Over the past six years, plans have been afoot to established a Museum of National History in the Netherlands. The idea was good. Its implementation was so excruciatingly and humiliatingly imcompetent that there will now not be such a museum in Holland. It all started with a good idea in 2005, but the Ministry for Culture decided to turn it into a competition. Which city will host such a museum? Amsterdam, The Hague or Arnhem? Well, the latter city, only 3 miles from my location, got the award, much to the chagrin of the other two places. However, the location in Arnhem, the carpark of the Open Air Museum, turned into a moneypit. Even a novel location, on the banks of the River Rhine, turned out to be a non-starter. And today, the plug was pulled on the whole project.
I have not been following Dutch politics closely for more than a decade, but the previous government took the biscuit for sheer incompetence. This was another demonstration of that, and I know one thing, having involved myself in history over the past 6 years: this would never have happened in Scotland, which is much more aware of its history. However, that is a bit too harsh on my fellow countrymen - see my next post.
The Shell Gallery
This is the archive of The Shell Gallery blog, which was active between 2008 and 2018. It is dedicated to the memory of my mother, who died in May 2008, and to that of my father, who passed away in August 2022. 
The Watch Tower stands to the north, overlooking the open Heathlands
The Shell Gallery also refers to the island of Vlieland, which has zillions of shells on its beaches.
1 comment:
Hi Guido. Glad that the journeys went well this time, although like you I woudn't much like the long delays between flights. It is goo dthat you have been able to revisit your old haunts with your Father..Looking forward to reading about the next leg of your trip..
Syil xx I wonder if blogger will allwo this one through !!
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