BOOM! September 2022

By Julian McPhillips

The Dutch Adventure & More

For boomers, retirees, and non-retirees alike, a journey to the Netherlands in April or May can be a moveable feast. Adventure is everywhere. And so it was for Leslie, me, and thirteen college classmates and their wives, all 75-76 years young. This is the absolute best of times to see the renowned Keukenhof Gardens, with its tulips ablaze in all colors, shapes, and sizes.

Leslie and Julian McPhillips

From traversing historic canals, with resplendent architecture on both sides, to seeing the Dutch master original artwork in museums (Van Gogh, Rembrandt, etc.), to munching on homemade Gouda cheese; to watching Royal Delph China being made; to attending music concerts; … well, all this was worth the dodging of bicycles and pedestrians. The food was usually delicious, even if at times expensive. The walking around Amsterdam was manageable, and good exercise.

This beautiful ancient country, also known as “Holland,” oozes with intelligent, industrious, and courteous people. Our American homeland was founded by many Dutch, including Mayflower pilgrims landing in New England and the knickerbockers founding New Amsterdam in the 1600’s, before it became New York.

entrepreneurial Rockefeller family, all are of Dutch descent. So also does my wife Leslie.

Two of America’s greatest presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Teddy Roosevelt, and the famous

“Little Mermaid” statue in Copenhagen’s harbor

Amsterdam, with all its lowlands and canals, is truly the “Venice of the North.” It is also the country’s executive capital, with kings’ palaces still intact. “The Hague,” its legislative capital, is also the location of the majestic “International Peace Palace,” built with Andrew Carnegie’s funds from 1907 to 1913. The building contains the International Court of Justice, active in settling boundary line disputes and trade battles between countries and aching to end the Russian-Ukraine War.

It was exciting to see active windmills, 100 feet high, still standing from the 1600’s. It was also fun to see native artisans making wooden shoes. Also enjoyed were Rotterdam, the coastal headquarters of the

Holland-American Cruise line, and Leiden, the ancient Dutch capital, with its quaint narrow streets in rustic settings.

So why don’t you join a group of college classmates, like we did? Or fraternity brothers, sorority sisters, church members, or whoever, for a trip to the Netherlands? The camaraderie and fellowship will enhance the journey. About two-thirds of us were retired, the rest still active professionally, like me. We all had much to talk about. If interested, I can point you towards a good American contact, and vibrant seasonal counterparts in Holland.

The Denmark-Greenland Extension

Three months after returning from Holland, Leslie and I set out in July this year, extending our travels to Denmark and Greenland. This was not a retiree trip, and at times was rugged. It was the second segment, however, of sabbatical leave promised long ago to my sweetheart of 49 years.

From Atlanta we flew to Copenhagen, via a change in Chicago to Scandinavian Air Lines. Due to a pilot strike the day after landing, we flew back 2 weeks later to Atlanta, via Delta-KLM, with a change in Amsterdam.

At 75 and 74 respectively, we are “no spring chickens.” Our energy levels are usually sufficient, but occasionally were tested by all the walking in both Denmark and Greenland. The afternoon we arrived we saw the famous “Little Mermaid” statue in Copenhagen’s harbor. The next day we enjoyed the National Museum, soaking up all the Viking culture and history.

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Captivating also was the Copenhagen Museum, with its portrayal of the city’s culture from the 1500’s onward. Especially interesting was all the history on Danish theologian-philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, long one of my favorites in the field. The palaces, parks, and museums (one sponsoring an exhibit on Neanderthal man and other earliest human ancestors) were fascinating, as was the Danish Resistance Museum, depicting the Danes’ historic fight against the Nazis.

On our fourth day we flew to Greenland for a week. That land has the look of early pioneer days America. The native Inuits share an ancestry of Mongolian origin, coming from over the Bering Strait 10,000 years ago, into Northern Canada and Alaska, on down to Greenland. In the 1400-1500’s the Norseman and Vikings also poured in. They only stayed in Greenland a couple of centuries, before retreating, and returning again in the 1700’s. The only inhabitable parts of Greenland, the world’s largest island, are the eastern and western coastlines, especially the side closer to northern Canada.

We arrived by Greenland Airlines from Copenhagen, flying into Kangerlussuaq, a town of 4,000 people. We then flew south to the more industrious town of Nuuk, with a population of 19,000, and the legislative capital since 2009. From there we boarded an orange-colored ferry boat with modest but comfortable cabins. The two-day cruise up the coast was picturesque and exhilarating.

Thus, we arrived in Ilulissat, midway up the western coast, and home of unbelievably beautiful glaciers, icebergs, and whales surfacing for camera-ready pictures. We were the only Americans in our mostly Danish group of 15 but including a Swedish couple and a German man. One day’s 6 mile hike up and down rocky boulders and slippery sod, juxtaposed to breathtaking glaciers, taxed our senior bodies, but delighted our souls.

After a week soaking in this Artic beauty and history, we flew back to Denmark and rented a car. We drove through Zealand to the middle Danish providence of Fyn, and visited Odense, the hometown of Hans Christian Anderson, the world-renowned author of fairytales. Learning more about his story in a world-class museum was a highlight of the trip.

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September 2022

BOOM! 63