Jaap van 't Veen's photos

Pick your own bouquet of tulips - with or without a bulb. Walk with a bucket and scissors through the tulip fields and pick the color or shape you like. That is possible in the Pluktuin in Bakkum .

Vier Noorder Koggen is pumping station, which was built in 1869 to support the existing windmills in draining the water out of the land. As the land in this part of the country is about three meters lower than the average sealevel. When it was no longer possible to drain the land at low tide, the Dutch started to use windmills. But WINDmills need wind, which is not always available. Around 1850 steam power became affordable and soon steam power turned out to be cheaper than maintaining a mill. From 1869 on the auxiliary pumping station was built; just to pump when the mills could not. In 1897 the paddle wheels and archimedean screw pumps were replaced by four centrifugal pumps (two of those are still present in the building), which were replaced by two electric motors, in 1940. In 1907 the building was enlarged and a big pump was installed, driven by a gas engine. This made 15 windmills redundant. This gas engine did not satisfy and was replaced by a steam engine in 1924. The big pump still functions and can drain 450.000 liters of water a minute. The steam engines operated until the completion of an electric pumping station at Wervershoof in 1975. Nowadays the Vier Noorder Koggen houses the Nederlands Stoommachine Museum , a steam engine museum, which opened its doors in 1985. The museum features a large collection of steam engines, indoors as well as outdoors. During our visit some of the engines worked (on steam).

Capitol Reef National Park consists of two parts. The northern part is called Cathedral Valley, a desert landscape with high sandstone rocks looking like cathedrals. This part of the park is not easily accessible, so we only visited the southern part. The main geological phenomenon here is the Waterpocket Fold, a straight, more than 150 kilometer long crease in the earth's crust ( waterpocket” refers to the potholes that dot the sandstone and fill with rainwater ). The immense walls of this fold are made up of rock layers, formed during millions of years. In the middle of this red rock area we found the more or less green oasis of Fruita (PiP2) with its famous orchards and the meadows around the Gifford Homestead (PiP3). This area is dating back to the 1800s, when Mormon pioneers set up a settlement, where they grew crops and planted orchards. Capitol Reef got its name from the great white rock formations with a visual resemblance of the U.S. Capitol building and “reef”, a popular term for an uplifted landmass. The area was designated as a national monument in 1937 and became a national park in 1971.

The “Duc van Tol” tulips are the most historic of all tulips that have been collected by the Hortus Bulborum through the years. It has a collection of more than twenty cultivars, of which “Duc van Tol Red & Yellow” of 1595 is the eldest. This tulips are among the eldest cultivated tulips ever raised in the Netherlands and laid the foundation of commercial bulb growing in the Netherlands. The early flowering “Duc van Tol” tulips were very much in demand until 1940 when production of this gtroup was discontinued. The name of “Duc van Tol” tulips probably derives from Adriaen Du(y)c(k), Lord of Oudkarspel, who married Aleid van Tol around the year of 1550. The “Duc van Tol” tulips are low, early flowering tulips whose petals often have contrasting colours. They are 20-40 cm high, but most do not reach more than 25 cm. The eldest species are the shortest. This makes them very suitable for growing in pots, which together with the early flowering period is probably the reason why they are still available in several varieties. The PiP’s on the left side show more “Duc van Tol” tulips The PiP’s on the right side show pictures from Hortus Bulborum More info about Hortus Bulborum: www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/37859542

About 15.000 years ago the Netherlands and the UK were connected by a land mass. The arctic ice stretched out into Germany and Scotland. When temperatures started to rise, the ice receded and the meltwater caused the rise of the sea levels. The residents of the low-lying regions started to move to higher locations. About 1.000 years ago people started to build dikes to protect their land against the sea. Nowadays nearly half of the Netherlands lies below sea level and is protected by 14.000 kilometers of dikes. One of the most impressive dikes in the Netherlands is the Hondsbossche en Pettemer Zeewering . The name of this sea wall appears in records for the first time around 1350. The first dike was made entirely of sand. In 1873 the Hondsbossche en Pettemer Zeewering became the dike as it stands today with heavy basalt blocks on the sea-facing side. On 1 February 1953 the Netherlands was hit by a devastating flooding. Large parts of the western provinces of the country were flooded and more than 1.800 people drowned during these floods. The Dutch government decided the so called ‘Deltaplan’, to create coastal reinforcements. Due to this plan the Hondsbossche en Pettemer Zeewering was raised till a height of 11,5 meters above NAP (Amsterdam Ordnance Datum). The climate is changing and sea levels are still rising. That means that several weak spots in the Dutch coastline had/have to be reinforced again. Hondsbossche en Pettemer Zeewering was one of these weak links. The authorities decided to use a new method for the reinforcement: Zand tegen Zee (Sand versus Sea). The dike itself was not raised, but instead March 2014 started the project to create a beach and dune area in front of the dike, stretching over eight kilometers between Petten and Camperduin and 250 meters wide. Approximately 35 million cubic meters of sand was used for this new piece of land of about 400 soccer fields. This approach resulted in a new recreation area with a new beach, cycling and walking paths, but also a new area for birds with a dune lake (PiP 3). The main picture and PiP 2 were taken from a newly created panorama dune (PiP 1) with a height of 26 meters near Petten.

Flower island Mainau in Lake Constance is all year/all weather destination. We visited early September and were ‘lucky’ finding the summer flowers and decorations still in bloom. But we were really surprised by the explosion of colours in the Dahlia garden. One slope of the island was full of flowerbeds with blooming dahlias, varying in height and colour. I did read there were about 250 different species with a total number of plants of more than 12.000. Dahlias have originated in Mexiko and Guatemala. In 1790, the director of the botanic garden of Mexico-City, sent dahlias to Madrid. Since then many different sorts of dahlias have spread to gardens in Europe and the rest of the world. Dahlias have come to Europe's gardens not too long ago, but nonetheless, there is a certain tradition in the dahlia blossom on Mainau for about 60 years now. More info/pictures of Mainau: www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/48482522

Mainau - the flower island - had many owners before it was bought in 1853 by Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden as a personal property. He is considered being the park founder. He not only built a summer residence, but began to create order on the island to redesign it and plant rare exotic trees and plants, which he brought back from his travels. In the 1930, Prince Wilhelm (then the island's owner) turned the administration of Mainau over to his son, the Swedish Prince Lennart Bernadotte II. The prince, who had renounced his Swedish royal lineage after marrying a commoner, devoted the rest of his life to turning the island into a privately-operated park. Mainau is now maintained by a foundation that the prince and his second wife established. The island's manager is their daughter, Countess Bettina Bernadotte and their son, Count Björn Bernadotte, manages the foundation. The Bernadotte family still lives in the castle on the island. Mainau - with 45 hectare the third largest island in Lake Constance - has a kind of micro Mediterranean climate. Nowadays it offers the beauty of impressive and colourful themed gardens ( for instance a Rhododendron slope, Italian Rose garden and Dahlia garden - www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/48516738 ) and a very interesting park-like arboretum with 500 different species. A greenhouse has a tropical climate and houses thousands of butterflies. The flower island is the main attraction of Lake Constance and attracts a lot more than a million visitors each year. Although not the main reason for visiting, parts of the 18th century castle (large PiP ) are open to the public.

Ledbury is a small, yet bustling and vibrant market town in Herefordshire. It offers quite a lot of beautiful Tudor timber framed black and white buildings. Among them the Market House (PiP 3) on stilts, building started in 1617 and was completed in 1668. It is considered being one of the most beautiful examples in England and still hosts markets. But for me the most picturesque part of the town was Church Lane (main picture, PiP’s 1 and 2). A beautiful medieval cobble stoned street just behind the Market House, lined with stunning timber framed structures, offering tea rooms, a museum and at the end of the quaint street a beautiful church. It felt if I was stepping back in time.

Painted picket fence with Maori design/art at the entrance to the Government Gardens. (Picture was taken with a Rollei Prego 90 > scan.)

Wilson Arch - known as Wilson's Window for decades by the locals, renamed by the government - is a sandstone arch with a span of 28 meters and height of 14 meters. We visited there on our way to Moab and made a stop along route 191. Through a short, but steep climb we reached the impressive arch, where we enjoyed the wonderful view. From an information sign: Wilson Arch was named after Joe Wilson, a local pioneer who had a cabin nearby in Dry Valley. This formation is known as Entrada Sandstone. Over time superficial cracks, joints, and folds of these layers were saturated with water. Ice formed in the fissures, melted under extreme desert heat, and winds cleaned out the loose particles. A series of free-standing fins remained. Wind and water attacked these fins until, in some, cementing material gave way and chunks of rock tumbled out. Many damaged fins collapsed like the one to the right of Wilson Arch. Others, with the right degree of hardness survived despite their missing middles like Wilson Arch. It is against federal regulations to intentionally or wantonly destroy, deface or remove any natural feature or plant.

Agia Sofia is an impressive church of high architectural value, founded in the middle of the 12th century. Oral and written reports link the church to the Byzantine Emperor Andronicos II Palaiologos (1282-1328). Carvings of the church date from the 12th century and its frescoes are from around the year of 1400. It is situated in the Upper Town of Monemvasia and is one of the view buildings there that is more or less intact. During the first period of Ottoman rule many Christian people left the town, but the church was saved because the Turks decided to convert Agia Sofia in a mosque. The Ottomans converted it to a mosque and whitewashed the wall-paintings. On the return of the Venetians, the catholic doctrine church was consecrated to Madonna del Carmine. The Ottomans converted it to a mosque once again, while one of the very first things the Greeks did, when they got the town back in 1821after the Greek War of Independence, was to demolish the minaret that had been built. The octagonal domed Agia Sofia was consecrated to Virgin Mary Hodegitria. It was considered to be a faithful replica of Agia Sofia in Constantinople, the former Byzantine capital. Since then, and given that the church of Agia Sofia was the only well preserved building in the Upper Town (Ano Polis), a series of renovation works followed. The last of these were completed some years ago. It is considered being one of the oldest and most important Byzantine churches in Greece, Standing on the highest point of Monemvasia the church (and Upper Town) are accessible through a steep path with stairs and slippery stones. (More images of Monemvasia: www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/48410582 )

Evesham is a little market town on the banks of the River Avon. This little town was not only the site of the major Battle of Evesham, but also home to one of Europe's largest abbeys. The abbey was founded around the year of 700 by Saint Egwin. The abbey is of Benedictine origin, and became in its heyday one of the wealthiest in the country. At the height of its power and fame, the abbey church had 15 alters, a significance of the affluence enjoyed by the monks of Evesham Abbey Bell tower was built around 1530 by Abbott Lichfield, just ten years before the abbey was dissolved by King Henry VIII. The bell tower is all that survives, because the inhabitants of Evesham bought it. Nowadays this 16th century bell tower - holding 14 bells - is considered being one of the best rings in England. During all the years the iconic bell tower was restored several times; in 2015 and 2016 it had its last extensive restoration.

Dead Horse Point State Park is a small, yet one of Utah’s most spectacular state parks. It is best known for its magnificent views of the Colorado River, which finds its way more than 600 meters beneath the lookout around a rocky plateau with one large gooseneck. Further away lies the fascinating landscape of Canyonlands NP with vertical pinnacles and buttes. Millions of years of geologic activity created this spectacular area. Deposition of sediments by ancient oceans, freshwater lakes, streams and wind blown sand dunes created the rock layers of canyon country. The state park owes its name from an old story. In one place is the rocky plateau less than 30 meters wide, so the part further away as a kind of peninsula. In the past wild horses were driven to this point by cowboys, after which the narrow neck of the land was fenced off. The best horses were tamed, the other horses were usually released. According to an old legend, it happened once that the horses trapped on the rocky plateau were left to their fate; the animals died because of a lack of water.

Monemvasia is a town, which is located on a small island - 300 metres wide and 1.000 metres long - off the east coast of the Peloponnese. The island - cut off from the coast by an earthquake in the year of 375 - is connected with the mainland by a 200 metres long causeway. Its area consists mostly of a large plateau some 100 meters above sea level and a rather small piece of land with the walled town itself. The town's name derives from the Greek words, mone and emvasia , meaning "single entrance". It is also called “Gibraltar of the east” The town and fortress were founded in 583 by inhabitants of the mainland, seeking refuge from the Slavic and the Avaric invasion of Greece. From the 10th century, Monemvasia developed into an important trade and maritime centre. Monemvasia - a natural fortress - was inhabited and soon became a strategic fortress claimed the Byzantines, Franks, Venetians and Ottomans. The town was liberated from Ottoman rule on July 23, 1821 by Tzannetakis Grigorakis, who entered the town with his private army during the Greek War of Independence. Monemvasia became linked with mainland Peloponnese in 1971 by the causeway and a small bridge. The town has become an important touristic site with an increasing number of visitors, strolling along the cobbled streets and paths amid the mansions and Byzantine churches. Medieval buildings have been restored and many of them converted into hotels. These days, though, only around 20 people live in the kastro (fort) permanently. (I took the main picture from the Upper Town, which was home to the Venetian aristocracy and nowadays offering a wonderful panoramic view of (the rooftops of) Monemvasia and the surrounding area.)

The medieval Chillon Castle - located on a small rock island - on the shores of Lake Geneva near Montreux is considered being the most visited monument in Switzerland. The current castle is the result of several centuries of building, adaptations, renovations and restorations. The first written mention of the castle appears in 1150. At that time, the Counts of Savoy controlled the castle, as well as the path between the lake and the mountains, which gave them a strategic location on the route leading from the north to the south. In the 13th century, the Counts furthered their conquests of the territory of Vaud until their domination was extended over approximately two-thirds of the territory, which makes up today’s French-speaking Switzerland. Chillon Castle was extended at that time and was transformed it into a summer residence for the Counts. The Swiss, or more precisely, the Bernese, conquered the Pays de Vaud. The conquest was completed once they took-over Chillon Castle in 1536 after a three-week siege. For more than 260 years, the castle retained its role as a fortress, arsenal, and prison. At the time of the Vaudois Revolution, the Bernese left the castle and the patriots of Vevey and Montreux occupied the fortress in January 1798. The castle became national property during the Vaudois Revolution and belongs since then to the Canton of Vaud, from the date of its foundation in 1803. Ther building was first used to stock weapons and ammunitions and as a State prison. At the end of the 19th century a major restoration campaign was launched, which is still ongoing. The castle is open for visits and tours.

Wire Pass Slot Canyon starts at a parking lot, accessible from US 89 though a 13 km’s long quite bumpy dirt road. The first km’s the trail is following the meandering Coyote Wash with low red coloured rocks of Navajo Sandstone. Slowly but surely the rocks become higher and closer to each other. Before we did realize we were in the Wire Pass Slot Canyon, a very impressive slot canyon. Sometimes just one meter wide and a couple of times we saw tree trunks which were trapped between the rock walls. At one point we could hardly get any further through a large boulder that almost blocked the trail. After about 700 meters the canyon became wider and culminated in a large open space (main image) with huge rock walls, which on one side were beautifully illuminated by the sun. The cliffs are marked with several big horn sheep petroglyphs. The Wire Pass Slot Canyon ends here at the confluence with the Buckskin Gulch, the longest slot canyon of the USA.

During our second visit to the Oisterwijk forests and fens ( Oisterwijkse bossen en vennen ) - again on a grey, gloomy day - we made a walk along the so-called Kolkvenroute (about 3.5 km's). This nature reserve is one of the Netherlands’ most unique nature reserves with 80 fens in a stunning green expanse. Unlike many other fens, the formation of Kolkven is not created by the action of wind, but by melting water of a former river. Kolkven (main image) is a lot deeper than the others, which makes it suitable for fishing. The fen is rented by a local angling club. On our route we passed three smaller fens, including the Brandven (PiP’s). This fen (“Fire Fen”) got its name because in the past its water was used as firewater. Nowadays most of the nature reserve is owned and managed by Natuurmonumenten , a Dutch society for protecting nature reserves. (for more pictures of the area see: www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/46395468/in/album/537905 )

The windmill has a history going back to 1369, when there already was a mill in the hamlet Karrichoven (nowadays Kerkhoven, a neighbourhood of Oisterwijk). The current mill was built in 1895 after the wooden post mill was completely destroyed by fire. But in 1910 another fire destroyed the interior of the mill, but was repaired with parts of a polder mill in Rhoon (near Rotterdam). The Kerkhovense Molen was used for grinding grain and tree bark (used by the local tanneries in Oisterwijk) until after the World War II. After that it was used as a café and youthhostel. Between 1976 and 1979 the mill was completed renovated and after thirty years it could grind again on wind power. In the meantime the mill is owned by a foundation ( Stichting De Kerkhovense Molen ), which renovated the mill again. In 1999 it was officially reopened and the mill is still used for grinding grain. The mill got also its original name Onvermoeid (Untiring), but the name Kerkhovense Molen is much more common. On the ground floor the mill has a cute tea/coffee room and a shop, selling flour and other local products.