This was an early workday for Jeff. We had coffee together and after he left I hung around a bit organizing photos. Around eleven o’clock I headed out to get my bearings in this new city. It was a Monday and apparently this is still qualifies as the weekend because pretty much all the stores were still buttoned up tight.
Helloooo!!!
Anyone???
I don’t believe that I’ve mentioned that Jeff works for Philips, and Eindhoven is where the headquarters are located. Eindhoven was pretty much built by Philips so there are many buildings emblazoned with the name.
As you look across the plaza you can see the Witte Dame or "White Lady" Philips building.
I also saw several statues of Philips patriarchs.
Dr. Anton Frederick Philips
Frits Philips
The immensely popular “Mr. Frits” lived to be one hundred years old and has an inspiring biography.
I planned on visiting a modern art museum the next day (it is closed on Mondays just like everything else) so I figured I’d try and find it ahead of time. The museum was surrounded by beautiful prairie style gardens. I think I enjoyed the garden more than the art inside, but that’s for another installment.
Bronze Statue of Rodin (the artist not the winged B movie creature)
I walked through some of the surrounding neighborhoods.
Suburban Eindhoven
There seems to be a lot of house pride here, everyone’s hedges looked as if they were trimmed using a carpenter’s level.
Meticulous Hedges
Maybe I could trim our hedges like that? ...Nah!
By the time I got back around to the center of town, people were finally out and stores were open so I stopped for lunch at an outdoor café.
This must be where the cool people eat
Because this isn’t a typical tourist area, the menus were not as English friendly, so I took a guess at a sandwich I that might enjoy.
My random pointing at the menu yielded Bacon and Brie, yeehaw!
I am pleased to report that the cappuccino in Eidhoven is just as fantastic as in Amsterdam
As I noshed on my sandwich I observed that the people here seemed to have money. There were a lot of “Ladies who lunch” and “teenagers with daddy’s credit card” types.
Ladies in expensive sunglasses
Ritzy Teens
Everyone smokes here too
After lunch I nosed around the shopping centers.
Indoor eating area with fakey tree
Funky suspended planter
Adorable Dutch child struggling to keep up with mum.
It was still pretty early but I decided to head back to the hotel and give that gargantuan bath a try out. Our hotel is in the center of the city not far from the train station. It seems that lots of people commute from here:
Sea of unidentifiable bicycles
In the middle of a plaza there is a huge odd structure called the The Blob .
It is so unique it must have been an architectural feat to create. It reminded me of the Louvre Pyramid in Paris.
What important artwork or historical artifacts did this building house you ask? Jeans- turns out this was just a mall. Bummer…
Right outside entrance to the hotel is this Bronze Statue by Jos van Riemsdijk:
"Lampenmaakstertje"- Little Lamp Maker
This statue is a reminder that Eindhoven is built upon the foundation that Philips workers and innovators laid generations ago.
View from our room
One more day in the City of Light, then home!
Love the planter and the very clean looking shopping center. Another great trip
For me!