American Cars & Classics

Today I went to the American Cars & Classics car show in Brielle.  It's a small town about 25 km from Rotterdam.  The car show was pretty impressive to me, there were over 100 classic American cars in the show.

One of the guys from the plant is involved with the car club and had invited me, this is his mustang.  It is a "frame off" restoration and well done.











Here is a shot of Bart van Leeuwen "posing" next to his mustang.














I really liked the Studebaker Champion.  These cars were a little before my time but I do remember the Studebaker Hawks.  When we were racing at Bonneville there were several still competing.









I was surprised at the number of trucks.  At least a third of the vehicles were trucks.  They had stuff from the '50s, '60s and '70s.

There was live music as well as other vendors, food stands and beer!  They also had a bounce house for the kids.

There was a real assortment of cars, I've been to many car shows in America and not found the diversity seen here.









Every show has to have a Mopar section, here were a couple of nice cars.  There were several other challengers as well as a silver '66 Charger. That was the first car I saw that had fold down back seats and a hatch.










They even had a Pink Cadillac, it was a pretty clean car, nice.











I always liked the '55-'57 Chevrolet Bel Airs.  I once had a nice '57 two door coupe that I stripped down to make a "hot rod".  I really wish I wouldn't have done it, that car was a true classic.  Here is a nice 1956 Bel Air.










I also had a '68 Chevelle that I drag raced.  It was not as clean as this one but it was fun.  It had a "Big Block" Chevy engine and a Turbo 400 trans, 12 bolt rearend, a low 11 second car back in the '70s.









This Hudson Hornet was a little rough around the edges but still a true classic.










Overall it was a great day.  Seeing these old cars brought back some very good memories.  For the first 35 years of my life I was a "car nut" and then I switched to tinkering with motorcycles.  I guess I will always have a deep appreciation for cars and motorcycles regardless of how many guns I have...LOL.

TJ in Holland

Brussels Belgium

At the Brussels train station we had a couple of hours between trains and decided to go downtown and see The Grand Place.  The first thing we noticed was the landscape, the city is built on rolling hills, the cab ride was like being on a roller coaster.  Very narrow streets, the varied terrain and fast drivers made it an exciting trip.






The Grand Place is just that, Grand!  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is breathtaking, opulent, old world elegance at it's best.  It is very difficult to photograph because of the sheer size of the square and the sizes of the buildings. The buildings are covered in gold leaf, making them shine in the afternoon sun, very pretty.








Just at the edge of the square was the Hard Rock Cafe (far left in the picture). We had to drop in and get a pin for ourselves and for a close friend.  It is located in a historic building and with little advertising showing, it blends into the square quite nicely.









This is The House of the Dukes. Kind of odd, the General Lee was not parked outside

No, no no, it's not where Daisy, Luke and Bo Duke live, it's named for the Dukes of Brabants










Over the years many important events happened in this square, some which were tragic, martyrs were burned and royal family members beheaded. The latter lead to the revolt against Spanish rule led by William of Orange.









Everywhere you turned all you saw were incredible old buildings, with detailed facades, spires and












It was an unexpected stop on the way back to Rotterdam and it turned out to be a fantastic experience.  We sat in the courtyard and had some lunch while we watched people in the square.

















I tried to take a panoramic picture of the square but was not pleased with the result.  I think panoramic photography is more suited to landscapes rather than the square corners the of The Grand Place.

                                                                                         TJ in Holland

Imagine My Surprise...

Feeling a little thirsty Roger and I decided to go to a small bar near the hotel and have a few beers.  Imagine my surprise when we walked in and saw an alien...not just any alien but my sisters Uncle Tripp!!!

It was like OUT of THIS WORLD, imagine me being 3,000 miles from home, walk into a bar and see Uncle Tripp.  A friendly face changes everything, all at once I was not homesick any longer.


















Luckily he was getting off soon and we could hang out and toss down a few cold ones.












Roger wanted him to play some darts but he was a little scared, those darts look like they could deflate your ego...if you know what I mean.

Talk about a hustler, Uncle Tripp is a pool shark, he ran the table!










We pretty much had the bar to ourselves, Tripp wanted to try his hand at DJ'ing.  He was a natural spinning those discs, Vanilla Ice "Ice Ice Baby", Nellie "Air Force Ones" and more than I can remember.









All things must come to an end, when it was time to go to our rooms Tripp picked out a movie to watch, check out the title....Space Cowboys!














I'll never forget what Tripp said when he saw me...

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, Tommy walks into mine.  Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By

    TJ in Holland

             

Bruges Belgium

A short train ride from Ghent is Bruges, another "Old World" city in Belgium. It is truly a beautiful city with mostly old world buildings with a little modern architecture here and there.  One disappointment we often face in our travels is the inability to take pictures of the treasures we see.  I do understand the reasons they do not allow photography inside some museums and churches but I wish I had some way to preserve these memories as my ability to remember things fades with age.

The Church of Our Lady was to be our first stop, we wanted to see The Madonna and Child statue by Michelangelo.  This statue is so simple but so intricate, so plain but so moving.  It is the only work of Michelangelo that left Italy while he was still living.  It was twice removed from the church, once during the French Revolution and again in WWII.  We learned about the statue when we watched The Monuments Men, a movie about the men tasked in retrieving stolen art work at the end of WWII. The statue resides behind "bulletproof glass" because of an attack on the Pieta, another work by Michelangelo.

Although it is advertised that The Madonna and Child statue is housed at The Church of Our Lady, it is actually in the Museum section of the church. The museum is interesting as it is divided into sections that reflect the different types of architecture found in famous churches and cathedrals. These sections also have many actual religious art pieces that are reflective of what you would find in that type of architecture. It appears that services are held in many of the sections. Certainly candles can be lit and there are benches to say your prayers.

The Basilica of the Holy Blood was another stop on the Bruges tour. We had a little trouble finding it as it is quite small, has only a small sign, does not look like a typical church and is off in one corner of a square. The church houses a venerated relic of the Holy Blood allegedly collected by Joseph of Arimathea and brought from the Holy Land by Thierry of Alsace, the Count of Flanders. The relic is displayed every afternoon for several hours for all to view, we were not able to stay for the viewing the day we were there.  When you entered the church you were aware that you are in a religious house, it had a saintly presence.

Sometime during this trip I began to consider some of the issues facing these old churches and museums.  How do they hold on to their old customs, religious services (mass, baptisms...), operate as a museum and deal with thousands of tourists.  They very much need the money from tourism to preserve the church and relics but having thousands of people coming and going can be...difficult. I consider myself very fortunate to have seen so many treasures in my lifetime and really appreciate the efforts they go to to make them available to me and others.







At some point we must have been crazy because we wanted to go to the Belfry of Bruges.  There are 366 steps on a steep, narrow winding stairway to the top.  There is traffic both up and down on the same stairway making the climb difficult. Luckily there was a long line which was not moving or we might have tried the climb, we opted to spend our time elsewhere.

In the picture on the left you can see the line of people waiting to climb the narrow winding stairway to the top.

Like in Ghent, the hotel breakfast is extremely expensive so we opted out and headed to a McDonalds we saw around the corner where instead of a cheap breakfast we found it closed.  It seems the local government tries to discourage fast food restaurants from coming to the city.  They have enacted ordinances to keep them from opening early and not allowing them to have take out.  All the food has to be consumed on site which makes they very crowded when they are open.  

We stayed at the Dukes Palace in Bruges. It was a nice hotel located near the central square. At some point I had to try an authentic Belgium Waffle...actually I tried two, not at the same time but from different places.  They were good, different than the Belgium waffles I make, they were more "chewy" as if they used a bread batter rather than a waffle batter. This article may explain the difference.








        TJ & EA in Holland

Windmills of Kinderdijk

Today I took a short trip to Kinderdijk, a small village East of Rotterdam.  To get there I had to take a bus to the Metro station, take the Metro to downtown Rotterdam, take a second Metro to near the canal and then walk a half mile to the Water Bus.  A short 30 minute water bus ride and I was at Kenderdijk a UNESCO World Heritage site and then the real walking started.

What I was hoping to see were the Windmills of Kenderdijk. These windmills were built in 1738-1740 to drain the water from the polder. There are a total of 19 windmills at Kinderdijk, two were in operation the day I was there.









Water management is something the Dutch are masters at, they have to be.  One third of the Netherlands is below sea level with the lowest point 22 feet below sea level. The North Sea Flood of 1953 killed 1836 people in the Netherlands as well as causing tremendous property damage.

The Dutch have also used the water to protect themselves, the Stelling van Amsterdam is a series of forts completing a defensive line around Amsterdam.  The plan was to flood all the low lying polders around Amsterdam to stop an advancing army. These forts are also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Windmills are incredible machines, I very much enjoy climbing around these monsters trying to understand the mechanics of their various operations.  The Kinderdijk windmills are fairly simple water pumps but other windmills grind grain for bread, grind stone for paint pigment and one we toured was a saw mill, it was awesome. 

We previously visited Zaanse Schans near Amsterdam and took tours of their windmills, it was amazing!

Here is some other information about the boats I saw from the water bus.




A water taxi is a small boat used to ferry small groups of people across the various canals and rivers criss crossing Rotterdam and the Netherlands.  We previously used a water taxi to get to and from our hotel in Venice.  They are pretty rough riding and it's easy to get sprayed with water as they cross the wake of larger ships.









The water bus is a larger boat capable of carrying around a hundred people.  They stay on the major waterways, travel less frequently and make fewer stops.

Spido operates a fleet of boats providing various canal cruises. They are larger than the water buses and more comfortable.  There are dinner cruises, harbor cruises and they can be reserved for special occasions.








Somewhere along the canal I discovered Noah's Ark.  It had a giraffe on each end, I guess all the other animals had already disembarked from their cruise.  I actually found some info about it, it's called Johan's Ark.  It was recently damaged in Oslo while on tour.













           

               TJ in Holland

Ghent Belgium

Once again our intrepid travelers are off on another adventure, Belgium awaits!  A late evening train to Antwerp then on to Ghent, we were soon at the Marriott near the city center.  Stepping out of the hotel onto the street you were greeted with a magnificent view of  historic Ghent.  One of the first things you notice is there are cobblestones everywhere, all the streets, bike lanes, tram lanes, they were everywhere and let me assure you, cobblestones make for a long day of walking.  The first hundred feet are nice but after 6-7 miles of walking, your feet hate you.

In addition to seeing the beautiful town of Ghent our goal was to see "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" or The Ghent Alterpiece as it is called. The panels are housed at St. Bavo's Cathedral.  We learned about these panels from the movie The Monuments Men and wanted to see them.  It is an incredible piece of art, it was nice to have a audio guide to describe each panel in detail. They are housed in a climate control, limited light enclosure. Panels are full of religious symbolism, beginning with central theme and name.

The picture to the right is St Bravo's Cathedral from the Ghent Belfry.  It was a beautiful day and the views of the city were fantastic.  One problem with taking pictures in European cities is they usually have a lot of trams which means overhead wires everywhere.  It is virtually impossible to get pictures without wires crisscrossing your shot.  However, if you get up in the air you can usually get some interesting pictures.












There was no photography allowed in the church so we missed out on some beautiful pictures.  Inside the church there were black marble columns and white marble statues creating awesome contrast.  











The Belfry of Ghent was our second stop for the day.  Great views of the city in all directions.  The original Dragon from the Belfry spire was on display inside, it was a awesome metal piece of art.  













When we were in the Belfry the chimes started just as we walked into the room housing the chime mechanism.  I had no ideal how the chimes worked until I saw the mechanism.  It is just like the "comb" in a small music box but much larger, I very much enjoyed watching it work.

  

Gravensteen Castle is a Medieval castle in the middle of the town and is in surprisingly good condition. Currently it houses a museum of medieval torture. Electric trams run within a few feet of the castle making it difficult to get pictures.  We took a canal cruise and were able to get pictures from the back side without wires.

The canal cruise gave us a brief history of the city and a different perspective of the city center.

We are pretty picky eaters.  You won't find us going into a local restaurant and ordering the "Special of the Day".  We had a wonderful meal at this Irish pub.  A good time was had eating, drinking and people watching in the shadow of the great St. Nicholas Cathedral.

TJ in Holland