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Oh -- on the way back from Rotterdam I started reading an article which informed me that the famous Flemish weirdo Hieronymus Bosch was having the biggest-ever showing of his paintings right there in Rotterdam. Didn't want to miss that so, next day, back on the train to Rotterdam. Here's the lovely water parkway that takes you from the central station to the Museum Boijmans Van Beunigen. |
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| I assume you're somewhat familiar with the works of old Hieronimus Bosch (in Dutch that's Jhieronimus or Jeroen). You know, Garden of Earthly Delights, and all that hellish creepy stuff. Check this out: It's the now famous mystical tunnel with light at the end, like when you (almost) die. Same old motif, but this one was painted 500 years ago. |  |
| Rushing, rushing, rushing. That was my last big sweep through Holland, but do you think I was going home? Not yet! Just seeing a few people, places and thingy's before I hop on another train...all the way down south this time...way down to southern France...You're looking at one tired traveler here, pal...but it's all worth it to see the world... |  |
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When I arrived in Marseilles I had about 5 dollars worth of French Francs
in my pocket. I had a map of the subways and busses, but no map of the
city. And the train station has a strong feeling of being on the wrong
end of town. No room reservation and about a dozen words of French. I could've
planned better, but I was tired of planning. I did have a compass.
It took about 3 hours, walking the dirty Marseilles streets, to find a teller machine that worked, a map and a phone card (which I couldn't figure out how to use). Since I also couldn't figure out how to use the bus system, I walked about 3 miles uphill to the only hostel I could find on the map. There it is, sitting high on the hill in broad daylight...but by the time I first found it, night had fallen. A youth hostel for all kinds of low budget world travelers. The little old man at the desk didn't speak a word of L'Anglais...but I was finally due for some luck: he understood that I needed a bed and he had one for me. |
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| The biggest landmark in all of Marseilles is this. A very darn enormous golden statue of the so-called Virgin Mary, keeping watch over the seafarers as they brave the deeps. Nice cathedral, that....but this was not what brought me to Marseilles... |  |
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