#5 Exploring Amsterdam

Sunday, September 18, 2011,

  Hello to all of our friends and family. I know Don has filled you in with a lot of history, a lot of facts. He is a Lawyer, after all, and a darned good one, except at home. I really appreciate him keeping specific records of our activities because I am not good sorting things out chronologically later. I’m better geared to share with you some of my feelings that come along with this Gigantic Undertaking. First, you all know that I was totally supportive of our move, though I wasn’t sure of what I would be doing while Don was in Class. I do know that I love adventure and am usually open to it, especially when it’s with the love of my life. If you’ve read the previous blogs then you read about our pass-ports getting stolen off the train in Antwerp. I don’t think Don told you about the part where I actually got off the train and started chasing the man across the station. I’m still mad that I didn’t get him, but at least I got back to the train before it left. Misfortunes are often turned around to become fortunes.

  Our stolen passports expedited our trip to Amsterdam where we had to reapply for new ones. We took the train from Utrecht to Amsterdam and arrived an hour earlier than our appointment, so rather than find a nice cafe to have breakfast, Don said, “Why don’t we just walk to the embassy? It’s just a 40-50 minute walk, and that’s how our day progressed. Walk Walk Walk (And by the way, for all you ladies out there, walking does not make your thighs thinner. I am living proof). But on a positive note, I have to give Don credit, the walk was very interesting. Right outside the train station The Red Light District sprawls over several city blocks.  It is very much in business still today, and supported by the Dutch Government. So if you are ever having married problems, don’t send your husband to Amsterdam. I was having ill thoughts about the whole thing and so I avoided doing the  typical tourist thing of walking through there, and of course Don was not going to go without me. There are just too many other good things to see in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Centraal Train Station

  Also in direct view from the train station are towering old Cathedrals and Castle Like structures. When you come out of the train station you cannot help but be overwhelmed and awestruck by  all the marvelous works that were constructed hundreds of years ago and are still kept in pristine condition today. The embassy sits in the center of town and so we casually made our way there. It was still early and so the sidewalks weren’t swarming with people yet and the roads only had a few automobiles on them. This gave us a chance to get a really good look at the architecture surrounding us, and peer into the store front windows and dream about having all  the money in the world to buy all the latest fashions. After window shopping we passed Queen Beatrix Palace. It is said that this is her main palace, but she stays mostly in The Hague because it is more private. The palace in Amsterdam sits on a thoroughfare road. It doesn’t feel fitting for a Queen, but I certainly wouldn’t mind residing there. We’ve posted some pictures for you.  

Some serious competition for Starbucks

  Since we are talking about  the area of the palace let me tell you what I discovered in the adjacent narrow street, of which there are many.  Not one, not two, but several “Coffee shops” (marijuana bars).  The street was lined with them. I took  two minutes to explore inside one just to check it out, but Don was not comfortable hanging outside waiting on me.  Did he think he was going to see some old friends there. huh?  hee! hee!  Mostly I just noticed the many and varied bongs, of  which I have no personal experience. The shops are always marked with plants in the windows, and old guys hanging around out front. It really is interesting because you don’t see people walking around looking stoned and they don’t have the homeless population that Modesto has. There are signs posted that say, “Get high responsibly.”  Now there’s something to think about.

   Finally reaching the Embassy, we filed our papers for our new PassPorts and got them turned in. The officials in the office were extremely helpful and kind, and it only took 8 days to get our new passports in the mail. Once we left the embassy, Don said, ”Where do you want to walk to now?” I said, “A little food in my stomach might be a good start.”  And so we ate at this  quaint little restaurant filled with locals and tourists alike and they served us a breakfast fit for a king. I am so glad that we usually share because there is no way either one of us could have consumed it alone. With our tummies full we set off for the Rembrandt Museum. It was the first time I have ever had to stand in line to get into a museum. They put your backpacks through the X-Ray machine and then promptly made you check them in before you entered the rooms. Talk about security. What an awesome place it is.  I love so many of the Rembrandt pieces, but I couldn’t bargain a good price for them. For whatever reason I really like Vermeer's painting of the “Girl with the Pearl earring” and also his painting of the “Maid.” Don’t be surprised if I come home with them. We will be spending more days at this museum, and we have to go  to The Hague to the Maurits House, where the original painting of “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” is. Museums are mostly appreciated by visiting them several times and so that is our plan.

   We left the museum and Don reminded me that Amsterdam was the place that Anne Frank and her family hid out for 25 months during the German occupation of Holland. Such a sad story, as so many are. They were discovered hiding just a month or so before the Liberation. And all of them were sent to different concentration camps. Anne’s father was the only one to survive and with his permission their living area  was restored to the exact replica of how it was when they were living there, so that all of us could remember. I felt honored to have such an intimate setting shared with me, and humbled and ashamed for what happened to the Jewish People at that time. May we teach our children to respect all people.

  The Embassy, the Museum, and the Anne Frank’s House was enough emotional intake for me for one day. And, we had been walking for hours now. So upon my insistence we stopped at one of the many canal  bridges that connect the streets in Amsterdam, and indulged in a  Large local beer and some Dutch appetizers. There we sat for a good hour or more and “people-watched.” They watched us and we watched them. It’s great!

  We left for Amsterdam at 7:00 AM and arrived back in Utrecht around 9:00 PM.  Ready to hit the sacks!

Streets of Amsterdam

St. Nicholas Church

End of the Day