On January 5 we went to the city of Amsterdam (the largest
city and the capital of the Netherlands) . . . . what can I say about Amsterdam
that is not inappropriate to post on my blog. . ?!?
I guess I could tell you about the historical buildings of
Amsterdam . . . It was here in Amsterdam that the Frank family hid in the walls
of one small house and where the diary of Anne Frank was written. We were able to view that same house from the
outside as well as a statue of Anne Frank.
Had we wanted to see the inside bad enough we could have stood in a line
that was several hours long . . . we decided, however, that it would be more
beneficial to see the rest of the city as we were only there on a day tour.
Westerkerk is a protestant chrurch built from 1620-1631. It is here in this church where the famous artist Rembrandt Van Rijn is buried. We were able to find a bit of piece inside
this church as we sat and enjoyed the music and remaining Christmas
decorations.
We walked by the Royal Palace, which is one of three
palaces in the Netherlands at the disposal of Queen Beatrix by Act of
Parliament. The palace was built as a city hall during the Dutch Golden Age in
the 17th century. The palace is open to visitors most of the year . . . just
not when we were there. . .
Amsterdam is built on a series of canals which makes the
city quite lovely. There are also more
bikes than cars.
There is a 1956 World War 2 monument set up on Dam Square
which was quite moving. In the words of Wikipedia,” The central element of the monument is a concrete
conical pillar 22 metres in height, covered entirely by white travertine stone.
On the front of the pillar is a relief entitled De Vrede
("Peace"), consisting of four chained male figures, representing the
suffering endured during the war. To either side of these central figures are
two male sculptures representing members of the Dutch resistance, the left
figure symbolizing the resistance by the intelligentsia and the right figure
symbolizing the resistance by the working classes. Weeping dogs are at their
feet, representing suffering and loyalty. Above the central relief is a
sculpture of a woman with a child in her arms and doves flying around her,
representing victory, peace, and new life. A relief of the back side of the pillar
shows doves ascending into the sky, symbolizing the liberation.”
The red light district is as crazy as everything you have
heard . . . and we witness it all . . . probably not going back. *yikes* There are comfy “coffee shops” which
specialize in a product other than “coffee”.
Window shopping has a whole new meaning in Amsterdam. *double yikes* Even the tourist shops
throughout the city held many different items that should only be seen in the
back corner of some dark, dingy, heavily guarded against anyone-younger-than-18
store. I was in a state of shock and it
was with a sigh of relief that I left that city . . . it is probably a lovely
place in the summer . . I just don’t think I will go back to see if it is or
not . . .
On the way to the city, our tour bus stopped at a cheese
factory that also produced the classic wooden clogs. It was delightful! We were given
demonstrations of how the clogs were made as well as the cheese. We also received samples of the cheese which
caused us to break down a buy a few. I
also bought a neat half-made shoe for the storage of my pens and pencils.
