Water

 

Water

I just spent four nights with good friends Glen and Ems, and at one point we calculated that the floor of their Amsterdam home lies four feet below the level of the nearby North Sea. Should the dikes and levees and berms give way one night you would need a snorkel to sleep. But the good burghers of Amsterdam have as little concern about this possibility as they have about the possibility of a comet landing on them. They have been managing the sea and the rivers for centuries, digging canals, erecting locks, and piling up dikes to stagger the imagination.

The Amstel River once flowed through the center of town, until they threw a dam across it back in the thirteenth century and renamed their village accordingly — Amsteldam. Don’t ask me how “Amsteldam” morphed into “Amsterdam.” It’s all Dutch to me. Then they dug a bunch of concentric horseshoe-shaped canals, channeled the Amstel’s flow through them, and erected scores upon hundreds of skinny vertical houses dancing cheek to cheek on their banks. Hop a KLM flight and check it out. There is no other city like it.

And that dam was just for starters.

Over the centuries the Dutch have converted square kilometer after square kilometer of marshland into verdant fields where cows amble and tulips flourish, have dredged and heaped sand into suburbs where the sea once surged, have installed gates and pumps by the many thousands to keep the water moving from here to there. Until Diesel engines came along, watermills drove the pumps.

Herons tiptoe the shallows of the canal below Glen and Ems’ geranium festooned deck. Just there, peeking out from the reeds, a pipe emerges. At intervals a pump kicks in to deliver water from their canal to its continuation on the far side of the bike path. Multiply that arrangement by a hundred thousand, then magnify its scale up to and including the 32-kilometer-long Afsluitdijk that separates the Zuider Zee from the North Sea, and you begin to comprehend the magnitude and complexity of Holland’s national water management system.

Nothing is left to chance. The ever-practical Dutch have devised a parallel structure of government — the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment — to manage every pump and sluice and lock and dike and oh yes all the roads as well, many of which course along the dike tops.

We rented a motorboat and spent a day cruising the River Vecht. Elegant houseboats. Stately tree-shaded mansions. See-saw drawbridges whose tenders perch in glassed booths to engage the gears for boats with masts. Riverside self-operated locks should you elect to lower your craft to the waterways left or right. Students pedaling home from school atop the berm and waving us their greetings.

If the San Andreas Fault shears away California one day, I’m paddling to Holland

The River Vecht

 

 

Good friends

image

 

 

 

18 thoughts on “Water”

  6. What a nice adventure. We spent a couple of weeks there at the Royal Tropical Institute many years ago. Give Glenn our regards, and try to make it home by mid-Feb. because we plan to be in your house.

    Like

    Reply

  7. Love Amsterdam! Spent some time there in the summer of ’72. Highlight was going down the river on a working barge. Still remember the wonderful breakfast served on board by the crew…. Thick slices of homemade white bread, slathered with Nutella and served with strong coffee.

    Like

    Reply

  10. As I told Bill, if I am ever forced to leave Skiathos (see upcoming blogs if you don’t know what and/or where Skiathos is), and made to go back to live in a city, Amsterdam is the only possible choice.It is a city which speaks a bit over 160 languages and where everyone has learned to get on with everyone. My kind of place! Plus it is simply beautiful.

    Like

    Reply

  11. Hi Bill, We believe that you enjoy in Amsterdam , a nice place to live. We have also a good Dutsch friend, happy people.
    You are probably now in skiathos, have a good time. We are still in France and return to Switzerland on 20.9.
    We will be happy to welcome you in Laax after Skiathos or any time. Bises Andi & Colette

    Like

    Reply

  13. Hi Bill:
    Wow! What a beautiful place. I didn’t know you were going there too. Enjoy your time in Skiathos and give your family a big squeeze from the Andersons.
    Much love, Sarah

    Like

    Reply

  14. Thank you Bill,
    We so enjoy seeing the world through your eyes…such a gift, especially given your knowledge of world history, geography and your wonderful ability to paint a beautiful picture with words.
    Safe travels & sweet blessings…our hearts stay with you.
    May you find comfort, joy & serenity in Skiathos.
    Sending you our love,
    Susan & Peter

    Like

    Reply

  15. We always love seeing and reading about the world from your perspective. Many more happy trails and safe travels. Hope to see you soon.

    Very best,

    Isaac and Linda

    Like

    Reply

  16. Bill – You got it! It was wonderful to have you here in Amsterdam. And you describe it so well. But you didn’t mention the wonderful weather you brought with you. May that continue above your head and in your soul. We look forward to seeing you here again soon. Glen

    Like

    Reply

  17. Hi Bill,
    You really must write a book as I love to read your posts. What a great description of Amsterdam. Did you visit any other cities in the Netherlands? Our daughter, Leah, and her family live in The Hague and that too is a lovely city-not as many canals but a stone’s throw from the North Sea. We (Judy, John, Jim and I) are thrilled that you might think about another OAT excursion. New Zealand is our goal and we are considering March/April time frame at this point.
    So stay in touch, take a look at OAT’s Pure New Zealand trip and let us know.
    Take care,
    Dale

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment