Excursion to Amsterdam

This past Saturday I went into Amsterdam for the very first time!  I have to say I had a really good time in this city, and I didn't even walk into a coffeeshop (though there were plenty of them).











The international student organization, ESN (Erasmus Student Network, which was founded in Utrecht) organized this excursion and about 50 people went in all.  We met in the Utrecht train station and left around 10 am. The first thing we did was walk to De Dom (a big square across from the Royal Palace that no Dutch royal has lived in and by the World War II monument).  There we were divided into 2 groups and went on city tours from freelance guides.  Our guide was from Portland, OR who was learning about his roots since he was born in the Netherlands but moved away when he was young. He took us through the red light district and some touristy parts right along the canal, then went down to the Jewish district and by one of the old gates into the city. It was definitely an interesting tour with lots of things about prostitution and history.

The Jewish district was different from the rest of the city as it was more modern and the new buildings were a result of Cubism.  Basically during WWII there was an extremely cold, long hard winter towards the end of the war, resulting in everything that could be possibly eaten eaten, every single tree in Amsterdam cut down for firewood, and then ransacking the Jewish district since all the Jews were taken to concentration camps. So even though a bomb didn't hit the city, apparently it looked like one did in that particular section of the city.

By the Jewish district is also one of the old gates of the city, which then became the new marketplace when the city expanded.  There were lots of executions that took place there...and fairly gruesome. (i.e. having a line of 26 people being drawn and quartered one by one...imagine the 26th person...)  There was a particular gruesome story of some executions...so if you want to hear that one, ask me specifically...I don't want to gross everyone out.  Anyways most of these executions were towards the Anabaptists...the crazys at the time, though the idea that a person should wait until they are older to take Jesus Christ into their life lives on with the Baptists now.

Anyways...after the city tour, we went to park and ate lunch and then hopped on over to the Rijksmusuem, which is basically a Dutch history musuem expressed mainly through art (whethere it be paintings, pottery, sculptures, etc...). They had definitely some famous paintings there like the Nightwatch by Rembrandt and the Girl with the Milk Jug by Vermeer.

Afterwards we walked back towards the train station and went on a canal boat tour...on which I fell asleep for about 20 minutes during the middle of it. Honestly didn't mean to, my body just said you are taking a nap right now, no ands buts or questions. I kind of forget now what was said...so I guess I will have to take another tour in the future, but this time I would like one with a real person speaking as opposed to the automated tour that they had...which baiscally lulled me to sleep.

Oh I almost forgot, most of the houses in Amsterdam have these hooks at the top of them and the older ones lean forward.  Now leaning forward isn't a bad thing as they were made that way.  It all came about because merchants lived along these canals since that is how they got their goods deliver, but they didn't have any basements due to the high water table, flooding and rats. Therefore they put their goods in the attic, but to get it up there they used a robe over the hook to pull them up, so smart!  Nowadays these hooks are useful for bringing up things like pianos or a new washer, etc and if you hear a BOOM, it is because whoever was pulling up these items accidentally let the robe slip...and smash, you need to buy a new one.

If you ever see a house that is leaning to the one side though...that is a bad thing as somewhere in the foundation there was a mistake or some airpocket and basically you have to have people come to your house and set it level every so often.  The houses are also often narrow with super steep stairwells to maximize the space. Our tour guide told us often times it is like climbing a ladder instead of a stairwell.

To continue after the canal tour, we had about 1.5 hours of free time where we could meandering our way to the Italian restuarant we were eating at that night, closer to the musuems and the city theater.  A group of us stopped by a pancake resturant and had pancakes with hot chocolate, so good!!! (though the waitress was mad that one of the drinks spilled, but she didn't hand them out...just plopped the whole drink tray on the table and said take them. We didn't noticed that one of the drinks was on top of the other saucers...!)


We went to an Italian pizzeria/pasta place that night and had a really good time. I sat with 2 girls from Greece and the Netherlands and then a redhead guy from Italy (totally throws you off because you expect a British or Irish accent...not Italian). So after dinner, 1/2 of the group stayed on in Amsterdam to go to bars and clubs until who knows when, while the rest went back home to Utrecht. I went home then with the Greek girl and Italian guy, who happened to also live in the Warande complex I live in, in Zeist...even funnir they are my next door neighbors, literally across the hall from my apartment. So by the time I got home it was 1 am and I was exhausted.