Random Walks in the Low Countries
Reflections and observations on the expatriate experience from an American scientist living and working in the Netherlands.
‘back on the road again, passing through the airports at Schiphol (left) and Terminal 5 (right). The decorations seem muted: Delft-inspired hangings in Amsterdam and a few forlorn trees in London.
No doubt, for the season’s spirit, you have to go to Koln.
I’m in Berlin this 4th, attending a cardiology conference. I was surprised to find that they were celebrating the ‘American’ 4th with gusto here: there were paired German and US flags fluttering everywhere and a soundstage near the Brandenburg Gate that wouldn’t be out of place in Milwaukee.
It turns out that a new American embassy is opening here today, and the city is celebrating. Inexplicably, the concert features Loony Tunes, but at least the hot dogs are off the grill and slathered with mustard.
So, Happy "AmerikaFest 2008" !
Sometimes I overlook the good things lying right across my doorstep.
I almost skipped over Gary Bembridge’s “Tips for Travellers” podcast on Dusseldorf: what could there be to say? I had passed through many times: my impressions from the airport and train station were of a charmless city, as compared to Koln or Dutch destinations. But Gary claimed that it was full of life, with wonderful arts, fashion, restaurants, and festivals.
Clearly, I had missed something.
So, as the rain moved back into Arnhem on Sunday, it was worth taking a spin over to Germany and check things out. Encouragingly, the clouds dissipated and trees came into bloom as the road ran on toward the rising sun.
The first destination was the K20 art museum, located next to the old city center. Critics praise the building’s design, jet-black stone and curved facade, but I was much more impressed with the collection of paintings. The current exhibition, A Last View – The Collection’s Masterpieces, shows many of Picasso’s works in various styles (his versatility is amazing: he was always moving on when others were catching up), a wonderful room of Klee’s colorful paintings, several of Kandinsky’s “Composition” series, and diverse works by the Blue Riders, Chagal, Pollock, and Matisse. I’ve always liked the energy and creativity of the post-World War I artists, and the K20 galleries are well arranged and full of light. The guards are a bit twitchy, but this is really worth a couple of hour’s visit. The K20 will close on April 27 for renovation until autumn 2009, so now is the last chance to see it.
Outside the gallery, it’s a short stroll to the pedestrian core of the city. The Ko fashion area was closed on Sunday, but the 240 bars and restaurants that make up the Altstadt was jumping. I think that it was Football Sunday: the Irish pubs were doing brisk business with the Liverpool and Chelsea matches, and the streets and bars were crowded with couples and small groups. Strolling musicians (guitars and accordions) keep things festive, and there are restaurants to fit any imaginable taste and appetite.
A long line of people wound across the street from one dark archway where a small shop selling waffles was the focus.
I joined the queue, and was rewarded with a really wonderful powdered sugar waffle. It was heavier than the Belgian version, and slightly undercooked in comparison to a US breakfast waffle, but the recipe was very good. Some people were eating them with ice cream and jam, but I preferred the simpler variety (very filling in any case).
The nearby Dussel riverfront was good place to walk off all the sugar. The city is set back from the rushing water, providing a wide walkway lined with restaurant pits that remind me of the Scheveningen beachfront. KD River cruises depart for Zons and Koln (a five-hour one-way trip), the fast current was making for tough sailing both for the cruises and the river barges, but it will be great on a sunny day.
Overall, I was really impressed with the ambience and activity throughout the area: the art was outstanding and the outdoor focus will really be good once the nicer weather arrives.
I was out in Germany on Saturday to see the Duisburg Zoo, a smaller park with some notable exhibits. What I found (besides legions of Dutch holiday traffickers clogging the A12) was a transitional park with one foot in the zoological past and one in the conservation future. It’s definitely got things you won’t see anywhere else, and which probably won’t be there too much longer.
On the Wild side, the park has some marvelous storybook examples of large African animals: the lion, in particular, has a beautiful mane and presence, and the gorilla is appropriately fierce and territorial. The zoo is making a change from older-style cages and pits to more natural and spacious settings, but while it happens, you can get amazingly close to the monkeys, ostriches, and reindeer.
On the Wet side, the zoo has one of the few remaining Amazon fresh-water dolphins. It’s a lovely specimen, white and graceful in a large blue tank. It is an older animal, scarred and bent, but still curious and quietly active. I can’t imagine that the zoo could get another when this one passes on, and it’s really worth a look. The zoo also has a large Dolphinarium, an old-style dolphin circus with animals doing tricks and splashing water. I’m ambivalent about the show: on the one hand, it certainly engages the children and families who crowd the theater, and it may be the thing that hooks them to care about these animals. But, at the same time, I’m uncomfortable with making the animals do tricks on command just to make people laugh.
On the Weird side, the hyena dog cage, inexplicably, had a metal zebra suspended on wires about seven feet above the exhibit. At feeding time, the keepers hang big slabs of raw meat on the zebra and run it up and down the pen, with the hyenas in full, leaping pursuit. Sometimes they catch it and hang off the zebra for a bit: other times a slab of meat falls off into the snapping hoard. They make strange twittering sounds as they fight over the bits and drag it off to corners of the cage. Horribly fascinating.
It was an hour and a half drive to Cologne this weekend, on a mission to visit the famous Christmas Markets. I’d heard a lot about the German holiday markets, and had visions of softly lit kiosks, traditional Christmas crafts, regional holiday food, seasonal music. It turns out to have been none of those, but it’s a unique and fun time if you have the chance to go.
Cologne (Koln) is a wonderful cosmopolitan city dominated by a breathtaking cathedral. I don’t think I’ve seen anything so large and still so ornate: it towers like a mountain cliff over the Dom Christmas Market below it.
The Christmas Market is split into several plazas across the city, the best one was in the shadow of the cathedral.
As you can tell, the first (and dominant) impression of the Christmas Market is of the crowds ! British tourists were everywhere: they fly in on EasyJet flights, some with small children, some in clusters of women on a lark.
The second thing about the Christmas market is that it’s mostly about drink, food, and drink. About half the booths serve food, and half of those serve Gluhwein (a hot spiced strong red wine) or Eierpunsch (eggnog, although thinner, more lemon-y, and more alcohol-laden than ours). And every drink comes with a (refundable) souvenir glass. My collection includes:
I thought that the best food was Speckbrehl, a hot bacon, onion, and potato dish that the Germans were eating by the bowl-full. Sausages were a close second, long ends sticking out of short, fat buns. The apple tart desserts were tempting, but I didn’t get to try them (It’s a cash economy in the Markets, and euros only stretch so far).
The third learning was the varieties of the Markets (There was a Market on a boat). They were scattered all over the city, leaving lots of time to see Koln while walking between the venues. The huge pedestrian shopping street connects all of the markets, and it’s all open late. Like New York, the department stores fill their windows with Christmas scenes. I was taken by the jungle scenes in which all of the animals wore leopard skins or grass skirts. Curious ecology, and even more curious modesty, on the part of the Germans.
In the end though, It was nice that it was still all about Christmas. The chestnuts were hot, and the lights were beautiful at night. There were lots of children,the churchbells rang every hour. There were decorations and ornaments and gingerbread everywhere. No regrets, except, in retrospect, I wish I’d plunked ten euro on a paper star…