From Hudson to Holland

After my visit to Fallingwater, I drove to Pittsburgh, an industrial city that conjures up stark images of steel and coal factories but is now getting a revival. The Andy Warhol museum was the only place that drew my attention in this city. A Pittsburgh native, Warhol became famous for his pop art, avant-garde movies and Velvet Underground spectaculars. The exhibits give a nice overview of Warhol's career, including his classic Campbell's soup cans (apparently, for over 20 years he drank the soup every day...), celebrity portraits (Marilyn Monroe, Mick Jagger) and frequent film screenings. There was even a photograph exhibition "New York" of Lou Reed. This was certainly worthwile a visit.

On my way West, I was suggested by my hometown friend Gretel to say hello to her friends Rod and Lisa who live in Hudson, Ohio (near Cleveland). I am happy I did. They treated me like a royal guest and it felt like we had been knowing each other for ages. And so we talked and laughed for hours with a serious amount of beers. I am still not sure if Rod tried to prove that Americans can drink more than Belgians (he surely beat me this time) or if he wanted to show that he hadn't forgotten about the drinking courses he got in Belgium about 15 years ago when he visited with Up With People... One of the cultural differences that became apparent was the definition of my time off. I explained it as a sabbatical, Rod called it a midlife crisis. I wouldn't be opposed to that definition but I feel like I want to live a bit longer than that, if at all possible... Rod and Lisa's invitations to stay longer were tempting but unfortunately the National Parks in the West were calling me.

After Ohio comes Indiana. I had heard nice things about Indianapolis but the lyric words of a former colleague, Nikki, about the northern state Michigan lingered in my head. Her two page e-mail with recommendations confirmed it: I had to stop at least at a couple of places in Michigan.

Holland would be the first halt (http://www.holland.org/), a town that draws about two and a half million visitors every year with its Victorian-styled downtown, an annual Tulip Festival in May with about 6 million tulips and a beautiful oasis, Windmill Island featuring a 240 year old working Dutch windmill "De Zwaan" (meaning graceful bird).

Waiting for the traditional "klompen" (wooden shoes) dances, I started talking with Alisa, the maiden miller (when she heard I was Belgian, she introduced herself as "de vrouwelijke molenaar"). After the official guided tour, I got a personal tour up to the top of the mill. Incredible how this mill, moved from The Netherlands in 1964 and more than 200 years old, is still in such good shape and functioning. Alisa was totally enthusiastic about her mill and proudly announced that she had passed the first test in the Netherlands to become a certified miller. Now she was preparing for the final exam (in Dutch!!!) on September 19 in European Holland. After the tour we're getting into historic downtown and as a closer, Alisa guided me to the beach on Lake Michigan where we saw a magnificent sunset and an almost full moon coming up.

A lot of other people got attracted to Holland as well because all the hotels and campgrounds were fully booked that night. So there was only one solution, getting out of Holland to look for a place to sleep. And then, Alisa offered her guest room in her 19th century house in the historic district. The next morning I am even treated with homebaked Scottish scones and rooibos tea. This was too good to be true. Thanks again, Alisa!