City of most picturesque Canals-Amsterdam,town of historical Windmills/green houses-Zaanse Schans. Town bustling with Creativity,Innovation,Technology-Eindhoven.Cycling on twinkling paths in Van Gogh starry nights-Nuenen Village

During our 50 days foreign visit in Sept/Oct.2019, We set off from Eindhoven on a tour of Amsterdam & Zaanse Schans. Also we made visits to the Van Gogh—Nuenen village & to the Eindhoven town bustling with creativity & innovation

Our visit to Amsterdam was quite pleasant with very refreshing Boat Cruise on the river Amstel, with an Audio guide on board, panoramic views of beautiful buildings & monuments ,shipyards, museums on the way with numerous bridges .After visiting Amsterdam and having a delicious meals at an Indian restaurant, we proceeded to Zaanse Schans for visiting the historic windmills, green wooden houses, artisan workshops, rare handicrafts,mills ,barns ,cycling and sailing tours of the region. Also we visited the prime locations of Eindhoven town such as Museums, Phillips Electronic Industry, Zoo &parks, Churches, Football stadium,PreHistorisch Dorp.We also paid a visit to Nuenen -Van Gogh village,VanGogh museum,nature parks ,Artgalleries, Literary art & music tour, Vincentre-the starting point of Cycling on twinkling paths in the Van Gogh starry- nights.

About AMSTERDAM :

Its the capital of Netherlands in the North Holland known for its artistic heritage, narrow houses, elaborate canal system, legacy of Cities’ 17th century golden age. Amsterdam became the most important ports in the world with canals measuring 100kms in length and is on the UNESCO World heritage site, AMS Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange of the world.Its VG Museum, works by Rembrant and Vermeer are unique works of significance. Cycling is key to the city’s character with numerous bike paths. There are numerous museums, research institutes, theatres, cultural centres, well- preserved historic homes ,6750 buildings dating from 16th to 18th century are crowded into an area of 2000 acres dissected by 160 canals, numerous houseboats, picturesque bridge links.90 islands, population-8,72,680,Eight districts, Area 219.32Sqkm,currency-Euro,Language-Dutch.Nearest Airport is Schiphol.

Its Origin lies in the 12th Century when two fisherman living along the bank of river Amstel built a bridge. The mouth of the river, where Damrak is now ,formed a natural harbour which became important trading exchange for large cargo ships into smaller ships. Its refered as the VENICE OF NORTH due to the number of canals which form a world heritage site.

Tourist Attractions :

1)Van Gogh museum,2)Rijks museum,3)Anne Frank house,4)Dam Square,5)Rembrandt house museum6)Heineken Experience.7)Central station,8)Vondel park ,9)Jordaan ,9)Royal Palace ,10)Nemo Science museum ,11)Madam Tussauds ,12)Magere bridge ,13)Amsterdam Dungeon,14)Bloemen market,15)The Oude Church.

About ZAANSE SCHANS :

Its a municipality in North Holland Province in Zaandam town near Amsterdam. Historic first windmills, distinctive green wooden houses were relocated here to create the 18th/19thcentury village. The Zaanse Schans museum has regional dresses, costumes, model windmills, barns and workshops and interactive exhibits on Chocolate making. Artisans workshops demonstrate rare handicrafts such as wooden carvings, barrel making. Its best known for well preserved historic wind mills and houses from 1961 to 1974 old buildings from all over Zaanse Schans. The old Museum was established in 1994 near first windmill. There are both cycling and sailing trips of Zaanse Schans area., the 17th century 600 windmills were constructed creating the first industrial zone. They were used for grinding spices, produce paint, wood and make oil. A number of these still exist and can be visited to see how these windpowered machines work inside out.

Tourist attractions:

1)Zaanse Schans windmill park.2)Zaanse Schans museum-an Industrial heritage site.3)Paint mill De Kat.4)Windmill De Zoeker. 5)Time museum.6)Mollinos museum.7)Wooden shoe workshop. 8) Zhansche mill .

About NUENEN :

It is a town in municipality of Nuenen in the North Brant province of Netherlands( 7km from Eindhoven central).From 1883 to 1885 ,Vincent Van Gogh lived and worked in Nuenen. He was a dutch post-impressionist painter and a drawing artist who is amongst the most famous figures in the western art. In over a decade he created about 2100 art works including 860 oil paintings most of which date from the last two years of his life. Background of the potato eaters may be the place where VVG created his first true painting masterpiece. In 1944, the town was a battlefield scene during the operation market garden. The local dialect is called Peelands. Population was 22,437 in 2009.The Vincentre is the starting point of several pedestrians and bicycle tours to 21 sites that were important to VVG’s life & work. Discover the Van Gogh -Roosegarden cycle path near Eindhoven, the Dutch city of lights.

Places of Interest:

1)Vincentre museum,2)Ruimte in beeld,3)Nuenen Broek,Van Gogh village,4)Sights and landmarks-VVG statue,5)Windhoren mollen de Roosdonck6)Salon Nune vile museum-ancestral home(1874) of Margot Begemann, close friend of VVG.,7) Cycling tracking twinkling path based on Van Gogh starry nights.8)Literary,Art & Music tour -footsteps of Van Gogh walking tour including museum.9)Van Gogh Kerkji, 10) SHE- Art gallery ,etc.

About Eindhoven:

Its a city in the province of North Brant in south Netherlands known as technology & design hub, its the birthplace of Phillips Electronics which built the Phillips stadium, home to the PSV Soccer team. Eindhoven city looks a combination of modern metropolis and typically brabantse ambience bustling with creativity, innovation and exciting events that merge design and technology. The Phillips museum traces the company’s design history. The Van Abbe museum focuses on art and design. D A F museum on DAF trucks and automobiles. Population is 2.13 lakhs in 2019,Area is 88.87 Sq km and is fifth largest city of Netherlands. The Eindhoven Airport is connected to 75 European countries. Its history is dominated by Industrial development and inextricably linked to Electronics giant &remains a European technology hub hosting a Technical University and many companies& cooperative initiatives. It has a vibrant urban culture. The Eindhoven Tech University is Research driven & is 186th in world ranking where excellent Research & high lab facilities go hand in hand making impact on Scientific & societal issues. Its popularly called the Dutch city of lights.

Tourist attractions:

1)The Phillips museum,2)The Van Abbe museum,3)The DAF Museum.4)St. Catherines Church,4)Evoluon,5)Veldhovan Zoo,6)Genneper Park,7)PreHistorisch Dorp,7)PSV Eindhoven museum.8)Dierenrijk Zoo,9)Inkijk museum and 10)Ton Smith Huis museum.11)Flying Pins,12)Stadswandelpark. 13)Holland Casino. 14)Hovenring, 15)Rumite in beeld,16)Eindhoven central mosque,17)Water mill in Kollen, 18)Parktheatre,19)Phillips Stadium.20)Dr.A F Phillips Observatory.

FESTIVALS:

1)GLOW FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS or international light and Art festival is organised in mid Nov. every year with light artists coming from all over the world at St. Catherines Church.

2)Lichtjesroute festival

It is organised in autumn to mark city’s liberation from German occupation in 1944.Concert venues and theatres such as Evoluon former home of Phillips science centre and now a conference center and music venue.

AN APPEAL TO ALL MY FELLOW BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THIS PLANET Even while I am writing my Blogs on subjects other than the COVID-19 Pandemic, the issue of its spread and measures being taken worldwide for its containment & treatment are predominant on my mind being a matter of paramount importance to the entire world community. As a responsible human being ,I earnestly appeal to one and all to strictly adhere to the guidelines(subject to updates)of Doctors, Governments’ authorised officials and Administration to contain its spread &to maintain the law & order situation in our respective countries.Lets all keep safe by affording to live without each other (social distancing) for saving lives.Thus we will surely win the war against COVID-19. Lets rest assured.