Crossing the South
To Nijmegen, via the tulip fields and floating houses.
One ...
... two windmills north of the cities ...
What happens when a floating house fails.
The broken window looks like someone had to break out of it to escape when it sank. That must have been a life changing experience.
We were out of season for tulips, but went anyway in case there were other flowers. What we found were bulbs on a monumental scale, drying in the heat after the recent rain.
Not a total loss, there were other flowers to produce the stereotypical pictures. Oh, and windmill number 3.
Passing by Amsterdam and Schippol airport, one of the endless stream of KLM aeroplanes, that I myself use. I have seen this area so many times from the air, including the striped colours of the tulip fields.
... four ...
... five (under restoration) ...
... six ...
... point five ... with a shed on top ...
And we arrive at Maasbommel marina.
Maasbommel is situated on the large river Maas/Meuse. It is in a sacrificial polder, meaning that if the river floods are severe enough (as they were in 1993 and 1995), the polder will be deliberately flooded to relieve the strain, and protect more important polders downstream.
Rather than move somewhere safer, they built special houses on the river bank that use a piston system to rise up when the area floods. These ones are mounted on the land, and can cope with a 10 metre rise in water level.
The base of the house is a watertight basin that provides buoyancy and keeps them upright, taking the pressure off the pistons. The houses are built in pairs, so presumably you have to have a good relationship with your neighbours to make sure someone is always at home to activate the piston if a flood arrives.
This second set of houses are always floating, accessed by a gangway. They have no gardens, but come with their own moorings. They can only rise up 5 metres, but that should still be enough to cope with a flood. None of the houses have floating parking space, so cars have to be parked on the dike in a flood.
Ducks on the moorings.
Greebs by the gangway.
O windmills further, we arrive at a stranded tortoise on an obelisk, in Nijmegen. This is the oldest city in the Netherlands, at about 2000 years old.
Ladybird in negative.
The remains of the Valkhof wall in Nijmegen, ruined for materials just before 1800.
The remains of the 1155 chapel of St. Martin.
The pillars are from the castle of Charlemagne, which stood here 400 years earlier.
The other chapel.
Nijmegen lies on the Rhine - called the Waal in the Netherlands - which lies at just 8 metres altitude. The Valkhof lies at about 31 metres. This may not seem like much, but it's really quite amazing after you have been sat below sea level for so long. This is a hill!
See in the reconstruction; a hill. The surrounding area has hills reaching 100 metres, and further to the south by Maastricht, the highest point in the Netherlands is over 300 metres - high enough to be a mountain in the traditional British scale.
Pillars in the chapel.
Lighting.
Taking pictures of ugly damer in the Valkhof park.
A monument to something.
Perhaps it's dedicated to the hill! The tower is a hotel. Fake stuff.
Bridge in the Hunner Park.
Park wall.
Arch ruins.
Old building in the town.
Ornate doorway.
The waag (weighing house), dating from 1612, restored in 1886.
Waag pillars.
A very open and relaxed country. I like this culture. More please.
The old gate, from 1605.
From behind.
Another old building.
Shutters.
Church doorway, lovely gothic architecture. The church is currently being used as an art exhibit.
Ceiling above the door.
Church tower, completely out of place againt the gothic architecture.
Gargoyle.
Vaulted ceiling.
Pillar tops.
The main, ornate organ (the church has 3, for some reason).
Carved lions on the pews.
One ...
... two windmills north of the cities ...
What happens when a floating house fails.
The broken window looks like someone had to break out of it to escape when it sank. That must have been a life changing experience.
We were out of season for tulips, but went anyway in case there were other flowers. What we found were bulbs on a monumental scale, drying in the heat after the recent rain.
Not a total loss, there were other flowers to produce the stereotypical pictures. Oh, and windmill number 3.
Passing by Amsterdam and Schippol airport, one of the endless stream of KLM aeroplanes, that I myself use. I have seen this area so many times from the air, including the striped colours of the tulip fields.
... four ...
... five (under restoration) ...
... six ...
... point five ... with a shed on top ...
And we arrive at Maasbommel marina.
Maasbommel is situated on the large river Maas/Meuse. It is in a sacrificial polder, meaning that if the river floods are severe enough (as they were in 1993 and 1995), the polder will be deliberately flooded to relieve the strain, and protect more important polders downstream.
Rather than move somewhere safer, they built special houses on the river bank that use a piston system to rise up when the area floods. These ones are mounted on the land, and can cope with a 10 metre rise in water level.
The base of the house is a watertight basin that provides buoyancy and keeps them upright, taking the pressure off the pistons. The houses are built in pairs, so presumably you have to have a good relationship with your neighbours to make sure someone is always at home to activate the piston if a flood arrives.
This second set of houses are always floating, accessed by a gangway. They have no gardens, but come with their own moorings. They can only rise up 5 metres, but that should still be enough to cope with a flood. None of the houses have floating parking space, so cars have to be parked on the dike in a flood.
Ducks on the moorings.
Greebs by the gangway.
O windmills further, we arrive at a stranded tortoise on an obelisk, in Nijmegen. This is the oldest city in the Netherlands, at about 2000 years old.
Ladybird in negative.
The remains of the Valkhof wall in Nijmegen, ruined for materials just before 1800.
The remains of the 1155 chapel of St. Martin.
The pillars are from the castle of Charlemagne, which stood here 400 years earlier.
The other chapel.
Nijmegen lies on the Rhine - called the Waal in the Netherlands - which lies at just 8 metres altitude. The Valkhof lies at about 31 metres. This may not seem like much, but it's really quite amazing after you have been sat below sea level for so long. This is a hill!
See in the reconstruction; a hill. The surrounding area has hills reaching 100 metres, and further to the south by Maastricht, the highest point in the Netherlands is over 300 metres - high enough to be a mountain in the traditional British scale.
Pillars in the chapel.
Lighting.
Taking pictures of ugly damer in the Valkhof park.
A monument to something.
Perhaps it's dedicated to the hill! The tower is a hotel. Fake stuff.
Bridge in the Hunner Park.
Park wall.
Arch ruins.
Old building in the town.
Ornate doorway.
The waag (weighing house), dating from 1612, restored in 1886.
Waag pillars.
A very open and relaxed country. I like this culture. More please.
The old gate, from 1605.
From behind.
Another old building.
Shutters.
Church doorway, lovely gothic architecture. The church is currently being used as an art exhibit.
Ceiling above the door.
Church tower, completely out of place againt the gothic architecture.
Gargoyle.
Vaulted ceiling.
Pillar tops.
The main, ornate organ (the church has 3, for some reason).
Carved lions on the pews.