The wrecks are strewn over the seabed, which is now a polder. When excavated, they are a treasure- trove for archaeologists. Wreckage from allied planes that crashed over the water during the war is also found occasionally. Sometimes, the crew was unable to extricate itself, and the remains are carefully recovered, relatives are traced, in Britain, America or wherever, and the bodies are sent for burial with the honour they deserve, fifty years on. The 7.10 train to Lelystad is a double-decker.
Second class is almost as comfortable as first class.
It doesn't matter whether you sit on the right or on the left, but the view is better from the upper deck. At first, you don't really notice that we're leaving Amsterdam behind us, because the city extends like all modern cities, with endless housing estates, forcefully modern offices and factories. Little by little, the cities are eating away at the meadows, that's very obvious here. Between Amsterdam and Weesp, we see the Netherlands' biggest problem, the struggle over the distribution of land. Every square foot is fought over by city planners and communicators and the ecologists, defenders of the ancient countryside.