SO LONG ENGLAND
Jason dropped us off at Stansted Airport....not allowed to pull car to the curb to drop people off. Must go to the "lot drop off spot" to drop off your passengers. That'll be 2 pounds please. We roll the suitcases from the car drop off...huff and puff. At least it's not raining and arrive at 5:30 a.m.-and certainly won't be jammed. Wrong. The place is a mob scene. Who are these people and where are they going at this time of day?? We find the Easy Jet counter...Que. up...and wait....then the young man tells us our bags are overweight $200 please- $100 each. And we just started the trip. Wonderful. On to the Que for security...long line of course and the next thing you know their female security guard is putting her hands in my pants and added a full body massage for no extra charge. Huh? Of course Bubs metal knees and metal brackets and pins in his lower back light up the magnatomitor-bringing the security group buzzing around him. Only adding to the fun, Bub forgot about the large bottle of hair spray he brought in his carry on, resulting in having to empty the carry on. It looked like he had a drug store in the suit case. The poor security guy had to organize the paraphernalia in little plastic bags reminding Bubba it would be better if he did it next time so it won't hold up the line or 25 mins. and don't forget to take the little plastic bags out of the carry on as they should ride through the xray machine outside the case. On your way Mr. Collins. Bub now calls it the "Not So Easy Jet".
Oh and one more England ditty. They charge to park in the lot at the grocery store...we are talking about the sweet little village of St. Ives. Never mind London. And thank you again dear Brit friends, new and old, and Jason. We had a simply MARVELOUS time and visit. Do Carry On till Bubba and Boca show up again.
THE NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands- consisting of 1 province in Western Europe and 3 islands in the Caribbean. The "casual" term for the country is "Holland" (although technically incorrect).
About 20% of the low-lying country is below sea level. In the 1500's Charles V (Ruler of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Spain) also ruled the Netherlands. With the help of Queen Liz 1 of England and a whole lotta fighting they were able to get their independence from Spain, hello Dutch Republic. The Dutch Empire grew to become one of the major seafaring and economic powers in the 17th century. You New Yorkers know about the founding of New Amsterdam on the southern part of Manhattan in 1614. And my friends in South Africa know the Dutch settled the Cape Colony in 1652. Some say the Netherlands was the first thoroughly capitalist country in the world....the inventiveness of the traders led to insurance and retirement funds. And the French also had it's influence....Napoleon set up a puppet kingdom here, governed by his brother, in order to control the Netherlands more effectively. But the brotherly love didn't pan out. The brother named his 5 year old son King. That lasted for 10 days as Emperor and Brother Napoleon sent in the troops and dissolved the Kingdom of Holland and the Netherlands became part of the French Empire tout suite! But that only lasted until 1813 when Napoleon was defeated and withdrew his troops and on to Sovereign Price Willem I.
Then the Dutch East India Company went to work, acquiring islands and land throughout the world...Indonesia, Suriname and more. The Netherlands were heavily involved in the slave trade as the Dutch planters relied on African slave to cultivate the coffee, cocoa, sugarcane and cotton plantations....they did abolish slavery in 1863 (not fully realized until 1873) and every year on July 1 Keti Koti- Emancipation Day (end of slavery) is remembered.
Then the Nazi Germans came in 1940 and the country was overrun in 5 days. During the occupation, over 100,000 Dutch Jews were rounded up to be transported to the Nazi German extermination camps in Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Although many of the Dutch hid Jews during this time, many still collaborated with the Nazi's. Then in December 1941 the Netherlands declared war on Japan and joined the American, British and Australian forces. Remember they owned Indonesia which the Japs occupied. And Indonesia declared it's independence from the Netherlands in 1945.
Sorting things out after WWII, in 1954, Queen Julian (who went to Canada during this time) reformed the the Kingdom. The Dutch Colonies of Suriname and Curacao became integral parts of the Kingdom- you travelers know the Netherlands Antilles. This was also dissolved-2010 although Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Sab are now incorporated as special municipalities of the Netherlands. Huh? Are ya in or ar ya out? Now called the Caribbean Netherlands.
The monarch is still the head of state and currently is King Willem-Alexander. His dear Mom abdicated her throne as Queen so they could have a King for the first time in 123 years. And everyone is in love with the new hot Queen Maxima. But don't forget the Netherlands is also a parliamentary democracy. 16,785,403 populate the 10th most populous country in Europe- with 80% ethnically still being "Dutch".
The Dutch people are the tallest people in the world with an average height of 5 ft 11" for adult males and 5.7" for adult females-Bubba has made comment on this again and again as he watches the Dutch babes on their bikes...more on that later. And did you know more than 5 million Americans claim total or partial Dutch ancestry. And there are close to 3 million Dutch-descended Afrikaners living in South Africa- shout out to my precious pal Val in Cape Town.
The Netherlands is one of the most secular countries in Western Europe with only 39% being religiously affiliated and fewer than 5.6% visiting church once or more per month. Letsism, agnosticism and Christian atheism are on the rise. Humanism is also gaining popularity. Interesting to note the increase of Muslims here, about 825,000 of them. The Muslim numbers began to rise in the 1970's as the result of immigration from former Dutch colonies and during the 1990's they opened their borders for Muslim refugees from countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. But tensions began to mount with the murder of a populist politician (Pim Fortuyn) and political cartoonist (Theo Van Gogh).
EXTREME ENGINEERING
The Dutch "reclaimed" so of the sea to add to their shore line over the years causing them to build many dikes to hold that North Sea back. About 2/3 of its area is vulnerable to flooding. Human made dikes, dams and floodgates have historically prevented water flooding from water flowing into the country by the major rivers- the Rhine and Meuse. The old Windmill used to do the trick as well but today the Dutch have quite the sophisticated hold the water back technology. How about those Zuiderzee Works? Since the deadly flood of 1953 (89 dikes failed and over 1800 peope died), Dutch engineers set out to build a new kind of barrier against the sea,
This is an example-Oosterscheldekering-a storm surge barrier which is only closed during storms,
We have noticed the Dutch etiquette- European in nature. These folks are very egalitarian, individualistic and modern. They view themselves as modest, independent and self-reliant. Never mind the bus drivers who do their best to torment the bike riders. Oy. Boca enjoys their directness- but to Bubs they can appear a bit rude and crude. Boca loves the bluntness but doesn't understand why they think spending large amounts of money is considered something of a vice? Is that where the saying "going Dutch" came from??
AMSTERDAM, Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Netherlands and especially the city of Amsterdam can bring to mind many different images...Boca was here in 1972 (College fun) and in 1994 (more college fun- while at Emory attended a meeting here. Bubs was here in 1966, an R and R on the way to Viet Nam. Still the same in many ways but also changed with all the modern buildings and tourist tech. Wow!
The capital and most populous city of the Netherlands is unique in many ways. Though it is the Capital the seat of the Dutch Government is in The Hague- Den Haag. About 810,000 people live in this small city, about 1.1 million in the metro area. Originally a small fishing village it became one of the most important ports in the word during the Dutch Golden Age (17th century). A center for finance and diamonds. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in the world. Maybe that is why The Hermitage opened a satellite museum here?
Amsterdam's main attractions- the historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Hermitage Amsterdam, Anne Frank House, Amsterdam Museum, Churches, Bridges, Buildings, concert halls, DIAMOND FACTORIES-please note this Bubs, many Squares ( The Dam, Koningpein, Leideplein etc), open air markets, a gazillion souvenir shops, its red-light district and its many cannabis coffee shops draw more than 3.66 million international visitors annually. This is a young persons city...it feels like the average age is 25.
Hop On Bus- a must.
This is a very confusing city for Bubs and Boca to get around. Don't forget the $65 cab ride to go a few miles. Hop on Hop Off is a better bet for us. With 2 marked up maps we are still constantly lost and confused. But no worries. There' s always a pint around all corners.
HEINEKEN EXPERIENCE
Although Boca is not particularly fond of beer, when she does imbibe it is usually the green beer- yea Heinie!
We were the only people over 40 I'm sure but we had blast. No old fashion museum for the young folks- lot's of high tech interaction followed by lots of Beer drinking. That's what Bubba calls Heinie-Tech fun.
Boys just wanna have fun....
How did I get stuck at the Hen table?
And why did that Japanese gal bring her bag of fruit to the beer bar??
Jason dropped us off at Stansted Airport....not allowed to pull car to the curb to drop people off. Must go to the "lot drop off spot" to drop off your passengers. That'll be 2 pounds please. We roll the suitcases from the car drop off...huff and puff. At least it's not raining and arrive at 5:30 a.m.-and certainly won't be jammed. Wrong. The place is a mob scene. Who are these people and where are they going at this time of day?? We find the Easy Jet counter...Que. up...and wait....then the young man tells us our bags are overweight $200 please- $100 each. And we just started the trip. Wonderful. On to the Que for security...long line of course and the next thing you know their female security guard is putting her hands in my pants and added a full body massage for no extra charge. Huh? Of course Bubs metal knees and metal brackets and pins in his lower back light up the magnatomitor-bringing the security group buzzing around him. Only adding to the fun, Bub forgot about the large bottle of hair spray he brought in his carry on, resulting in having to empty the carry on. It looked like he had a drug store in the suit case. The poor security guy had to organize the paraphernalia in little plastic bags reminding Bubba it would be better if he did it next time so it won't hold up the line or 25 mins. and don't forget to take the little plastic bags out of the carry on as they should ride through the xray machine outside the case. On your way Mr. Collins. Bub now calls it the "Not So Easy Jet".
Oh and one more England ditty. They charge to park in the lot at the grocery store...we are talking about the sweet little village of St. Ives. Never mind London. And thank you again dear Brit friends, new and old, and Jason. We had a simply MARVELOUS time and visit. Do Carry On till Bubba and Boca show up again.
THE NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands- consisting of 1 province in Western Europe and 3 islands in the Caribbean. The "casual" term for the country is "Holland" (although technically incorrect).
About 20% of the low-lying country is below sea level. In the 1500's Charles V (Ruler of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Spain) also ruled the Netherlands. With the help of Queen Liz 1 of England and a whole lotta fighting they were able to get their independence from Spain, hello Dutch Republic. The Dutch Empire grew to become one of the major seafaring and economic powers in the 17th century. You New Yorkers know about the founding of New Amsterdam on the southern part of Manhattan in 1614. And my friends in South Africa know the Dutch settled the Cape Colony in 1652. Some say the Netherlands was the first thoroughly capitalist country in the world....the inventiveness of the traders led to insurance and retirement funds. And the French also had it's influence....Napoleon set up a puppet kingdom here, governed by his brother, in order to control the Netherlands more effectively. But the brotherly love didn't pan out. The brother named his 5 year old son King. That lasted for 10 days as Emperor and Brother Napoleon sent in the troops and dissolved the Kingdom of Holland and the Netherlands became part of the French Empire tout suite! But that only lasted until 1813 when Napoleon was defeated and withdrew his troops and on to Sovereign Price Willem I.
Then the Dutch East India Company went to work, acquiring islands and land throughout the world...Indonesia, Suriname and more. The Netherlands were heavily involved in the slave trade as the Dutch planters relied on African slave to cultivate the coffee, cocoa, sugarcane and cotton plantations....they did abolish slavery in 1863 (not fully realized until 1873) and every year on July 1 Keti Koti- Emancipation Day (end of slavery) is remembered.
Then the Nazi Germans came in 1940 and the country was overrun in 5 days. During the occupation, over 100,000 Dutch Jews were rounded up to be transported to the Nazi German extermination camps in Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Although many of the Dutch hid Jews during this time, many still collaborated with the Nazi's. Then in December 1941 the Netherlands declared war on Japan and joined the American, British and Australian forces. Remember they owned Indonesia which the Japs occupied. And Indonesia declared it's independence from the Netherlands in 1945.Sorting things out after WWII, in 1954, Queen Julian (who went to Canada during this time) reformed the the Kingdom. The Dutch Colonies of Suriname and Curacao became integral parts of the Kingdom- you travelers know the Netherlands Antilles. This was also dissolved-2010 although Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Sab are now incorporated as special municipalities of the Netherlands. Huh? Are ya in or ar ya out? Now called the Caribbean Netherlands.
The monarch is still the head of state and currently is King Willem-Alexander. His dear Mom abdicated her throne as Queen so they could have a King for the first time in 123 years. And everyone is in love with the new hot Queen Maxima. But don't forget the Netherlands is also a parliamentary democracy. 16,785,403 populate the 10th most populous country in Europe- with 80% ethnically still being "Dutch".The Dutch people are the tallest people in the world with an average height of 5 ft 11" for adult males and 5.7" for adult females-Bubba has made comment on this again and again as he watches the Dutch babes on their bikes...more on that later. And did you know more than 5 million Americans claim total or partial Dutch ancestry. And there are close to 3 million Dutch-descended Afrikaners living in South Africa- shout out to my precious pal Val in Cape Town.
The Netherlands is one of the most secular countries in Western Europe with only 39% being religiously affiliated and fewer than 5.6% visiting church once or more per month. Letsism, agnosticism and Christian atheism are on the rise. Humanism is also gaining popularity. Interesting to note the increase of Muslims here, about 825,000 of them. The Muslim numbers began to rise in the 1970's as the result of immigration from former Dutch colonies and during the 1990's they opened their borders for Muslim refugees from countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. But tensions began to mount with the murder of a populist politician (Pim Fortuyn) and political cartoonist (Theo Van Gogh).
EXTREME ENGINEERING
The Dutch "reclaimed" so of the sea to add to their shore line over the years causing them to build many dikes to hold that North Sea back. About 2/3 of its area is vulnerable to flooding. Human made dikes, dams and floodgates have historically prevented water flooding from water flowing into the country by the major rivers- the Rhine and Meuse. The old Windmill used to do the trick as well but today the Dutch have quite the sophisticated hold the water back technology. How about those Zuiderzee Works? Since the deadly flood of 1953 (89 dikes failed and over 1800 peope died), Dutch engineers set out to build a new kind of barrier against the sea,
$7 Billion later, infrastructure improved but what about all that global warming on going??
We have noticed the Dutch etiquette- European in nature. These folks are very egalitarian, individualistic and modern. They view themselves as modest, independent and self-reliant. Never mind the bus drivers who do their best to torment the bike riders. Oy. Boca enjoys their directness- but to Bubs they can appear a bit rude and crude. Boca loves the bluntness but doesn't understand why they think spending large amounts of money is considered something of a vice? Is that where the saying "going Dutch" came from??AMSTERDAM, Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Netherlands and especially the city of Amsterdam can bring to mind many different images...Boca was here in 1972 (College fun) and in 1994 (more college fun- while at Emory attended a meeting here. Bubs was here in 1966, an R and R on the way to Viet Nam. Still the same in many ways but also changed with all the modern buildings and tourist tech. Wow!The capital and most populous city of the Netherlands is unique in many ways. Though it is the Capital the seat of the Dutch Government is in The Hague- Den Haag. About 810,000 people live in this small city, about 1.1 million in the metro area. Originally a small fishing village it became one of the most important ports in the word during the Dutch Golden Age (17th century). A center for finance and diamonds. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in the world. Maybe that is why The Hermitage opened a satellite museum here?
Amsterdam's main attractions- the historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Hermitage Amsterdam, Anne Frank House, Amsterdam Museum, Churches, Bridges, Buildings, concert halls, DIAMOND FACTORIES-please note this Bubs, many Squares ( The Dam, Koningpein, Leideplein etc), open air markets, a gazillion souvenir shops, its red-light district and its many cannabis coffee shops draw more than 3.66 million international visitors annually. This is a young persons city...it feels like the average age is 25.
Hop On Bus- a must.
This is a very confusing city for Bubs and Boca to get around. Don't forget the $65 cab ride to go a few miles. Hop on Hop Off is a better bet for us. With 2 marked up maps we are still constantly lost and confused. But no worries. There' s always a pint around all corners.HEINEKEN EXPERIENCE
Although Boca is not particularly fond of beer, when she does imbibe it is usually the green beer- yea Heinie! 
We were the only people over 40 I'm sure but we had blast. No old fashion museum for the young folks- lot's of high tech interaction followed by lots of Beer drinking. That's what Bubba calls Heinie-Tech fun.
Boys just wanna have fun....
How did I get stuck at the Hen table?
