|
Dave: We found a brochure for some local castles
presented by the area historical society ("Kastelen in
Gelderland"). It was in our hotel lobby and clearly written in
English. We had enjoyed similar castle visits during our trip
to England, so we called upon two of them today on our drive
from Arnhem to Antwerp. WE WERE VERY FRUSTRATED and WANT TO WARN
anybody reading this page to AVOID OUR FATE.
At the first castle, Castle Hernon (Kasteel
Hernon), we found the door locked and this DUTCH-only note taped
there. No English translation and no universal Euro-symbols. We
guessed that the castle was closed except for tours and that a guide
would be available at 10, 11, 2, 3, and 4. It was 2:10 and we were in
no mood to wait an hour to see if our guess was correct. So we took
some exterior pictures of the castle and moat (our real goal) and
headed on our way. While walking around, we heard the squeal of
schoolkids screeching from the windows and clanging metal items
inside, so we were glad to be going! |
|
At the second castle (Kasteel
Ammersoyen) we encountered another Dutch sign hand-taped to the
front entrance. Guessing that it meant "go away, we are
closed", we proceeded in anyway and encountered an abandoned,
"ghost town" scene. We walked about and let ourselves into
various rooms by simply trying random doors and finding several
unlocked. Finally, a woman appeared, hurriedly leaving work for the
day, and explained that the "castle was closed". Of course,
we had already guessed that fact, it being a Thursday in the
off-season. But she added that we might meet another woman in the
basement reception area through the door that she was just leaving from.
We followed her direction, and met a polite woman that patiently
confirmed our suspicion, that it was off-season, that another group
happened to be using the castle interior today for a meeting, and
that we were free to walk about the outer grounds and take
pictures of the castle exterior (our actual goal anyway).
I mentioned our frustration at encountering Dutch-only signage at the
front entrance to both of the two castles we visited today. How were
we expected to know what was going on, what we should do? With a
sarcasm usually reserved for the French, she mentioned that she had
recently visited the USA and "not one sign I encountered was in
Dutch". We smiled and nodded and kindly agreed with her, then
gave each other the secret signal that means "kiss my American ass".
She failed to admit that had the hotel brochures been written only in
Dutch, or had they stressed such blatant "Yankee Go
Home" Dutch ethno-centrism, we would not have wasted our
precious vacation time on these sites. But then, we did not mention
that we previously joined both the English
Heritage and Welsh
Historic Trust historical preservation societies, providing them
in excess of $120 for their important work (and gave exactly SQUAT to
the self-centered Dutch).
We also failed to mention that we would eventually be posting the
story of our trip on our "English Language" web site (This
Page) and registering that page in Google, where we would advise all
English-only speakers (from any country in the world) to AVOID ANY
VISIT to the "Castles of Gelderland" until they enter
the 20th century. First, international symbols are required
everywhere in Europe and second, it is not just "Ugly
Americans" that do not speak Dutch. English is the second
language the world over for people whose native tongues range
from Portuguese to Japanese among hundreds of others. This is
only common sense.
So, if by chance you visit central Holland, do yourself a favor and
stop for a long lunch instead of visiting these castles. You see, I
actually speak two languages: English and Euros, and they go
hand-in-hand. By the way, how delightful for me to research and find
that both the web site for "Castles
in Gelderland" and for the "Friends
of Gelderland Castles" are written only in Dutch! If these
groups are looking for patrons and benefactors to help with their
preservation work, they must only be looking only in their own small
neighborhood. For Shame! |
.
accustomed to in the USA. Whenever these are tried in the US, they go
unused because of either vandals or thieves.
