Green

 

In a previous post, Jim wrote eloquently about water the water that surrounds us here.  Also, there is so much green.  And green in so many ways.  The part of Amstelveen where we are staying, a neighbourhood called "elsrijk," is one of the greenest parts of the city.  There are many green spaces, like the one above, which we pass on our way to the closest grocery store.  At the end of the short block the house is one of many parks:

And waterways and bridges are everywhere:

It's not that we can't walk or ride a bike to the grocery store near our house in Pleasanton, but it would not be so picturesque!

All around here, people (including this house) have succulent gardens on the roofs of their sheds.  This one is the bike shed's roof two doors down:

On just about every block, there is a place to charge the car, including one across the street where we charged their VW hybrid.  Like at home, there are three garbage cans, although here it is one for yard waste, one for plastic, and one for paper.  Glass goes to a recycle depository - they are located every few blocks.  And the same process for landfill.

Biking is encouraged by how easy it is - separate bike lines everywhere.  At the crosswalks there is one button for pedestrians and another for bikes.  It does mean that when walking you have to pay attention to watch out for cars and bikes.  Bike racks are convenient and everywhere.

We have been on the bikes quite a bit. On Saturday afternoon, we rode along the Amstel River 

and stopped at Wester-Amstel.  It is a private estate, built in 1662 to be a getaway from the big city (Amsterdam).  Still privately owned, the grounds are open and free to walk through.  

Sunday we took a one hour drive to the Kroller-Muller Museum which is located in National Park de Hoge Veluwe.  Helene Kroller-Muller (1869-1939), along with her husband, started to collect modern art. In 1935 she donated her collection to the state and the museum was built to house it.  It contains the world's 2nd largest collection of the works of Van Gogh.  The museum is also famous for its 62 acre open-air sculpture garden.  It is a beautiful and accessible (not too huge) museum.  

Just a few highlights of the inside:

(obviously not Van Gogh - there were many other artists featured - but such a gorgeous room and view)

Helene requested that this Van Gogh, Four Sunflowers Going to Seed, be placed above her coffin at her funeral:

Outside we walked the many paths to view the sculptures - some out in the open, others are more hidden away in nature.

Just what it looks like - a huge bowling ball including finger holes.

Holland is very flat, so to get a view we climbed up the 200 staircase sculpture

which took us well above the treetops.

And then we carefully descended!  

Our calves are VERY sore today.

One of the wonderfully, "green" things about this national park, is there are free bikes everywhere - just grab a white bike and off you go.  Many to choose from and all seemed to have baby seats.

Through forests and meadows, we rode for about an hour and successfully found our way back to the bike racks.  

Truly a wonderful day!  And, an easy hour drive back in our "green" (hybrid) car.