Bicycle touring Holland. Kampen
is one of the Dutch cities liberated by Canadians during the
second World War. At the old city gates there is a plaque commemorating
the event, and people there haven't forgotten. When they saw
my Canadian flag they shouted lustily: "Liberators!"
Sailing ships were docked alongside Kampen's wharf. We found
a well-situated picnic table with a view across the river of
the town's buildings and clock tower. The clock tower, unlike
most, wasn't attached to a church. Instead, it had been built
in olden times to purportedly show how well-off the town was.
People sailing past would surmise it was a rich town because
of its immense, expensive, clock tower and would stop to trade.
I noticed we weren't the only ones who liked the view -- a wedding
couple, in a white coach drawn by two midnight black horses,
came to take wedding photos. I wondered if it was Dutch Treat? |