Building Liberty. Canada and world peace, 1945-2005
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The city of Middelburg
Middelburg, the capital of the Zeeland province in the Southwest of the Netherlands, was originally the central fortress in the defence line built to protect the island of Walcheren against the Vikings more than a thousand years ago. Later it became an important harbour for cities like Bruges and Antwerp. The city became a major port of the Dutch East India Company during the Netherlands' Golden Age. The city centre was heavily damaged in the Second World War. Despite this, Middelburg is still a very pretty city with lots of nice gables, picturesque streets, interesting museums and hidden city gardens.
The venue: Roosevelt Academy
Roosevelt Academy is a small Liberal Arts & Sciences College located in the heart of Middelburg, in the historic town hall (Stadhuis). Roosevelt Academy offers internationally oriented undergraduate education. Roosevelt Academy, founded by Utrecht University and the Hogeschool Zeeland is an International Honours College of Utrecht University. Students follow courses in Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences and Science during their intensive three-year program. Roosevelt Academy offers students a residential setting in which the foundations are laid for their academic and/or professional careers.
Address: Lange Noordstraat 1, 4331 CB Middelburg, The Netherlands. Click here for a scalable interactive map.
Getting there
From Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, you can travel to Middelburg by train. Every 16 minutes past the hour there is a direct train, usually leaving from platform 5 underneath the central hall of the airport. From Amsterdam, it is a 2.5-hour train ride to Middelburg. A one-way fare is €23,80. (Return tickets are only for return trips on the same day.) In the main hall in the airport there are many yellow train ticket machines. There is also a ticket office from the Netherlands Railways, where someone will be glad to help you out. You can find information about buying tickets and the Netherlands Railways on www.ns.nl. From the Brussels Airport, travel time by train to Middelburg is about the same, even though you need to change trains twice, at the Brussels North station and the Roosendaal station. Trains from Brussels North (ten minutes by train from the airport with frequent connections) to Roosendaal leave every hour at two minutes past the hour. From Roosendaal, trains to Middelburg leave every 11 and 45 minutes past the hour (one-way ticket: €9.70). Lower airfares to Brussels might make this option attractive to you. You can find information about the Belgium Railways and buy train tickets from Brussels to Middelburg at http://www.b-rail.be/corp/E/ .
Places to stay
We recommend Hotel De Nieuwe Doelen(***). It is centrally located in Middelburg. The address is Loskade 3-7, 4331 HV Middelburg. They have 30 rooms that range from €70 to €140. Contact information for this hotel: tel. +31 118-612121, fax. +31 118-636699, E-mail nddoelen@zeelandnet.nl. We have pre-bookings for this hotel. Contact Conny Steenman-Marcusse if you would like to make use of our existing reservations.
Next to this hotel there is Hotel du Commerce(***), Loskade 1, tel. +31 118-636051, fax: +31 118-626400, website: www.fletcher.nl (click on 'hotels' and select this hotel), E-mail: info-ducommerce@fletcher.nl.
An alternative is the Best Western Hotel Arneville (****), located on Buitenruststraat 22, 4337 EH Middelburg. They have 44 rooms that range in price from €78 to €161. Contact information for this hotel: tel. +31 118-638456, fax. +31 118-615154, website: www.hotelarneville.nl, E-mail: info@hotelarneville.nl.
If you prefer something slightly quainter, you can opt for a Bed & Breakfast. There are many hotels and B&Bs in Middelburg, which you can find and book on http://www.book-a-hotel-in-middelburg.com/nl/ or www.touristshop.nl.
Information regarding a delightful small hotel (seven non-smoking rooms) in a 17th century building in the centre of Middelburg can be found on www.aandedamhotel.nl.