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!

Fallingwater

On Tuesday morning I arrived at the gates of Fallingwater (http://www.paconserve.org/index-fw1.asp), surrounded by attractive forested grounds. I had no reservation but I was lucky. There was only a waiting time of 30-45 minutes to join one of the guided tours. That was actually excellent because it gave me the time to relax with a cup of coffee and get prepared for what would be the first highlight of my trip.

The house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1936, shortly after the Big Depression, as a weekend retreat for the Kaufmanns, owners of the biggest Pittsburgh department store. The house with guesthouse for the maids and other guests (in exactly the same style) was finished in 1939. Clearly, the Kaufmanns had not suffered under the Depression: Wright exceeded the original budget with a whopping 5 times. After inflation, the price these days would be around $20 million.

My name was called and I could go down over a nice walkway and there, all of a sudden, the first sight of the house appeared. I knew this was not the view that you usually see on pictures but this was already stunning. What a perfect integration of the house with the natural setting.

The guide was bringing us to all the rooms and each of them had an architectural surprise: the views on the forest, the way light was (not) able to invade in the house, functionality, the eye for detail. One of the bedrooms was actually pushing us outside to the patio, without us even realizing. The guide told us that everbody who comes in the room, is attracted to this wonderful outdoor space and apparently that was what Wright had in mind with this room. Unbelievable!

The guide brought up another good point: this house must have been so modern in the 30's. Most houses were small and did not have a lot of light coming in. This house was just the opposite.
Unfortunately, no pictures were permitted on this tour so the only advice I can give you: check it out yourself. This house is a true masterpiece. I would love to come back here in fall and winter time.

Below are two pictures I took from the famous angle.

Finally on the road

After two weeks of red tape, packing boxes and moving everything into storage, I was finally able to get my motorcycle ready. Two of my NY friends already knew I wouldn't hit the road on Friday, so they decided to bring together a bunch of friends for a farewell diner in Manhattan. Thanks for organizing, Jim & Sue! I had a great time.

On Saturday, Jim and Sue recommended me to stop by in New Hope, (http://www.newhopepa.com/, http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=New+Hope+PA&ie=UTF8&ll=40.367474,-74.951992&spn=0.030605,0.057163&t=k&z=14&iwloc=addr&om=1) and they promptly escorted me to this little town in East Pennsylvania. The name already sounded exciting and the promise was delivered when I saw all the little art galleries, stores and restaurants along the main road. After a delicious late lunch, Jim and Sue went back to NJ and I decided to ride a couple more miles to get closer to Lancaster, the center of the Amish (read Ah-mish) country, or Dutch country like they call it here. Anabaptist sects, persecuted in their native Switzerland settled in tolerant Pennsylvania in the early 1700's. Speaking German dialects, they became known as the Dutch (from "Deutsch" and not from the language "Dutch" as you would expect). Most Dutch live on farms and do not use electricity. They opt for horse-drawn buggies, a delightful sight this morning.

Tomorrow I am leaving the campground at Coatesville to get to my next destination, the neighborhood of Pittsburgh. I have heard and read that Pittsburgh has a couple of nice museums (Andy Warhol and Salvator Dali) but most importantly, I want to see the Fallingwater, a masterpiece of the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

As a final note in this posting I would like to add a special thanks to my sponsor, Tele Atlas (http://www.teleatlas.com/), the world's leader in digital mapping. My PN client was so kind to provide me with a great navigation device, the Tom Tom RIDER (http://www.tomtom.com/products/category.php?ID=1&Language=1), including several mounting kits and a Bluetooth device to hear the navigation directions. Only after two days, I couldn't do without it. It saves you so much time and it's much safer than looking to paper maps on your tank bag. Imagine if I had to buy all the regional maps of the different states I am going to cross...
One disadvantage: the device doesn't work with the Tele Atlas maps but with the ones of their main competitor, NavTeq. And yes, already I could see that their map updates are not as good as the ones of Tele Atlas. When I typed in my home address in NJ, it didn't find it! This is a street close to the Hudson River, two miles from Manhattan and the road has been there for at least 5 years... Come on, Tele Atlas, you can do better!