TRIP TO HOLLAND

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 118, 22 May 1939, Page 6

TRIP TO HOLLAND

WANGANUI PIANIST COLIN HORSLEY ABROAD Music has not absorbed the whole of the time of Wanganui's talented young pianist, Colin Horsley, who is studying at the Royal College of Music, London. His letters to his parents contain vivid references to the many places of interest which have captured his attention. Among his most memorable experiences were a visit to Stratford on Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace, where he saw the poet's tomb, the memorial theatre and wonderful old cottage, and a visit to Holland'with a friend from New Zealand. Military Activity. They crossed the English Channel from Harwich to Hook-of-Holland in a tiny vessel named the s.s. Vienna. At Scheveningen, one of the seaside resorts which they visited on arrival, there were fortifications on the pier and sentries keeping ceaseless vigil over the harbour. Photography was forbidden and there were soldiers everywhere wearing duck-egg blue uniforms and tiny toy soldier hats. Wherever the New Zealanders went they were challenged by sentries. From Hook-of-Holland, Colin and his friend travelled in large Swiss buses to the Hague, where they inspected the Queen's Palace and Ihe Peace Palace, which is a permanent Court of Arbitration. Continuing their motor tour, they set out lor Amsterdam, stopping en route at Nachtengal, and Haerlam, which is the capital of North Holland. The New Zealanders were impressed by the beautifully clean nature of the country and the surprisingly large amount of reclamation that had been done. In Haerlam they saw the church where Mozart played the organ when he was 12 years of age. Colourful Ostetidam. Soon after arriving at Amsterdam, which has a population of 750,000, Colin and his friend took an extra ride on the Zuyder Zee to the colourful city of Osterdam, which is subsidised by the Government as is Rotorua. The people wear native costume and Colin took the opportunity to buy some clogs for a gilder (2s 4<D, to wear in the garden as they are beautifully warm. The New Zealanders had made the trip to Holland largely to see the famed hyacinths and tulips and they were not disappointed, for surrounding Ostendam, they found fields of glorious blooms, so bright in colour that they gave one a headache. Although the weather was terribly windy and cold, Colin and his friends had, in their own words, "a marvellous peep at Holland with its 8,000,000 people and 5,000,000 bicycles," before they arrived back at Hook-of-Holland by train from Amsterdam.