Gary Kirkpatrick

Artist and travel blogger.

From Utrecht to Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port

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Broken bridges on the Vecht River forces us to take the Amsterdam Rhine Canal from Weesp to Utrecht. This huge canal provides commercial traffic an easy and quick connection to the Rhine. Given the low water levels on the Rhine we were expecting few barges to make that journey as they could not carry a full load. That seemed to be the case.

Utrecht is the country’s fourth largest city, with a population of 378,000. There is evidence of human settlement dating to the stone age. In 50 CE the Romans built a fort here, at a point where the Rhine was easily crossed. It was part of its northern defenses against Germanic tribe intrusion. By around 1100 it was called ‘Trecht” from the Roman Traiectum. “U” was added to denote the “uut,” “downriver” in Old Dutch, to distinguish it from a crossing on the Maas. Thus the city came to be called Utrecht.

The first of only three non-Italian popes

The Union of Utrecht was signed here in 1579, a cornerstone of the Dutch Republic. At that time Utrecht was the Netherland’s most important city, surpassed by Amsterdam in the next century. The first church in the city was built in the 7th century under Dagobert. Utrecht then became a center of Christianity leading to the papacy of Utrecht-born Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens as pope in 1522. There was not another non-Italian pope until John Paul II. The Bishops of Utrecht under feudalism exercised temporal power as the overlord, collecting rent and ruling as they saw fit.

Construction of the present cathedral, most often referred to as the Dom but also known as the Cathedral of St Michael, began in 1254 on the site of a Romanesque church lost in a fire. The Dom’s tower remains with us but the nave came down in the storm of 1674. The flying buttresses needed for its support were never built due to financial constraints. The building was sealed afterwards, the area occupied by the nave turned into Dom Plaza, as it remains today.

Inside it is light and airy and expansive. The windows are large and tall but there is no stained glass. It is plainly decorated as is common for Protestant churches in this country.

After a 45 minute wait at a lock we entered the De Lek River, which becomes the Nieuwe Maas near Rotterdam. Along the way we encounter huge barges, some carrying containers stacked four or five high, the pilot houses hydraulically lifted so the pilots can see. As we entered Rotterdam harbor we are rocked by high speed water taxis zooming by. We swing into the big wakes, cutting into them at a 45 degree angle.

More on Rotterdam coming up.

Uncertainty: the everyday reality of boating

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From deep in the heart of Friesland we set off early on a twenty hour journey to the tiny town of Weesp on the River Vecht. There we are joined by nephews for a legacy tour starting in Weesp, to Utrech, Rotterdam, den Haag, Haarlem and Amsterdam.

We stayed one night on the Eems River. Arriving around 6 p.m. meant that we would have a hard time finding a mooring at all. The first set of moorings were full, but as usual if the boaters eliminated unnecessary gaps we could have easily fit. We had to go 6 kilometers up the river before we found a mooring in a small park on a curve- that ook more than 30 minutes. Curves are harder to moor to since your bow is farther from the land, making it harder to tie to a bollard. The sailboat’s bowsprit stuck far out, giving us an extra obstacle. Fortunately there were posts to moor to – you never know until you get there. Sometimes there are just rings, meaning you have to get off the boat to attach to the shore. This can be difficult if the wind is pushing you away from the land Here we were able to lasso both the front and aft posts. With posts you have to go around twice, or the lines ride up and off.

There were several locks along the way, filled end to end with boats. It’s summer so the Dutch hit the waterways, even in the less than ideal weather on offer. The lock meister packs them in! You always wonder if some new boater, or a rental boats, will lose control of their vessel. All the experienced boats are on alert.

Looking ahead we could not be certain if the weather would hold. Already we had a problem getting off a mooring with strong winds pinning us to the dock, our bow thruster not there to give us a lateral boost. From the Eems we headed early in the morning into wind and rain, but fortunately everything calmed down once we entered the canal leading to the lock. This made entering the lock much easier, so we were able to gaze upon the beautiful old Muiden Castle.

Muiden, NL Castle, watercolors

Our next uncertainty is the availability moorings in Wessp. Just past the second bridged we found the only one available. Lady Luck overruled Sir Bad Luck us once again. The next morning everyone left so we moved farther from the bridge to avoid the fumes of the boats waiting for the bridge to open as they say just a meter away.

Moored in the center of Weesp

If you’ve not had the pleasure, include Weesp on a tour of small Dutch towns. It’s not far from Amsterdam and can be visited in just a few hours. There are restaurants along the river and a brewery located in a de-consecrated church, with lots of very Dutch architecture. In summer there are flowers galore.

Workum and Hidelopen: Two charming villages in Friesland Province, Netherlands

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In a country dotted with charming houses, these two tiny, ancient coastal villages offer great examples of small brick fisherman’s houses. Hindelopen opens directly to the Ijsslemeer, an inland sea about the size of Lake Pontchartrain. Workum sits about 2 kilometers off the coast. Both are protected by dikes and locks. The Ijslemeer was formerly part of the North Sea. In the 1950’s dikes and locks were added to control the incursion of the North Sea, after a storm in the early 1950’s killed thousands. If the dikes fail, all the land along the Ijsslemeer are in danger.

You are treated to photo ops nearly everywhere you go.

Downtown Workum
Bridge in a park

Workum dates to prior to 1399 when it was awarded city rights. Much of the housing dates from the 16th century. Brick is by far the most widely used building material here as elsewhere in the Netherlands. The roofs are tile, not thatch. Thatch is seldom seen in urban settings due to the fire hazard. There are about 4400 residents of the town.

Hindelopen is smaller than Workum, with a mere 900 inhabitants, and even older. It received city right in 1225. In 1368 it became a member of the Hanseatic League, the major European trading association of the epoch. Its strong sea trade contributed to the development of its own language, a mixture of Frisian, English, Danish and Norwegian, as well as the luxurious costumes and homes we see today. Today aside from Dutch and English many speak the modern version of Frisian.

Hindelopen’s harbor

Bar in Hindelopen

Along the harbor are two Vis (fish) shops serving deep fried cod and super fresh herring served raw with optional onions. Dutch sushi, I call it. There’s an old fishing vessel at the adjacent dock providing covered seating, but on this breezy, sunny day we sat outside in the sun enjoying the battered fish and the always excellent fries.

Bridge in a park

Nearby is the Museum Hindelopen. It provides excellent commentary with a point and click device, available in multiple languages. The ground floor focuses on folk costume, the second a fully furnished medieval room. Unfortunately it’s short on the history of this fishing village.

Men’s folk costume
Woman’s folk costume

Ice cream boat!

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Boats and bikes: the Dutch are known for these modes of transport. Bikes are in daily use, while boats are good weather friends. The infrastructure for both is extensive. For boats its opening bridges, locks, moorings, marinas, parts and repairs, waterside restaurants. In Grou a grocery store has a couple of spots for boats so you can do your shopping easily, around the corner from free water. And now I have seen it all. An ice cream boat!

Ding ding ding! You can hear a long ways on the water so the bells were crystal clear from the far side of the island where we were moored near Woudsen. They showed up a minute or two later. Most everyone ordered. Of course we had to join in!

The Dutch Frolic on the Canals

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Boating is a major component significant part of Dutch culture, as much as are bicycles. There are hundreds of thousands of pleasure craft who share the main waterways with 100 meter barges and service ships. But the small canals which crisscross the country belong to the small. Mostly.

The Province of Friesland is one of the most popular destinations, with thousands of free moorings and many historic small towns. We moored near Grou with some Dutch friends whom we have known for many years. We were endlessly entertained by a wide variety of boats. Some were filled with just young men out with perhaps a dozen friends for a beer or three, cheering as they passed.

The canal we were on is just 50 meters wide. The large ships loomed over us, its bow wave pressing us into the docks.

A Mississippi style paddle wheel day cruiser
Wedding part waves as they pass

There were stag and wedding parties, day and dinner cruises. The Dutch love their watery land.

A large ship passes by on the small canal
The longest day ends close to midnight