A Day in Amsterdam
Amsterdam is a truly beautiful city that reminded me much more of Venice than I expected. I only had about 8 hours to explore this extraordinary city, and so I made the most of it! The dreary weather and delayed spring lead me to visit more museums rather than gardens, but I thoroughly enjoyed my day!
I started the day at Anne Frank's house and museum. I was deeply moved by her story of hope. Anne and her family lived in a small apartment for about two years never being allowed into the outside world due to fear of being discovered. Anne, wanting to be a journalist, kept a diary. After a plea she heard on the radio from the Dutch government to keep all documentation, Anne even went back and edited her diary. The family was discovered and they were sent off to the unimaginable concentration camps. Anne died there just a month before the liberation. Her story is heartbreaking and inspirational. During my visit, I couldn't help but try to plan ways of incorporating her story into my lesson on the Civil Rights back home.
On my way to the museum, I heard the bells of the Westerkerk, knowing they had always been a constant to Anne, in a way comforted me, and also encouraged me that I was in fact headed in the right direction. So after my visit to Anne's home, I decided to visit the church. I paid a small fee and was guided up the tower by a young, energetic guide. I got to ring a bell that was over 300 years old and see the original "piano" that was used to play the bells. Apparently, once a week, a musician climbs the narrow stairs and plays classical or sometimes even modern songs on the bells controlling them with a sort of piano. The tower provided great views of the city that of course would have been prettier on a less dreary day, but nevertheless, it was well-worth the climb.
I walked down a couple of narrow canals nearby that my guidebook had recommended because of their beauty and tranquility. One was quite quaint, once being the home of artisans and another had once been home to some of the wealthy dye makers in the city.
My next stop was the Floating Flower Markets where fairly permanent buildings spilled over from the canals onto the sidewalks breaming with fresh tulips, bulbs and all sorts of Dutch keepsakes.
As I had poured over my guidebook, I noticed that on one of the wealthy canals there was a cat museum. I had never seen a cat museum before and as a cat lover, I decided that was a must for me although I had no real idea of what I was getting myself into. In the lobby there were several live exhibits, or perhaps just pets, that welcomed me in and didn't mind a bit of stroking. The rest of the museum was famous posters and beautiful pieces of art that all contained cats. There was even a Picasso and a Rembrandt! The museum, which was an old home was beautiful with high ceilings that included paintings of angels in the heavens (typical angels, not the little furry ones). On my way out I enquired about the museum and it seems it is just a personal collection of a very wealthy man.
My guidebook had highlighted a small museum that sounded intriguing and as it was still raining, I headed to the "Our Lord in the Attic" museum. In the early seventeenth century, the Protestants took over Amsterdam and it became illegal to be a Catholic. It seems that the wealthy Catholic families in town were sort of overlooked as long as they didn't worship in public. One such merchant purchase three connected homes on the edge of the red light district and turned the top few floors into a church, an actual working church complete with a marble altar, pews, two levels of galleries and later on there was even an organ. It is predicted that over a million Catholics worshipped here in the over two hundred years that it was a working church. The Church of Saint Nicholas, a huge Catholic Church dedicated to the patron saint of the city, is now just around the corner and Catholics are free to worship in the open rather than in the attic.
There was still about an hour and a half before museums started closing and I decided I should make the most of it. Obviously, I should have chosen one of the many famous art museums chocked full of well-known pieces of art by famous artists. But my appreciation for art is greatly lacking, so I decided instead to visit two small museums that truly interested me: cheese and tulips. Both museums were quite small but very well done. The Dutch are known for their cheese, in fact those wooden shoes we know them for were actually worn in large part for protection of their feet, I assume due to the weight of the cows' hoofs. I learned a bit more about how cheese was made and got to the see the diamond crusted cheese slicer designed by a local jewelry maker. As for the tulips, there was a lot I didn't know! They are originally from the Himalayan mountain range and the sandy mountains of Turkey. They apparently do well in sandy places with cold winters, wet springs and warm summers. Slowly, the kings throughout Europe began seeking these flowers, admiring them for their beauty. In the early 1600s, the flowers were so desired as a sign of wealth that a bulb of these unique flowers cost the same as a nice home along the canals. Some people even sold their homes in order to purchase a bulb! The tulip market crashed in the 1630s as people began realizing how foolish it all was. The tulips, obviously, made a come back and are now a major industry in Holland, but even we commoners can afford a roof over our heads and a handful of these beautiful bulbs!
I could have easily stayed a few more days in Amsterdam, but I made the very most of my time and thoroughly enjoyed this city steeped in history, culture and beauty.
I started the day at Anne Frank's house and museum. I was deeply moved by her story of hope. Anne and her family lived in a small apartment for about two years never being allowed into the outside world due to fear of being discovered. Anne, wanting to be a journalist, kept a diary. After a plea she heard on the radio from the Dutch government to keep all documentation, Anne even went back and edited her diary. The family was discovered and they were sent off to the unimaginable concentration camps. Anne died there just a month before the liberation. Her story is heartbreaking and inspirational. During my visit, I couldn't help but try to plan ways of incorporating her story into my lesson on the Civil Rights back home.
On my way to the museum, I heard the bells of the Westerkerk, knowing they had always been a constant to Anne, in a way comforted me, and also encouraged me that I was in fact headed in the right direction. So after my visit to Anne's home, I decided to visit the church. I paid a small fee and was guided up the tower by a young, energetic guide. I got to ring a bell that was over 300 years old and see the original "piano" that was used to play the bells. Apparently, once a week, a musician climbs the narrow stairs and plays classical or sometimes even modern songs on the bells controlling them with a sort of piano. The tower provided great views of the city that of course would have been prettier on a less dreary day, but nevertheless, it was well-worth the climb.
I walked down a couple of narrow canals nearby that my guidebook had recommended because of their beauty and tranquility. One was quite quaint, once being the home of artisans and another had once been home to some of the wealthy dye makers in the city.
My next stop was the Floating Flower Markets where fairly permanent buildings spilled over from the canals onto the sidewalks breaming with fresh tulips, bulbs and all sorts of Dutch keepsakes.
As I had poured over my guidebook, I noticed that on one of the wealthy canals there was a cat museum. I had never seen a cat museum before and as a cat lover, I decided that was a must for me although I had no real idea of what I was getting myself into. In the lobby there were several live exhibits, or perhaps just pets, that welcomed me in and didn't mind a bit of stroking. The rest of the museum was famous posters and beautiful pieces of art that all contained cats. There was even a Picasso and a Rembrandt! The museum, which was an old home was beautiful with high ceilings that included paintings of angels in the heavens (typical angels, not the little furry ones). On my way out I enquired about the museum and it seems it is just a personal collection of a very wealthy man.
My guidebook had highlighted a small museum that sounded intriguing and as it was still raining, I headed to the "Our Lord in the Attic" museum. In the early seventeenth century, the Protestants took over Amsterdam and it became illegal to be a Catholic. It seems that the wealthy Catholic families in town were sort of overlooked as long as they didn't worship in public. One such merchant purchase three connected homes on the edge of the red light district and turned the top few floors into a church, an actual working church complete with a marble altar, pews, two levels of galleries and later on there was even an organ. It is predicted that over a million Catholics worshipped here in the over two hundred years that it was a working church. The Church of Saint Nicholas, a huge Catholic Church dedicated to the patron saint of the city, is now just around the corner and Catholics are free to worship in the open rather than in the attic.
There was still about an hour and a half before museums started closing and I decided I should make the most of it. Obviously, I should have chosen one of the many famous art museums chocked full of well-known pieces of art by famous artists. But my appreciation for art is greatly lacking, so I decided instead to visit two small museums that truly interested me: cheese and tulips. Both museums were quite small but very well done. The Dutch are known for their cheese, in fact those wooden shoes we know them for were actually worn in large part for protection of their feet, I assume due to the weight of the cows' hoofs. I learned a bit more about how cheese was made and got to the see the diamond crusted cheese slicer designed by a local jewelry maker. As for the tulips, there was a lot I didn't know! They are originally from the Himalayan mountain range and the sandy mountains of Turkey. They apparently do well in sandy places with cold winters, wet springs and warm summers. Slowly, the kings throughout Europe began seeking these flowers, admiring them for their beauty. In the early 1600s, the flowers were so desired as a sign of wealth that a bulb of these unique flowers cost the same as a nice home along the canals. Some people even sold their homes in order to purchase a bulb! The tulip market crashed in the 1630s as people began realizing how foolish it all was. The tulips, obviously, made a come back and are now a major industry in Holland, but even we commoners can afford a roof over our heads and a handful of these beautiful bulbs!
I could have easily stayed a few more days in Amsterdam, but I made the very most of my time and thoroughly enjoyed this city steeped in history, culture and beauty.
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