We took an overnight ferry across the North Sea, arriving in Holland the following morning. Above is the sunset over Hull, the port we left from in England.
It was a really big boat! Besides the duty-free and restaurants, there were no less than two cinemas, a childrens' area, and large stage for a band. Unfortunately, the prospect of playing Roulette and listening to bad cover bands while drinking copious amounts of over-priced alcohol doesn't really appeal to us that much; but it was still an experience.
Sunrise over the North Sea!
Holland is a quite unique place. We decided for some reason to go to Rotterdam instead of Amsterdam (the more obvious choice), but there was still plenty for us to see, and we had great weather! The first highlight for us was Delfshaven, a stretch along the river which is the only place not destroyed during the second World War. The historic buildings were nice.
The strangest bit of our sight-seeing (and definitely the most memorable) were the Cube Houses. Built in the 1980's, these residential complexes consist of "trees" with concrete trunks leading to flats which resemble a cube standing on one end, overshadowing areas of shops and businesses. Sound weird? Wait until you see the pictures...
The inside photos were taken from one of the cubes which was turned into a museum.
Last, but not least, we visited the Boijmans van Beuningen museum, which houses a selection of classic and contemporary art, sometimes in strange juxtaposition. These are just a few random selections from the things I found interesting...
I hope the pictures were worth the wait! Stay tuned, there's more to come, and it should come with less delay if-and-when we get internet access at home. The funding for that will be facilitated by the part-time job I've recently acquired, dishing out fish and chips! But that's another story all together...
5 comments:
hey, carl hasnt posted on here yet.....i finally beat him to it. heh, anyway, yeah this is your bro. the names andrew just in case you forgot. heh. those pics are awesome. the walls with the writing on them is great. ive always wanted to do taht sometime. heh, i love the comment about not being entertained on the boat by the idea of consuming large amounts of over priced achohol. hilarious...
Hey guys! Good to see you are still doing well. The Netherlands looked quite interesting. Someday we'll get to Europe. I promise. Did you know that many people call the Netherlands "Holland," but that's actually only a part of the Netherlands. I think i wrote a report on it in High School.
-Brad
Chris and Melissa,
The pictures of your trip are amazing. When you were in the cube house did you get a sore neck trying to look out, looks awkward.
Talk to you soon.
Love,Mom
Wow, guys, that spectacular.
The sunset is beautiful, and the boats, and the houses, and the artwork. Just wow.
Were the floors in the cube houses level throughout, or did they slant in certain places? I can't tell from the pictures.
Silhouettes of vomiting children make my skin crawl. I don't quite understand that one.
Anyway, I was talking with Andrew about writing on a wall like that. I can't think of anywhere to do that without being considered a vandal. I don't think my parents would be to hot about doing it in my basement.
The floors were level, each cube has 3 floors, but of course the walls are all sloping. And a central spiral (really diamond-al) staircase runs through it.
I thought the silhouettes were fantastically spooky, because I couldn't tell what was going on, just like a real night-time scene. And it seemed strangely occult-ish.
The "writing on the wall" piece was a reaction to global consumerism/imperialism. If you look at the column in the center you'll see scrolling led signs with messages like "WE FOOL YOU," "WE KILL YOU," and at the bottom, "WE FEED ALL." I thought it was a wonderful mock-shrine to Babel and Babylon, a testimony to man's bid for absolute power. Like Biblical prophecy, it critiques contemporary myths, exposing their disgusting-ness. Unlike Biblical prophecy, however, it affords the viewer no alternative... for me it leaves a huge, gaping question mark: "If not the European empire, then what?" "If not consumerism, then what??" For answers, one must look elsewhere...
:)
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