Wassenaar

Today we finally visited a place this been on my "to visit" list for quite a while, Wassenaar. This affluent little town lies in the province of Zuid-Holland, about 47km SW of Haarlem and 12km NE of Den Haag. It is home to a large number of ex-pats, particularly Americans, who work mainly in the diplomatic industry in Den Haag and many large ambassadorial residences are located there.

Eikenhorst, the official residence of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, his wife Princess Maxima and their three children (one of whom, Princess Alexia, was baptised in the main church of Wassenaar, the Dorpskerk) is also just to the SW of the town. Another attraction just outside Wassenaar is Duinrell, a large amusement/water/holiday park but now is not really the time of year to be visiting such a place so we'll leave that until the summer perhaps.

The main beach at Wassenaar is the Wassenaarseslag, located about 2km along a scenic road which runs through the dunes between the town and the coast. Up in Haarlem, and for the entire journey down to Wassenaar, it had been quite a pleasant day and so I thought a visit to the seaside would be very nice. But as we got close to the beach it started to get very foggy and once we had parked the car and made our way down to the sand we found that the fog there was very thick and it was impossible to see more than a few hundred meters. It was also very cold and so we decided to cut short our visit and go somewhere else instead.

Before we left though I was able to spot an interesting memorial just outside the main car park. This commemorates six French WW2 commandos (lead by Captain Charles Trepel) who were killed on the beach during a raid against a German V-2 rocket launch site in February 1944.

Our next destination was a section of the coastal dunes called Meijendel. To get there we had to pass through the centre of Wassenaar, driving along very pleasant wooded avenues containing some very large and expensive looking houses. We also passed the Royal Haagse Golf Club, the oldest and most exclusive golf course in the Netherlands.

At Meijendel we parked close to the main complex which contains an old farm which now houses a pancake restaurant, a small visitor centre (closed at the moment due to it being off-season), a large picnic/play area and a large barn which looked like it might once have housed a number of horse but was empty when we visited. There are a number of walks around the complex as well as various small nature trails through the woodland which contain small information boards about some of the flora and fauna that are visible, for example an ant-hill and a small pond.

The pancake restaurant was very welcoming and cosy with a large open hearth fire in the centre around which it was possible to sit and relax after a tiring walk. This area was full when we arrived but instead we sat at a nearby table and ordered some food. I choose a very tasty cherry and whipped cream pancake whilst Luz went for the traditional Dutch winter soup, Erwtensoep (or "snert" as it is often called in the Netherlands). This is a very thick pea soup with large pieces of sausage and various other vegetables such as carrot, onion and or potato. I find it a bit hit and miss, sometimes it can be delicious other times not so much but it is very popular over here during the cold winter months.

By the time we had finished our meal it was starting to get dark and so we decided to leave. We will certainly go back there another day to explore further though.

The Big Chill - Natuurijs is twice as nice

For a few weeks now the Netherlands (like much of Northern Europe) has been experiencing a real cold spell which has resulted in many of the canals, lakes and rivers freezing over. In the 6 years I've been living here I've seen some of the smaller canals in Haarlem freeze over a few times but the ice has never been thick enough for people to skate on. I've never seen the river Spaarne freeze over in my time here. Until now that is.

In Dutch the term used to describe these frozen lakes, ponds, river, etc is "natuurijs" (natural ice) and skating on it is a bit of a national obsession. For the first time in 13 years the Dutch Natuurijs championship was held on the frozen Oostvaardersplassen lake near Lelystad. Up until last week there was still a possibility that the Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour), a hugely popular skating event which takes place in Frieslan, may be held for the first time since 1997 but the warmer weather was is predicted for next week may well have put an end to those hopes.

The big freeze also led to large traffic jams in the parts of the country where large skating events were held. Around 15000 people were estimated to have visited the De Biesbosch National Park near Dordrecht leading to traffic chaos and concerns that the ice would not be up to handling so many people on it. Skating shops all over the Netherlands reported record sales as people flocked to snap up skates and sledges.

In Amsterdam it was possible to skate on the Keizersgracht for the first time in 12 years. A few weeks ago there were some complaints when an inexperienced captain took his boat down the canal, breaking up the ice as he did so. However, the latest cold spell led to thick ice reforming and this morning around 15 hardy skaters made their way onto the frozen canal. They only managed around an hour though as then the local police moved in to remove them due to concerns over safety.

The fortress island of Pampus, which lies in the IJmeer lake just off the coast from Amsterdam, is currently totally surrounded by ice which meant that the 2 officials that live on the island had been stranded for 10 days and were unable to use their boat to return to the mainland for the fuel needed to run the generator which supplies their electricity. And so, yesterday morning, they (along with their dog) decided to walk the 3km across the frozen IJmeer to the nearest town of Muiden. Along the way they came across patches where the ice was pretty thin but managed to get safely across. They also took regular measurements of the ice thickness using a drill and found that the average thickness was around 6cm. After some hot food and drinks and a night's accomodation in Muiden they were able to return to their island home across the ice this morning.

However, this afternoon the ice had started to melt and 10 ice-walkers (again with a dog) who had made the trip from Muiden to Pampus in the morning were unable to make the return journey due to large holes appeared in the ice. Eventually they had to be rescued by a police helicopter which had to make 4 trips in total in order to bring everyone to safety.

Of course, a downside to all this skating are all the resulting injuries. Hospitals all over the country have been inundated with skaters with broken bones (especially wrists) and sprains from falls. One of these unfortunates was Eijmert van Middelkoop, the Dutch Minister for Defence who managed to break his wrist.

According to the weather forecasters the thaw is due to begin next week and so this weekend would probably be the last chance we would have for a while to experience this phenomenom for ourselves. I was a regular visitor to the ice-rink at Billingham Forum when I was young and can skate reasonably well but Luz is hopeless at it and Matthew still too young. Plus we don't have any ice-skates anyway (although I did see a nice pair in the local 2nd-hand shop which I wished I'd now bought, along with a nice little sledge for Matthew) so would just have to walk (or at least try to) along the ice instead.

Very close to where we live is a canal, the Jan Gijzekade, which runs through the middle of Haarlem-Noord from the river Spaarne past the Haarlem FC Stadion and the Schoterbos park to the Delftlaan. Normally it's a pleasant looking canal lined with boats and inhabited by large groups of ducks and geese. At the moment it's frozen solid apart from a few small patches of water into which the local waterfowl have crowded. The rest of the canal surface was covered in humans, from the surrounding houses, some skating, some (children mainly) sledging or getting pulled along on plastic chairs and some (like us) just walking.
















It was with some trepidation that we first stepped onto the frozen canal. Even though the ice looked thick enough in most places there were still a few patches where the ice looked thinner or where there was some evidence of holes or cracks, especially surrounding the boats that lined the canal or underneath the bridges. Luckily the position we had chosen to enter the frozen waterway held our weight without any problem and this made us relax somewhat. Walking on the ice was not too difficult for myself and Luz as we had shoes with a good grip but Matthew found it extremely problematic to walk in his wellies due to their lack of grip and so Luz had to return home to get another pair of shoes for him.

When she returned, and Matthew was able to walk a lot easier, we took a walk down to the far end of the canal at the point where the main road crosses. Here there was a sizeable piece of water which separated the main part of the ice from a smaller part upon which were a large number of waterfowl but no people. The reason for this soon became clear when we attempted to walk on it. The ice here was a lot thinner and there were cracks clearly visible (and audible) when we ventured too far from the edge of the canal. Needless to say we soon cut short our exploration of this section!

By this time Matthew had had enough and wanted to return home and once they were gone I took the opportunity to explore further. Across the main road the canal continued (having flowed through a small tunnel underneath the bridge), past the Haarlem FC stadium on the left and then alongside the Schoterbos park, which produced a very scenic view. Here is was quite a bit busier than on the other section and there were also more skaters present which meant I had to keep my eyes open in case I got flattened by one. I even came across a group of small boys dragging an old Christmas tree along behind them for some reason.

Once I'd had enough of walking on the frozen canal I decided to try something a bit different - walking on the frozen duck pond in the park. When I arrived there there was no-one else on the surface so I was unsure if it was actually safe to walk on or not. It certainly looked thick enough but it was with some apprehension that I stepped onto it. Luckily it held OK and I was able to easily walk across to the other side. Shortly afterwards a group of girls also arrived and stepped onto the surface, as a group, at a different section of the pond. Although individually they were a lot smaller than me together they would have weighed quite a bit more. Therefore, when they were about halfway between the edge and a small island where the birds who usually used the surface of the pond lived, there was a loud crack which resulted in a loud scream from the girls and a rapid exit onto more solid ground.

Next I visited the Hekslootpolder, a wetland nature reserve between Haarlem and Spaarndam which also runs alongside the River Spaarne (into which the Jan Gijzekade canal enters at the southern edge of the reserve). Here there are many small canals and water-filled ditches which were also frozen solid. The amount of people here was a lot smaller than on the main canal but the more natural setting meant that there were a few more experienced "natuurijs" skaters here than there.

Also at the southern part of the Hekslootpolder is a small island containing allotments (mostly used by the inhabitants of the houseboats which are berthed along the side of the Spaarne here). I was able to walk all the way around it along the frozen canal, which I had totally to myself. As I said at the begining of this entry the Spaarne was also frozen over and I was quite tempted to try to walk on it and even cross over the the Waarderpolder on the other side. But the ice didn't look anywhere near as thick as it was on the canal and I didn't want to risk it.

What's in a name - Sillemstraat

The name of the street on which we live is Sillemstraat and ever since we have lived there I have wondered what the origin of "Sillem" was. The area in which we live is the Indischebuurt (Indian Quarter) and many of the streets take their names from locations in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia which declared independence from the Netherlands just after the Second World War), for example Minahassastraat, Ambonstraat, Cheribonstraat and Soerabajastraat. However, I was unable to find any reference to a place called Sillem in either the Dutch East Indies or Indonesia.

So the mystery remained until a few weeks ago when I found a book in the local library entitled "De Straat Waarin Wij Wonen" ("The Street on which we live"). This book gave explanations of the origins of every street-name in Haarlem and so I was finally able to solve the puzzle. It turns out that Sillemstraat was actually named after an Amsterdam banker by the name of Hieronymous Sillem, who lived from 1768 to 1833. In 1812 he bought the country estate of Spaarnhoven in Schoten, Schoten being the original name of that part of Haarlem-Noord. This estate had existed since the mid 16th century and was used as headquarters by the Spanish during the siege of Haarlem in 1572-3.

The estate was enlarged in 1823 and a large country park built. This park housed a Swiss-style building which was in existence until as recently as 1973 when it burned down in its then location on the Melkerijpad in Noordersportpark . The construction of the park was carried out by the horticulturist and landscaper J.D Zocher (of the famous landscaping Zocher family who also have a street named after them, Zocherstraat, in the Patriomoniumbuurt just north of Haarlem station). The whole estate was auctioned off in 1859 and three years later it disappeared entirely to be replaced by a farm, also named Spaarnhoven. This farm was then demolished in 1920 and is now the location of Spaarnhovenstraat. This map, from 1867, shows Schoten at that time with the former location of Spaarnhoven shown roughly in the centre of the map (indicated by "Voormalig Spaarnhoven").

And it appears that the streets adjacent to Sillemstraat are also named after important Schoten landowners of the past. Hodsonstraat, which runs perpendicular to Sillemstraat, takes its name from Albertus Hodshon (1703-1770), an Amsterdam linen merchant who bought the "Klein Berkenrode" (the previous name of Spaarnhoven) estate of in 1761.

Borkistraat, which runs adjacent to Sillemstraat to the south, is named after Johannes Borski (1807-1891), of the famous Amsterdam banking family (his mother being Johanna Borski) and owner of the Hartenlust estate in Bloemandaal (which still exists today, http://www.landgoedhartenlust.nl/landgoed.html). He was also married to Olga Emelie Sillem, the daughter of Hieronymous Sillem.

Sinterklaas arrives in Haarlem

Today Sinterklaas made his entry into Haarlem and we went along to see it. He also arrived in other Dutch towns and cities, for example Amsterdam. Obviously it's not the same Sinterklaas who arrives in every place, it's just many different actors of course. God may be omnipresent but I don't really think Sinterklaas is.

He was due to arrive on his steamboat from Spain at 1pm on the river Spaarne, which runs through the centre of Haarlem. By the time we arrived there at around 12:45pm the banks of the river were already very crowded. We made our way past a band made up of Zwarte Pieten who were playing a selection of traditional Sinterklaas songs and found a free place at the river's edge, close to the famous 700 year-old white lift-bridge, the Gravestenenbrug, one of many bridges that span the river Spaarne in Haarlem. There were also many people spread along this bridge but they would surely have to move once Sinterklaas' steamboat came up the river and the bridge opened to let it through.

A number of small pleasure boats made their way up and down the river and dark clouds began to form up in the sky but luckily the weather held. Next to us were a couple of French tourists, clutching their Amsterdam guide book. I wondered if it explained exactly what was going on. I guess not as they looked rather perplexed at the goings-on.

Eventually a cry went up that the steamboat was approaching and the bridge further down the river slowly opened. A few minutes later it was possible to get the first glimpse of the large "Pakjesboot" making its way up the river along with the many colourful small pleasure boats following behind it. As the boat came close we could hear the band playing the song "O Kom er Eens Kijken" (roughly "Oh, Come and See", in the left video on the below) with the dozens of Zwarte Pieten on the boat swaying in time to the music. As the boat came alongside us the tune changed to another song "Hoor de wind waait door de bomen" ("Hear the Wind Blowing through the Trees", in the right video below) and we could finally get a clear view of Sinterklaas himself, standing proud on the brow of his fine ship, surrounded by his many, colourful helpers.

The Gravestenenbrug was finally cleared of outlookers and soon that too opened to let the Pakjesboot journey further up the River Spaarne to its final destination close to the large Police headquarters on Koudenhorn. After the boat had passed we decided to leave our viewing point and follow it up the river. But unfortunately the majority of the other onlookers choose the same option and it became very crowded once we neared Koudenhorn and it was very difficult to catch a glimpse of Sinterklaas when he disembarked and climbed onto his beautiful white horse Amerigo for the ride through the streets of Haarlem to the main square, the Grote Markt where he would be received by the mayor of Haarlem Bernt Scheiders.
However, by then the excitement of the day had finally caught up with Matthew and he was fast asleep in his pram and so we left for home.

Sinterklaas komt!

Today was the day of the arrival of Sinterklaas which marks the start of the Dutch festive season. Sinterklaas is the equivalent of Santa Claus in Netherlands and Belgium and his feast day is held every year on the 5th December when children receive gifts. I'll explain more about the traditions connected with Sinterklaas later but first here is a little bit of history.

Saint Nicholas (from whom Sinterklaas originates) was born in the town of Patara, Lycia, in what is now modern-day Turkey but which was at that time a Greek-speaking part of the Roman Empire,in the year 271AD. He grew up to become the Bishop of Myra (also in Lycia) and after his death in around 340AD he was named as the patron saint of both sailors and children due to the many deeds and miracles that he was responsible for. He once saved a sailor from drowning on a voyage from Myra to Alexandria in Egypt. Another example was when a man was unable to afford a dowry for his three daughters thus preventing them from getting married. Therefore one evening Nicholas visits the man's house and deposits three bags of gold to enable the daughters to get married.

The legend of Saint Nicholas was gradually brought along the Mediterranean Sea by sailors until it reached Spain and from there it was taken to the Netherlands when Dutch sailors came into contact with Spanish sailors. This, and the fact that the Netherlands were ruled by the Spanish Habsbergs during the 15th and 16th century when the legend first became popular, forms the basis of why Sinterklaas is now thought to live in Spain. One part of the tradition suggests that Sinterklaas will capture any children that have been naughty and take them back with him to Spain. I hardly think that is a particularly severe punishment and is probably more likely to provoke Dutch children to be naughty I would have thought.

The steamboot of Sinterklaas currently takes the form of the former steamship Hydrograaf, which now goes under the name "Pakjesboot 12". This ship has been used for the intocht every year since 1985 apart the the years 1993 and 2001 when Pakjesboots 13 and 14 were used respectively as the bridges in the location of the intochts in those years (Ravensten, Noord-Brabant im 1993 and Maastricht, Limburg in 2001) were too low. However, the funnels and masts of Pakjesboot 12 are now collapsable and so it is able to pass under bridges that previously would have been too low.

Once Sinterklaas' steamboat has safely docked his mode of transport then changes to a white Schimmel horse with the name of Amerigo which, according to legend, is able to walk over the roofs of houses whilst Sinterklaas delivers his presents. It is possible that the Sinterklaas legend is also partly based on the old Norse god Odin (who was known as Wodan by Germanic pagans who lived in the Netherlands in the Middle-Ages). Odin also rode a magnificent, white eight-legged horse by the name of Sleipnir which may be the basis for the appearance of Amerigo.

Sinterklaas is assisted by helpers called Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes) who have black faces and very colourful clothes. They are mischievious characters who run along after Sinterklaas throwing sweets and pepernoten (small ginger cookies) to the crowd. Originally Zwarte Pieten were associated with the devil and signified the triumph over evil, leading to the devil being captured and forced to work for Saint Nicholas. How they became the black-faced, colourful characters they are today is rather unclear and every year arguments are raised that the tradition is racist due to the racial stereotypes the Zwarte Piets portray. One story is that the Piets have black faces due to them having crawled down the sooty chimneys to help Sinterklaas deliver his presents or from the smoke produced by his steamboat. But this theory doesn't explain other characteristics such as the curly hair, the large golden earring, the Jamaican or Suirnams accent and the thick, red lips. The colourful clothes are supposed to represent typical Moorish costumes that wear worn in the 16th century and therefore the appearance of the Pieten also represent people of the Moorish race. However, although Moors tended to have a dark, swarthy appearance they didn't necessarily have the typical negro characteristics above.

In order to try and diminish the possible racial overtones it has become more common for Pieten of other colours to be used nowadays. These Rainbow Pieten have also attracted some criticism however due to traditionalists complaining that too much political correctness has crept into the festival. I guess this argument will run and run and it's difficult to see a solution that will please everyone being reached.

In the 17th century Dutch emigrants took the legend of Sinterklaas over to America where he eventually became "Americanised". His Zwarte Pieten were replaced by elfs, he changed from a simple Bishop to a fat, jolly old man and his clothes become the white fur-lined red cloak and trousers that are now very familar today.

This year the official "intocht" was in Almere, the youngest city in the Netherlands
with construction having been begun in only 1976 and it only achieving municipality status in 1984. It is situated in Flevoland, itself the youngest province in the Netherlands having been established in 1986. The island on which Almere sits, the Flevopolder was fully reclaimed from the sea in 1967. Today Almere is known for its modern, exciting architecture and housing projects. It is also one of the fastest growing cities in the Netherlands housing an increasing number of Amsterdam commuters.

The intocht is now always held on the first Saturday after the Sint-Maartens festival on the 11th November (see entry for that day for more information about this festival) and has been shown live on TV every years since 1952 and as part of the very popular Children's programme Het Sinterklaasjournaal since 2001. Between 1952 and 1963 every intocht was held in Amsterdam apart from the one in 1960 which was in Rotterdam. However, from 1964 onwards the intocht has had a new locations every year, always somewhere with a harbour so that Sinterklaas' boat can gain entry to the town or city. In 2006 the location was Middelburg in Zeeland and last year it was Kampen in Overijssel. Next year's arrival venue is not yet known and will be decided at a later date.

Sinterklaas, of course, is actually played by an actor and since 1986 the role has been held by the well-known Dutch actor Bram van der Vlugt. He with hold the role until 2010 when he will be replaced. The hoofdpiet (head Piet) is currently played by the entertainer and actor Erik van Muiswinkel whose name I always find amusing as Muiswinkel means "Mouse Shop" in English.

Every year the intocht has a story connected with it and this year it went as follows:
One of Sinterklaas' helper, Rare Piet, almost caused a disaster when he fall out of an aeroplane that was flying him to Almere. He landed right on top of Sinterklaas' chair breaking it into many pieces. Meanwhile Sinterklaas' steamboat, which had brought him all the way from Spain, was moving far too slowly and so, in order to try and make it go faster, the Zwartepiets used many red balloons which were supposed to be for Sinterklaas' birthday party on 5th December. Unfortunately the balloons escaped and blew all the way to Almere where they could be seen all over the place. A few balloons even ended up in other places such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and even Maastricht!

Eventually the boat did manage to make its way into Almere harbour, with the help of some of the red balloons which had been rescued although Rare Piet was still unable to repair Sinterklaas' chair, for which he was sacked. Fortunately though the mayor of Almere had a spare chair and so disaster was averted, hurrah!

Sint Maartens Day

Today is the feast day of Sint Maarten (Saint Martin's day or Martinmas) in the Netherlands. Sint Maarten was originally a Roman soldier, born in what is now Hungary, who eventually became a monk and ended up being the Bishop of Tours in France. One of the most famous legends connected with him was when he came across a beggar during a snowstorm and cut his military cloak in half in order to give part of it to the beggar and prevent him from dying due to the cold. The following night he had a dream in which it was Jesus who was wearing his half-cloak. From then on he decided to dedicate his life to Christ and choose to get baptised shortly afterwards.

Nowadays his feast day is held every year on the 11th November and, rather like Halloween, children make their way through the streets with candles, paper lanterns and occasionally carved turnips, sing traditional Sint Maarten songs and receive treats in return.
Last year Luz and Matthew were in Peru on this date and I forgot to buy sweets. Therefore, whenever any children knocked on the door and sang their songs I had to search around the kitchen for something to give them - biscuits, crisps, fruit etc. Once they had run out I had to resort to giving money as I felt a bit embarrased to give them nothing. This generated quite a bit of amazement amongst their parents who were totally unexpecting such behaviour no doubt.

One mother asked me why I hadn't got any sweets to hand out and if I knew what the evening was all about. I had simply forgotten all about it because when I used to live in the centre of Haarlem I got no visitors at all on Sint Maarten's evening and so wasn't expecting many visitors. But in the area where we live now there are many more families with young children and so their was an almost constant knocking on the front door. Of course I didn't explain all this to the mother, I just lied and said I had no idea what it was all about. Thankfully she then went into a long explanation of the history and meaning of the festival. Luckily it was pretty dark and so she was unable to see that my eyes had started to glaze over by the time she had finished. And looking at the size of her children she should have been grateful that I was giving them fruit rather than yet more sweets. In the end I give up, turned the lights out, closed the curtains and pretended to be out. After a few minutes of knocking the visitors simply gave up and moved onto the house next-door!

Anyway, this year I was fully prepared and went out and bought lots of bags of sweets which I poured into a large bowl which could be handed around to all the expected youngsters who would come knocking. Although, in the end, I never got the opportunity to hand out the sweets as I had somehow managed to drive over something on the way back from the supermarket and had put a large hole in one of the tyres on my car. So I had to spend most of the evening changing it (with some help from my neighbour as it proved extremely difficult to remove).

However, from my vantage point crouched at the side of my car I did have an excellent view of the constant stream of visitors passing down our street with their paper lanterns, knocking on all the doors, singing their songs and receiving their treats. Matthew helped Luz to hand them out and seemed to find it all very enjoyable although he is still a bit too young to have fully understood what its all about. Maybe next year we can go out with him and join in the fun. Of course we'll need to learn some of the Sint Maarten songs first.

For more information about the typical Dutch traditions of Sint Maarten's evening, instructions on how to make a paper lantern and some of the usual songs see here (in Dutch but you should be able to get a good idea of what its all about).

Utrecht

During our trip to Utrecht we visited the very large Hoog Catherijne shopping centre (one of the few large indoor shopping centres in the Netherlands in fact). Whilst there I had to pay (literally, 50 cents!) to the toilets of the McDonalds located there. Here is what I found: