Arnhem is a congenial city rebuilt following WWII as so many towns and cities were. These Low Countries suffered terribly during the wars on their soil, and the suffering did not end with the armistice. One of the bridges at Arnhem was the focus of an Allied effort to penetrate Germany and thus end the war sooner. Alas the effort, dramatized in the movie ‘A Bridge Too Far,’ failed with heavy loss of lives, and the people north of the river suffered long, including starvation during the Hunger Winter.  Notice our boat docked near the famous bridge, also rebuilt, of course. Today was Memorial Day; we saw these high school students with their teacher laying flowers at a war memorial. During dinner, we stopped for two minutes of silence as did the whole Netherlands. But, as I said, the city is rebuilt, damaged buildings (cathedral and old city gate)  restored and much new growth including municipal buildings and a lively shopping area. The colored t-shirts hanging over the street represent the soccer team celebrating a victory as well as the color orange representing the country. Finally there are two views of my lovely cabin; I am so pleased to have such a big window to the world!

Rotterdam was heavily damaged by bombs in WWII and was rebuilt as a vibrant, modern city. The architecture is great fun! The Cube houses are apartments that, while visually stimulating, were not well-planned in terms of community access, etc. Stairs leading into individual apartments are narrow, causing difficulty bringing in groceries, for example. Access to the community is through only one entrance, and the apartments themselves have awkward angles, as you can imagine from the photographs. The building with orange pipes is the library; the arched building is a market hall with apartments, even penthouses sharing the building. Both the front and back are glass, and there are huge murals above the market/food court inside. And what variety! We tried several things including frites with peanut sauce and mayonnaise, sausages with mayo and mustard, coconut macaroons, spices, cheese (of course!), a lovely cannoli… Remember that their mayonnaise is different from ours; I cannot imagine ours on those frites, for example. The ‘flying saucer’ shape is a transportation hub.

Rotterdam is a huge port, used to be the largest in the world, but lost its position to Shanghai and another Asian city.

It was the perfect atmospheric day to visit Kinderdijk, a collection of 19 original windmills. ‘Atmospheric’ is the perfect word because the atmosphere that morning was rather wet! But how many pictures of windmills have you seen with a bright blue sky? This is the weather here, and though it was a little chilly, it was perfectly magical! Can you tell I loved it?!!!

The smallest windmill is the oldest, and it’s also the one fully sponsored by Grand Circle Travel. We were allowed to enter the living quarters and look at the other small buildings onsite including a stand-alone kitchen, a goat shed, etc. I hope you enjoy this morning, I certainly did! Rotterdam this afternoon, more on that later.

Today I visited a lovely, very small town in The Netherlands—Veere.  Some spectacular buildings as you’ll see, but mostly clean and crisp older homes. The day started rather warm, turned cold, and then rained, finally cleared up again. Typical weather here they tell us. I was napping by the time the rain began; it was tough, but somebody had to do it.

Antwerp, Belgium, my friends, is a city where possibly 80% of the world's diamonds pass through. Alas, I bought not a single souvenir from that place--sad, right? But the old city is lovely as you have seen from the blog of May 1. Part of the city was heavily bombed during WWII, but much of the old city was spared. That is what you see in this blog--elaborate old buildings with elaborate architectural details standing alongside buildings of similar but different styles--a stunning sight! I think perhaps the buildings with all the flags is Town Hall. Around this plaza and on nearby narrow streets as well, were cafes selling foods of many nationalities--Argentinian steak, sushi, naan, etc., plus chocolates and frites. The fries are fried twice and the Belgian favorite topping is mayonnaise--not my favorite--but I did try Andalusian sauce, a spicy, mayo-based sauce. Not bad, but my low-class ways prefer ketchup. The pastries in the window looked magnificent, but dinner on the ship is always huge, so we passed.

Then the cruising began. I'd chosen this trip because I wanted to see the Low Countries of Belgium and Netherlands, so I'd forgotten about the cruising! Following dinner I was in the lounge for the talk about tomorrow's destination, and we began moving as the sun set. Such a smooth ride, and while no scenery of nature, the lines and shapes of these industrial buildings were lovely. Cruising is a pleasant way to spend and evening--relaxing and glorious.