Marion's Miscellaneous Musings

It soon became obvious that I was dealing with water. Every city was built by a river, and also on top of the river.

The difference between Europe and the US is age. In my part of the country, we've only been building cities for 150 years. Some European cities are 2000 years old; Rome has been around since 753 BC. (Granted it was a bunch of huts at this point, but so was the West Coast 150 and 200 years ago.) Reading high class literature (Murder mysteries set in ancient Rome), I recognize city names and country names that were a part of the Roman empire: London, Marseilles, Spain, Germany, Gaul...

We took the Czech kid to the Whitman mission and Fort Walla Walla. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman were missionaries to the Indians, and are famous for being massacred. But the white man perservered and established a fort. We were looking at stick houses with dirt floors and primitive furniture and toys. (The jail was built more sturdily; it consisted of 1 X 6 boards nailed together on the 6 inch edge.) It was really weird to realize that when people lived in these houses 150 years ago, the Czech were living in stone houses and castles.

But I digress. I like digressing.

Cities were built on rivers because it was practical. Water is a necessity, and transportation was cheaper and easier by river. And space is a problem in Europe. In the Netherlands, everywhere you go you can see a building. So they have built over the river.

The top picture is Hamburg, somewhere near the building in the last post. (Don't ask me where I was, I was totally lost the whole time.) Fool your friends: who has more bridges, Venice or Hamburg? Since the German Kid asked me that, I knew that the answer is Hamburg. He also said it is the largest port in Europe. Whether he meant population, traffic, or area I forgot to ask. We took a harbor tour and passed by the dock that the Queen Mary occupies when it needs maintenance. There is also a large area by the port that is considered international, it makes life uncomplicated when moving cargo from boat to boat.

The middle picture is Cesky Krumlov, in the Czech Republic. It is on the UNESCO list, so you need about a thousand approvals to change anything. All the outdoor restaurants were closed because it is November, but it would be great to just sit there next to the river!

The bottom picture is Volendam, in The Netherlands. Canals run right through the middle of the city -- it is the same in Utrecht and Leiden and Amsterdam and 's Hertogenbosh and probably every city in the Netherlands. (Except in the southeast, where there are hills as high as 322 meters!) Canals were repeatedly dug in Amsterdam to aid in sanitation; I imagine this was similar elsewhere. Sometimes driveways were bridges. Sometimes the canals were covered with algae, in which the ducks were making trails while scooping up nummies with their bills.

Notice: no railings to prevent children from falling in.