Eindhoven

On Friday we stopped in Eindhoven to explore a bit before catching a flight to Ireland. Our only image of the town came from the series Band of Brothers; it was one of the first towns liberated by the Allies in the Netherlands. The city was largely destroyed by air raids in WWII (including Allied bombing during Operation Market Garden). Unfortunately, the city was rebuilt in the sixties and is now largely a jumble of big, ugly concrete block buildings. Today the town is mostly industrial, with a quarter of its residents working in the technology and ICT field. Philips built its first light bulb factory here, but has since moved to Amsterdam in search of a larger workforce.We walked through the city center, filled with chain stores, a few McDonalds, a Burger King, and a KFC, on the way to the modern art museum. Our favorite exhibit at the Van Abbemuseum was by Dan Perjovschi. The exhibit was a room filled with simple drawings reflecting current political, economic, and culture headlines.

I'd like to say we will be back, but it's highly unlikely unless we have another flight to catch out of the Eindhoven Airport.