Day 16 (July 21, 2018):
This was the last full day of our vacation, and we purposely saved “the big enchilada” of the 12 cities on our European tour for the end: Amsterdam. With 850,000 people, and as the capital of the Netherlands, it definitely dwarfs the other seven Dutch cities we visited in terms of size and depth of sights to take in. It also has a much more Bohemian side and — as the average person’s stereotype would suggest — a very liberal approach to social and lifestyle issues. Say the name “Amsterdam”, and people tend to think legalized drugs and legalized prostitution.
In the Dam Square. That’s the Koninklijk Palace (Royal Palace) behind us.
Koninklijk Palace: most palaces offer a view of a limited number of rooms. But not so at Koninklijk Palace — we saw most of it! It started out as Amsterdam’s City Hall and later became the royal palace. This is the grand hall where the King hosts state dinners.
It is from this balcony, facing Dam Square, where the Dutch Royal Family makes appearances before the people, such as on royal wedding and coronation days.
Back in the days when Koninklijk Palace was the City Hall, it was in this room where death sentences (on average four per year) were handed down, as well as the means of death: beheading (considered the most respectful means), via “the rack”, etc.
This is the 22m high National Monument in Dam a Square to those who died in WWII.
Westerkerk, whose 85m tower is Amsterdam’s highest church tower. We were “climbed out” and didn’t tackle this one!
Anne Frank Huis (house), where the teenaged Jewish girl hid from the Nazis, along with her family.
They were eventually given up to the Nazis by a snitch and sent to a concentration camp. Anne died of typhoid two weeks before the camp was liberated. Only her father survived.
On the canal boat to the Rijksmuseum, this American couple was wearing t-shirts that stated, “We are sorry about our President...”
The famous Rijksmuseum. We gave it a two-hours intensive brain workout. But could have easily spent a week there.
If the museum’s top works, here are the top-top three: Vermeer’s “The Milk Maid”.
Rembrandt’s “Night Watch”.
Van Gogh’s self-portrait.
The museum also has a large collection of art works which are not paintings, such as a huge collection of famous Dutch “Delftware”.
The “I Amsterdam” sign behind the Rijksmuseum was so clogged with people, you can barely make out the letters!
Joseph Klibansky’s art installation, “Self-portrait of a Dreamer” occupies a prominent piece of real estate outside the Rijksmuseum. Chair + astronaut + floral bouquet = speechless.
Amsterdam’s premiere performing arts centre is - surprisingly - quite modern. We were expecting a very ornate building from the 1800s.
This is the Joods Historisch Museum (Jewish Historical Museum), in the Jewish Quarter. It incorporates the Great Synagogue, which - in the 1800s - was the world’s largest. The Nazis ransacked and closed it. It was heart-breaking to read that, of the relatively few Dutch Jews who survived the Holocaust, most were maltreated and treated with great suspicion after Liberation.
The dress of an Amsterdam Jewish girl, showing the Star of David emblem all Jews were required to wear during the Nazi Occupation.
Typical canal houses. A style very unique to the Netherlands.
Canal houses along the Amsel River.
The busy Saturday afternoon traffic on the River.
One of the 1300+ bridges in Amsterdam. Perhaps th most famous: called the Skinny Bridge.
Located in Nieuwmarket, this is Amsterdam’s “waag” or weigh-house.
The oldest church in the city - the Oude Kerk - is ironically at ground zero of the Red Light District.
This Red Light District cafe window sign will likely be an all-too-familiar type of sign you will see in Canada soon...
A window sign at the Prostitution Information Center, which “provides intelligent information about the Red Light District”.
Atop the A’DAM Lookout, the student population seemed to have taken over.
For those with no fear of heights, you can swing out over the edge of the observation deck. No thank you!!
The view of Amsterdam Central Station from atop the A’DAM Lookout.
Seven large river boats tied up in port. From atop the A’DAM Lookout.
Before heading back across the water, we visited this temporary (but excellent) exhibit on the world’s waste, set up in shipping containers.
Kilograms of waste per person, as shown at th Waste Land exhibition.
One last view of the historical side of Amsterdam Central Station, before boarding our train back to Rotterdam.
The city receives its name from the Amsel river that flows through the city. It is the only natural waterway — the myriad of canals that encircle Amsterdam are all man-made. Waterways are filled with boats, less busy than Venice’s canals (Amsterdam has a full network of driveable streets, unlike Venice), but quite busy all the same.
The train from Rotterdam to Amsterdam takes as little as 41 minutes, with just one stop at Schiphol Airport enroute. We took a train just before 8:30AM and started our exploration around 9:15AM. A large group of students boarded the train at Schiphol, one of whom had a joint hanging from his mouth. It was our introduction to the hedonism of Amsterdam, and believe me, the smell of pot was never too far away throughout the day.
Our tour started in the main square, known as the Dam, where we visited the Palace and other sights. From there we toured a church and stopped at Anne Frank’s house. (Back in mid-June, tours were already sold out for the month of July, so it was a huge disappointment not to be able to tour the house.) From there, we hopped on a canal boat and wormed our way to the Rijyksmuseum, the country’s prized art museum that is on the scale of Paris’ Louvre and London’s British Museum. From the Rijyks, we worked our way to the east of the city core, taking in Rembrandt’s 17th century home and the Jewish museum. Onwards to the trendy Nieuwmarkt area and a peek at part of the Red alight District. By that time, it was 6PM and our feet were begging us to stop! We made our way back to the central station, where we caught a ferry across the port to a newish observation tour for a summary view of our day’s efforts. An Asian dinner at the station, and we were back on the train to Rotterdam. We walked into our hotel room 13 hours after having left it, at 9:30PM.
Our original plan had been to return to Amsterdam very early Sunday morning, store our bags at the station, take in more sights, and then go directly to Schipol for our flight home. But we decided to cut ourselves some slack and sleep in. We tuned out the lights feeling good about what we had been able to see of Amsterdam.
In the Dam Square. That’s the Koninklijk Palace (Royal Palace) behind us.
Koninklijk Palace: most palaces offer a view of a limited number of rooms. But not so at Koninklijk Palace — we saw most of it! It started out as Amsterdam’s City Hall and later became the royal palace. This is the grand hall where the King hosts state dinners.
It is from this balcony, facing Dam Square, where the Dutch Royal Family makes appearances before the people, such as on royal wedding and coronation days.
Back in the days when Koninklijk Palace was the City Hall, it was in this room where death sentences (on average four per year) were handed down, as well as the means of death: beheading (considered the most respectful means), via “the rack”, etc.
This is the 22m high National Monument in Dam a Square to those who died in WWII.
Westerkerk, whose 85m tower is Amsterdam’s highest church tower. We were “climbed out” and didn’t tackle this one!
Anne Frank Huis (house), where the teenaged Jewish girl hid from the Nazis, along with her family.
They were eventually given up to the Nazis by a snitch and sent to a concentration camp. Anne died of typhoid two weeks before the camp was liberated. Only her father survived.
On the canal boat to the Rijksmuseum, this American couple was wearing t-shirts that stated, “We are sorry about our President...”
The famous Rijksmuseum. We gave it a two-hours intensive brain workout. But could have easily spent a week there.
If the museum’s top works, here are the top-top three: Vermeer’s “The Milk Maid”.
Rembrandt’s “Night Watch”.
Van Gogh’s self-portrait.
The museum also has a large collection of art works which are not paintings, such as a huge collection of famous Dutch “Delftware”.
The “I Amsterdam” sign behind the Rijksmuseum was so clogged with people, you can barely make out the letters!
Joseph Klibansky’s art installation, “Self-portrait of a Dreamer” occupies a prominent piece of real estate outside the Rijksmuseum. Chair + astronaut + floral bouquet = speechless.
Amsterdam’s premiere performing arts centre is - surprisingly - quite modern. We were expecting a very ornate building from the 1800s.
Unlike the country’s Van Gogh, who was completely unknown until a few years after his death in 1891, Rembrandt made a great living from his art. He bought this house in the 1600s, which has been refurnished to reflect all his possessions. How do they know what possessions he had? Well, the guy went bankrupt later in life and his house and possessions were logged and sold by his creditors!
This is the Joods Historisch Museum (Jewish Historical Museum), in the Jewish Quarter. It incorporates the Great Synagogue, which - in the 1800s - was the world’s largest. The Nazis ransacked and closed it. It was heart-breaking to read that, of the relatively few Dutch Jews who survived the Holocaust, most were maltreated and treated with great suspicion after Liberation.
The dress of an Amsterdam Jewish girl, showing the Star of David emblem all Jews were required to wear during the Nazi Occupation.
Typical canal houses. A style very unique to the Netherlands.
Canal houses along the Amsel River.
The busy Saturday afternoon traffic on the River.
One of the 1300+ bridges in Amsterdam. Perhaps th most famous: called the Skinny Bridge.
Located in Nieuwmarket, this is Amsterdam’s “waag” or weigh-house.
The oldest church in the city - the Oude Kerk - is ironically at ground zero of the Red Light District.
This Red Light District cafe window sign will likely be an all-too-familiar type of sign you will see in Canada soon...
A window sign at the Prostitution Information Center, which “provides intelligent information about the Red Light District”.
Across the water from Central Station is the 2016 “A’DAM Lookout”, a trendy spot from which to view the city. It was our final stop on this jam-packed day.
Atop the A’DAM Lookout, the student population seemed to have taken over.
For those with no fear of heights, you can swing out over the edge of the observation deck. No thank you!!
The view of Amsterdam Central Station from atop the A’DAM Lookout.
Seven large river boats tied up in port. From atop the A’DAM Lookout.
Before heading back across the water, we visited this temporary (but excellent) exhibit on the world’s waste, set up in shipping containers.
Kilograms of waste per person, as shown at th Waste Land exhibition.
One last view of the historical side of Amsterdam Central Station, before boarding our train back to Rotterdam.
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