We checked out Tilburg today. It is the 5th largest city in the Netherlands. When the textile industry collapsed in the 1960’s the city went thru a period of modernization and one mayor in particular oversaw the razing of many of the older buildings in the city to replace them with “modern” buildings. His decision to tear down the historic city hall and replace it with a nine story black rectangle is particularly lamented now.
The skyline is filled with typical office towers and high rise apartments. We tend to like Dutch modern architecture a little better than what we see in the US, but it is still mostly tall rectangles.
Lately the city has been trying to repurpose the older buildings rather than tear them down. The best example is the city library which was built in an old locomotive repair building.
They have done a fantastic job of converting the interior of this industrial space into a modern and airy library. It retains some of the details from the old use including a 30 ton crane that was used to lift the locomotives. But the library space is well done and quite airy. Both Ton and I really enjoyed walking around the building and admiring the details that went into the conversion. This building is really unique. Ton really enjoys libraries and book shops and they are unfortunately becoming fewer and fewer in this digital age. This library is one of her favorites.
After we left the library we headed into the city center. Yesterday the town seemed kind of quiet, but Saturday brought out the local people and the town was much more vibrant. We were enjoying the town when we saw the main church and headed in. In a country that is mostly Protestant this part of the country is Catholic so we were curious to see the church.
As we entered a gentleman hit us with a quick blast of Dutch and as soon as he could tell it did not register he switched to English. Ton and I were talking about how spoiled we are in the Netherlands. Very few Dutch do not speak English well, and as a result we have learned almost no Dutch. Also, some of the common words are the same such Hello, and Sorry, words you usually learn in other languages.
To get back to the story, he told us there was a concert getting ready to start at the front of the church and we were welcome to sit in. A young cellist gave a very nice 45 minute concert that I really enjoyed. He was a very talented young man and did a terrific job. We were glad we walked in when we did.
Our next stop was the port in Tilburg. It is a river port as we are quite a way inland. It was a nice walk and they had a few interesting old canal boats docked there.
Walking back we came upon the Saturday market and Tons day was made. We spent a lot of time going from stand to stand and ended up with some rotisserie chicken, and white asparagus. We also indulged in what the Dutch call kibble, which is fried cod. The markets never disappoint over here.
After the market we decided to head back to François to enjoy our chicken and relax for the rest of the day.
Libraries are the best!