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| Keukenhof Gardens |
'Twas many and many a year ago, in a kingdom
by the sea . . . but in my case the kingdom was The Netherlands. Back when
I was writing industrial training manuals, my company had a project in Spain , but the engineering was being done in Holland . So I worked in Haarlem for the entire
month of May—you know, May? When the tulips are blooming?
We
worked hard during the week with some great people. The Dutch are amazing.
Their language skills put us all to shame. Most spoke at least three languages
fluently. Few people can be witty in another language, but they could. They
were helpful, patient, and nice to work with. Another thing that struck me was
how many really tall people there were, women as well as men.
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| Dordrecht Harbor |
Our
group was given a choice of sharing a room in a more expensive hotel or
individual rooms in a more basic place. The unanimous choice was individual
rooms, and so we went. The motel was very clean and pleasant with a few
differences. To say the beds were single was an understatement. Most of the men
slept with their feet hanging over the end, and turning over required some
care, but they were comfortable. The bathrooms were completely tiled with a
drain in the middle of the floor. The shower head sprayed over most of the
small room, so storing anything in the bathroom was out. Even the towels hung
on the outside of the door. The clothes area was a raised floor topped by a
rod. You stacked clothes on the raised area and hung things above, no door or
curtain. But each room had a desk and chair with an Internet connection. Very
efficient and not uncomfortable.
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| Apenheul |
On
weekends our time was our own. Hard duty, that. Keukenhof, the famed tulip
gardens, wasn't far (nothing in Holland
is very far). I went to Gouda (pronounced
HOWduh) and Kinderdijk, to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam ,
and to Apenheul Primate Park , a wonderful zoo in Apeldoorn where the smaller monkeys roam
freely among the visitors.
That
May was one of the great experiences of my life. Sometime I'll tell more about this one. But if you ever have an opportunity, GO!
What are some of your favorite places? Do you enjoy traveling? What did you like least?
