Tuesday 11 October 2016

Up and down


I was invited to join a group of wonderful ladies and travel with them to a very nice town called den Bosch ('S Hertogenbosch) for a weekend. This charming, old town is a capital of the Brabandt, which is only a one hour train trip to direction south from Amsterdam. I was happy to get to know a new part of Holland, have a good time as a group and see some nice views and sights. The main theme was of course having fun and enjoying the life, but this gave at the same time the opportunity to learn some more from the history of Holland and see the weekend life from the smaller, typical dutch perspective and enjoy the views - not only at the wine bar, but also measuring the streets and visiting places. As refreshing it is for me to go to the nature and enjoy the peace, as inspiring it is also to see the architecture, the street life, culture, food, traditions and new trends in some other places than home.  

A very impressive sight is greeting the visitor in the east side of the city centre, where the famous Roman catholic church St.John's Cathedral (Sint Janskathedraal) is standing. This gothic style masterpiece of architecture is the largest catholic church in Holland. Our guide told that the catholic churches are build direction east- west and the altar inside is on the east side. So the length of the church is planned to meet the sun in the mornings on the east side and the west side says good night for the sun in the evenings. 


going up

We were lucky with the timing of our visit. This year the "Miraculous walk" has been organised. This means you can walk the 147 steps up via outside build steps all the way to the roof of this church and see the sculptured art work from the middle ages from very close, admire the views over the town and see the green countryside fields at the horizon. This is only possible until the end of the October 2016, so it was a nice surprise. I really enjoyed seeing the decorations and the supporting structures of the church from so close. Even touching the sun warmed roof tiles was nice. How many hands must have been building this place and all the details outside and inside.









There are very many nice shops, restaurants and cafes...museums too. Den Bosch is a easy destination for even a day trip: the centre is quite small and everything is relatively close. Very nice food and friendly people !



going down

Our second very interesting tour was taking place in the old canal network. Most parts of these canals are hidden under the street level of the old town. Many houses were also build over the time on top of these canals in the lack of a space inside the town walls, which were and still are protecting the centre from the water.





The whole weekend was mostly sunny. On our boat trip it was nice to see the warm autumn reflections from the water decorating the curvy  stone bridges. There were also long parts of the canals totally in the darkness, without any daylight. Perfect spots for the bats to rest.



The local river "Binnendieze" is directly connected to the town canals. In the middle ages and before other sort of mains, the canals brought some needed water to the centre and the households. One part of the tour is going outside the central canals until the river, where you can see a bit more green and have a feeling of a countryside.








This time I had more stones to share than the any green. From some photos you can see the process of the season and the changing colours. I will be back to the nature themes on my next story. I just wanted to share this small trip and give it as a tip if you come and visit Holland one day. Trains are travelling more often that every hour from Amsterdam and back, very easy for spontaneous trips too. 

Wishing you a wonderful week!!