walking. By. Hard to get up from the table with so much relaxation.
We walk from the train station to our Airbnb. So loudly you hear the wheels of our luggage rambling over the brick road. I was quite grateful for the horse and wagon that came by to drown out the noise.
They do have cars and more so they have bikes and pedestrians. The quiet though is so soothing, so our noisy arrival strikes through this peace.
The world around me