The Holland trip, pictures ...

      Here is a collection of photos I have not posted previously from our trip to Holland (please excuse the quality of some, especially those taken at the Rijksmuseum, where I ran afoul of the no-flash watch a couple of times) ...

The marina in Zaandam just below our host Kitty's
apartment at Hoge Horn

 



The building next door (note: the base is in the water)



The cruise ships arrived in the Zaandam harbor every night



The string of old windmills at the Zaanse Schans



Nice setting at the entrance to the Zaanse Schans

A solitary windmill across the bridge from
the Zaanse Schans

The drawbridge over the River Schans

Bea and Kitty, at one of the most popular
spots for photos at the Zaanse Schans

Polder land in the fertile farm area

One of the beautiful old windmills lined up in a row

A couple of the smaller windmills in the farm area

 

Kitty and Bea after their visit into the old oil mill
 

This goat put on quite a show begging for food



A wooden shoes display (you can get them
 any size, any design, any color)

An American couple enjoys the visit to the Zaanse Schans

The layout of the very popular tourist attraction

The International Peace Palace, in The Hague

Bea with our tall friends Peter and Patricia DeWeijs

Thanks to Peter for taking this photo (and for
a wonderful day and a renewed friendship)

One of the Dutch Parliament buildings in
the area known as the Binnenhof (inner square)

This is the entrance to the Ridderzaal (Hall of Knights), where
the new king will open Parliament on the third Tuesday
 each September. He will arrive, as the three queens who
preceded him (his great grandmother, grandmother and mother)
in the Golden Coach after a short ride from his working office.

This is the palace where then-Queen Beatrix had her working
office, just a few blocks from Parliament square

Peter and Patricia took us on a lengthy drive around the
 beautiful and bountiful flower fields in South Holland province

Back in Amsterdam, with Dr. Karen Gordon of Shreveport, my
cousin Heleen, her husband Jacky Borgenicht, and Bea

Even before you see the masterful paintings,
the Rijksmuseum's front lobby area
 is spectacular.

Beatrice at the Rijksmuseum (a great photo of her)

... and a not-so-great photo subject (looking lost in the crowd)

The Rijks has a massive library section, a couple of floors deep

Ship models ... everywhere

Andy Warhol's portrait of Queen Beatrix

A bust of the famed William of Orange in armor

The replica of a battleship, inside and outside

Knights, always knights ... couldn't resist
taking this photo

The historic Delft blue collection (Delft blue is another
Dutch trademark ... available in many places)

So many scale models of oldtime Dutch battleships

William of Orange III ...

 ... and his story

Bea said these government officials, posing for an official
portrait, should be called "the sourpusses)

A painting of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam

Cabinet making a couple of hundred years ago
produced some masterful work on display
in the Rijksmuseum

A plaque explaining how the United States helped Holland
on the road to recovery in the aftermath of World War II

This pelican was a little reminder of Louisiana

Shooting into a mirror, with the pelican in
the background

 

 This is a figurehead from the frigate Prins van Oranje, circa
1844. Made of wood, it was built in the
naval yards in Rotterdam in 1828.

In The Hague, a statue of Queen Wilhemina (and in my
opinion, not a flattering one. Bea says it was art).

A view of the Concertgebouw (concert hall) in Amsterdam

A view of the Concertgebouw's lower-level seating area
(taken from the right side of the Great Hall)

A much smaller music venue: A hall in the Zaantheater in
Zaandam, scene of a jazz battle of the bands -- a real fun
event -- on the night of the new king's investiture. Some
talented young people performed.

The street where my Dad lived as a young man

The street where my mother lived, only a couple of blocks
from my Dad's house in the Transvaalbuurt

The street where we lived my first 8 1/2 years

And the streetview taken looking back from the canal
(our house is the little white one on the right -- right above
 the van -- next to the red-bricked apartments)

The Kostverlorenkade cafe, along the canal just a few
blocks from where we lived

In front of the old house (this is a very short video)

Following my parents' footsteps in Holland
... yes, big shoes to fill