Water world: Cruise through Belgium and The Netherlands

By Brian Johnston
Updated November 11 2016 - 3:08pm, first published 9:00am
Westerkerk (Western Church), with water canal view in Amsterdam.  Photo: iStock
Westerkerk (Western Church), with water canal view in Amsterdam. Photo: iStock
Seaport of Veere, Zeeland (Netherlands).  Photo: iStock
Seaport of Veere, Zeeland (Netherlands). Photo: iStock
The Scenic Pearl. Photo: Supplied
The Scenic Pearl. Photo: Supplied
Sunset over the Veerse Meer at Veere, Netherlands.
Sunset over the Veerse Meer at Veere, Netherlands.
Canal houses from Mariastraat in Bruges, Belgium.
Canal houses from Mariastraat in Bruges, Belgium.
Carved wooden figures on a house in Bruges, Belgium. Photo: Brian Johnston
Carved wooden figures on a house in Bruges, Belgium. Photo: Brian Johnston
Meuse River in Maastricht.  Photo: benkrut
Meuse River in Maastricht. Photo: benkrut

I think I'm the highest thing in Holland. I only have to stand on Scenic Pearl's open deck to be above everything else in this flat country. I look down on cars tootling across dykes, and onto the passing heads of sedate cyclists. Often I eyeball the chimneys and weathervanes of villages that hold their nerve below sea level as our ship glides by above. One afternoon a yacht passes, and I look down on a fat family stripped to their underpants in celebration of the unexpected sunshine. They aren't perturbed at being spotted from on high: flesh wobbles as they wave.

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