Okay, enough about art. It’s time to talk about something completely different: architecture!
If you’ve never been to the Netherlands and imagine all its city and town centers look like canal photos of Amsterdam . . . well, you’re not far off. During our visit to Amsterdam we took side trips to Haarlem, The Hague, and Delft, and got train-window views of Rotterdam, Utrecht, Hilversum, Deventer (gorgeous), Amersfoort, Almelo, Hengelo, and Gouda (pronounced How-da, so when we called the local cheese Goo-da the natives knew we weren’t just tourists, but ignorant tourists). Adjoining brick houses near the water are a constant. Here’s a view of Haarlem:
The Nieuwe Gracht (New Canal).
In Delft, some of the canals come right up to the back door!