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engineering achievement, but more importantly because it passes through
Russian territory that was until 1940 a part of Finland.
Another European example is the vast canal system of the Netherlands
and Belgium. Holland's waterways have long exuded much intrigue among
tourists and contributed to the overall urban appeal of Amsterdam and the
rural idyll of the Dutch countryside (Bakkal & Scaperlanda, 1991) (Figure
2.7). The canals are an important part of the stereotyped Dutch cultural
landscape and in essence have become intentional and unintentional pro-
jected images of the Netherlands (Dahles, 1998; van Gorp & Béneker, 2007).
According to Waterman et al. (1998), there are more than 2400 km of pass-
able inland waterways in the Netherlands, which form an intricate network
of aqua-trails that can be navigated by recreational boats and small cruise
ships. Hundreds of these canals are paralleled by bicycle and walking trails,
forming a unique and interdependent relationship between canal towpaths
and the waterways themselves (de Vink, 1989). Like the Netherlands,
Belgium is home to many navigable canals. One of the most popular destina-
tions in Belgium is Bruges - a city admired for its medieval canals which, like
the case of Venice, double as urban 'streets' and byways. Bruges' canal net-
work not only provides a means of transportation for residents, it also is one
of the city's most visited tourist attractions (Vanhove, 2002).
Political borders
There are many trails crisscrossing international and subnational poli-
tical borders. There are also a number that use international boundaries
and their demarcations as the basis for their trailmarkings. The Haute
Randonnée Pyrénéenne, a long-distance footpath in the Pyrenees, parallels
Figure 2.7 A small-scale navigable canal in the Netherlands
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