Something of old Groningen

Nicely color-coordinated patrons of an outdoor cafe.

We went on to Groningen, where we spent 7 nights.  The conference was Monday thru Friday; we arrived two days early. It's a university town and has many cafes, bars, restaurants, and night spots. The combination meant we were frequently awakened in the early predawn hours by people singing and/or talking loudly down on the street. But it is an old city, and we were fortunate to be in the center, which is mostly car-free. And the public bus to the conference site was quite close to our flats.

 

Late afternoon on a street leading to the Grotemarkt (large plaza in the center of town).

On a sunny Sunday the outdoor cafes were packed.

But in the rain, the Groninger Art Museum was a good place to visit.

A water-level view across the canal from the Groninger Museum.

 Ruud van Empel creates digital photographs from hundreds of fragments and creates a strange world.

Please note that these giant creepy dollies are carrying or smoking joints.

contrasting portraits of then and now?

The "Famille Verte" exhibit of Chinese porcelains was swathed in sheer draperies.

or protected by glass vitrines.

A staircase in one of the Museum's wings.  Please note the BRIGHT RED walls.

Sculpture at the entrance of the Museum.

Bicycles border a residential park near the big canal.

Some of the larger boats moored in the canal.

"Aquarelle" is owned by Mike and Roseleen Miller.  They live year-round on the boat.

A reception at the Groningen Ship Museum featured the Royal Dutch Sailing Association's chorus.  Their singing was enthusiastic and contagious - - many of the audience who are Dutch were singing along.





The reception spilled over into the courtyard outside the Ship Museum.



The Vismarkt, in the center of town, hosts a great foodmarket on weekdays.

Fresh produce for sale in the Vismarkt.

Even sweet corn - I thought 1.75 euro for 2 ears was a bit much!

As soon as the market closed, the clean-up crew took over.

This is "Emma" - she's owned by the Ship Museum and we are about to have a ride.

Hans is the captain.

Sjoard [pronounced sort of like Stewart] was the crew as well as our host/tour guide.

Pat, Barbara, Laura, John, Tom, and Linda - and Val is half out of the picture on the left..

We saw many things, including this women's crew team.

And out in the very large channel, we saw the cranes that lift shipping containers onto and off of barges.

A boathouse for crew teams and sculls.

Hans and Sjoard treated us to a Dutch liqueur-like drink - - sip it, please; it's fiery.

That's me, toasting with the Dutch drink.



The conference attendees were invited to the Mayor's reception at the City Hall.  Tom and Linda with Krista and Diana.



Ristaffel (sp?) at an Indonesian restaurant.

Two of the many many wooden Indonesian carvings that surrounded our table.

I'd come to this jazz club to meet my husband's internet friend, Bert van Erk. 

But he was not performing that night (he plays the double bass).

Instead there was a female quartet who were, I'm told, students at the local conservatory.

After that night out, all of our time was occupied with the conference right up to Saturday night, when we moved on to the great city of Amsterdam.  Those photos will come along later.





World Canals Conference tours in Netherlands



Some Groningen rooftops as seen from our flat on Gelkingestraat


The World Canals Conference always has a dozen or more presentations on 3 or 4 different topics, held in the mornings, followed by field trips into the late aftternoon, and dinner in some interesting place.  The Netherlands Conference, held in the city of Groningen (photos above) was no different.  I'll concentrate on the places we went and things we saw rather than the papers read.  The field trips began Monday and ended Thursday.
We first visited the province of Drenthe, an agricultural area where peat had been dug for centuries, up until about 1970.  The peat canals have been restored for recreational boats, which also entails changing fixed bridges to swing or lift bridges.  And a new canal is being build to connect two towns - Erica and Ter Appel, near the border with Germany.  Part of it will have to be elevated around a forested area; to do that they are building a double lock at one end and a "water-saving" lock at the other (to pump water back to the double lock - they seem to think that makes sense).

Listening to public officials at a marina near Ter Appel

A view of one corner of the marina.

a tray of nibbles - - fruit and cheese



Here is one of the new bridges - a lift-bridge

Look at his feet! The ONLY time I saw wooden shoes!

Cruising along on the Veenparkcanaal in bright sunshine.

Veenpark was once a peat mining area.  My little engine hauled cars loaded with peat to the canal.  I think "Veen" is the same as "fen" in English.

Hard to see, but somewhere in there is the double lock under construction.



Near the very deep water-saving lock site, Rick Rivers ponders this huge granite glacial erratic, dug up at the construction site.





C & O Canal Assn. members:  Tom Lightfoot, Linda Lightfoot, Val Wheeler, Rachel Stewart, Laura Gilliam, John Wheeler, Pat White, and Barbara Sheridan - - dinner in the Veenpark restaurant.

We moved on to Friesland, to visit an aqueduct (the Geauakwadukt), and to see some interesting structures along the way.  And we were led by an intense woman who is the architect who designed the aqueduct.

A bridge made of wood?  or a wood veneer?

She is the architect who designed the Geauakwadukt, and I found her name thanks to the internet:  Tatjana Tzrin.

Yes, that boat is above the A7 motorway, through the Geauakwadukt on the Princesmargrietcanaal.  (I love the way a Dutch word translates into multiple English words.)

This is not a sculpture.  It is a beautiful structural wall beneath the aqueduct, separating the motorway lanes.

If you wonder who financed the aqueduct, enlarge this photo.

We moved on, toward an area that was one of the few natural "hills" in Friesland - a few meters above sea level.

High enough above sea level for a burial ground.

The town of Aduard was anchored by a Cistercian monastery until Catholics were proscribed.  This beautiful building, formerly the monastery's infirmary, is now a Protestant churc.

This brickwork is stunningly varied; the monastery was well known for brickmaking.

Across the road, we had an introduction to medieval brickmaking.

Meanwhile, in a neighboring yard, children played hide-and-seek.  In French, that would be cache-cache.  Wonder what it is in Dutch.

Finally, in the province of Groningen, we visited an absolutely enormous and major lock and went into the control room - really a three story tower - where men sat before many monitors showing not just one but several other large locks.

The enormous draw-bridge is going up, allowing the very long barge to pass.

In the control tower, with its many monitors and controllers.



Next to the lock, some refreshments were provided.



On our return to Groningen, we walked to the yellow building, a large tavern-club where we had dinner.

Kathy and Laura looked away from the camera.

Yum!  Chocolate mousse topped with blueberries and chantilly.