AMSTERDAM DAYS SIX & SEVEN

Friday       May 18^th, 2018            58 degrees….overcast and cool     A day off!

A lazy day off today, we slept in until well after 8 am.  About 9:30 we watched as the owners of the building used the pulley at the top of nearly every building, including ours, to haul some heavy bags up to the third floor rather than carry them up the very steep steps.   Our steps are not unusual here in Amsterdam, they are all built this way it seems.  Fun seeing them do this.  We also continued to watch the construction on the block.  The digging of the dirt is over, and today they have delivered what looks like materials to put in concrete forms eventually.   I hope that we are still here when they do the cement!

Got a great email from my sister Mary about the fact that she and her daughter are going to be witnessing the royal wedding tomorrow in a local theater.   They’re showing it on a big screen and the people are dressing up with special hats in honor of the day.   Should be fun for them.   I think I’ll have to wait for Facebook and the Wi-Fi to see the photos.  We don’t have a television here in the apartment.  

I kept busy this morning mending our seat cushion ties.   They really help soften the wood chairs at   And, since I’ve been working all day on various things on the computer; much needed.

our table.

I have completely caught up with writing my journal entries on the computer.  It helps that I’ve written daily notes in my notebook; easier to remember what we did each day.  We went for a short walk to the grocery store, only half a mile each way, and picked up food for two days.   Then Jim took a two mile walk to the violin repair shop for the exercise.

It’s been a good rest day and we’ll end with our daily card game after dinner.  Then I plan to read my books on the Kindle.  Tomorrow its back to being a tourist again!

Saturday         May 19^th, 2018           THE ROYAL WEDDING DAY       clear but cold weather

Awake at 8 am, overcast and COLD.  Heard from Bill H that he was back to work after his broken leg, always good to hear good news from home.   I’d finished the first nine chapters of my book last night and read a few more this morning before braving the cool morning air outside of my warm bed.  We only have one blanket but it likes sleeping in a feather bed!  Love it!  

At 10:30 we left the house and walked to Tram # 4. We stopped along the way at the Restaurant that we’d seen yesterday that looked like one we’d like to have a meal at.  The name Ratatouille caught our attention.  Sure enough in the window were little stuffed mice because of the movie of the same name.  Alas, they looked like they were permanently closed!   So we’ll have to find another restaurant for our Sunday evening meal.  

We purchased an all-day ticket and headed towards Central Station.   We hopped off the Tram at Dam Station and walked over to the Royal Palace and the New Church.    The palace was originally built as the City Hall.  During the reign of Napoleon, the Netherlands were taken by the French and his brother was installed as the King.  He made the city hall his palace and it has remained a “palace” ever since.   And it is VERY palatial!   Huge marble central hall where banquets are held for visiting dignitaries from around the world.  The royal apartments are used to house visiting dignitaries.  The bedrooms were glassed in so we could see the very valuable furniture without any possibility of damage!   But the free audio guides were done in all languages and one had a choice of an adult version or one in a child’s voice for children by children.    We walked into the Old Church next door, a mammoth cathedral that is now used for exhibits and you must pay to actually get inside to see the interior of the old church.   We glanced between the barriers and got a good enough view to then head out and on to our next quest.

Before noon we were out walking the Jordaan Walk in our Rick Steve’s Book.  The name comes from the fact that this is a very picturesque area to walk among six charming canals, homes, and shops.   We stopped at the Tulip Museum where you could purchase bulbs packaged for the trip home.  Then the Delft Blue Shop next door where I priced a five-fingered vase; only 350 euros!    I sat it back on the shelf very carefully.  We walked to the Wester-kerk church then on to the Anne Frank House.  Both very crowded on this Saturday afternoon.   There is now a statue of her in the park near her home.   Also at the church there is a memorial for all of the homosexuals that were killed during WW II by the Nazis.  

I’ve mentioned several times of places we’ve visited on previous trips to Amsterdam; so I went to my Blog and typed in the word Amsterdam last night.   In an instant it had pulled up two blogs: 

 1)  9/23/2000 when we stayed in Haarlan and came to Amsterdam by train one day to visit the Anne Frank Museum and the Rijksmuseum.  Walked around the Red Light District and scooted back to Haarlan on the train.   Haarlan is a beautiful town to stay in, very old.

2)  7/3/2010, our 50^th wedding anniversary trip, we stayed southeast of the city at the Hotel Tulip Inn.  We had to walk a piece to the Metro Station, it was the last stop then, and rode the Metro into the city to the Rembrandts House/Museum where we did a tour, we walked through the street market that we visited this week while walking to the Rijksmuseum which was undergoing extensive remodeling at the time.  Then back on the Metro and out of the city.   We really missed the charm of this city that you find when you walk extensive through the different areas.   Staying eleven days has given us the advantage of really getting to know a wonderful city. 

We also learned about “Nee” or “Ja”, no or yes, from the Amsterdam book.   The postal system allows people to determine if they want junk mail or not.  Mail is delivered in a slot in the door and on the slot you can indicate whether or not you want junk mail delivered.    Always fun to learn the little things about everyday life in a new country.  

By 1 pm we were on the Tram # 13 and heading to an outlying area of the city called Geuzenveld.  We noticed many muslin woman with their distinctive head covering and long coats.  We also saw a minaret in the distance indicating a Mosque.    We’ve yet to see an area where the buildings are not well kept and new construction always happening.   The area is to the west of Central Station, about a 30 minute ride from the city Center.   Amsterdam has a very well mixed population from around the world sprinkled in every area of the city.   We were back at Central Station by 2:15 pm and jumped aboard Tram # 2 for another thirty minute ride each way to Niew Sloten, located southwest of the Central Station.   Definitely a fun and easy way to see extensive parts of the city.  The all-day pass is only 7.50 euros each.  

By 4 pm we were back at Central Station and found our Tram # 4 for our trip home.  We got off at the Street Market.   It’s a permanent Market that is open every day except Sunday.  The booths run for five block with stores on each side of the street.   Always busy and fun to walk as it’s only two blocks from our apartment.   We were home by 4:30 pm.

We played cards, each winning two hands, before dinner.   I caught up on all the news about the royal wedding of Harry and Megan on the Wi-Fi.   My twin posted photos of their night out at the local theater in Michigan where they dressed up with fancy hats they’d made for a royal viewing of the wedding!  Read our books after dinner and then Jim did a bit of laundry before we called it a night.

Steps today were 7,485 making 3.48 miles.

AMSTERDAM DAYS FOUR & FIVE

Wednesday, May 16^th, 2018           Van Gogh Museum          weather overcast and cool

We were awake at 7 am and both of us has seen the scales go up so no more chocolate candy bars.  The last two will be saved for the plane trip home!   Just have to keep them out of sight!   The weather is cool and overcast…no more shorts today!

 

Jim left about 8:30 am to walk to the Van Gogh Museum; about the same distance in a different direction as the Rijksmuseum.   We’d purchased his ticket online and emailed it to his cellphone.  It is sitting in a PDF file that he’s going to let the museum open when he arrives.   He’s had some trouble with his chip credit card so will attempt to use it to rent the audio headset (yes, it worked okay).  And, the museum staff opened his ticket with no problems when he arrived.  You have to purchase your ticket online…no walk up cash tickets available.   We have found that many stores require that you use a credit card, no matter how small the purchase.  Example:  The bakery for 3 croissants.   We do have a card that has a chip and a pin, but the cards with only the chip seem to work well also. 

While Jim was at the museum, I ordered my friend Trisha’s latest mystery novel on my Kindle.  And re-downloaded the first two books of the trilogy so that I could re-read them first.    Trisha St. Andrew’s “The Soul of an Owl” can be found on Amazon Kindle.   We were real estate agents together many years ago. 

I also had an email from my friend Pete who schedules the speakers at OLLI (senior educational classes at the university) at home asking me to give travel talks in the fall and spring sessions.  Have agreed to do one on Scotland in November, will just be arriving home from there; and one on my newest Camino in the spring session.  I do enjoy sharing my journeys.

We have a remodeling going on three doors down; major undertaking with much removal of dirt from under the building.  We’re been told that Amsterdam is a city built originally on sand surrounding many tree trunks sunken into the ground, now they use concrete pillars.   As a result sometimes the buildings tip a bit!  Almost all of the buildings are at least four stories high.  From what we can see the entire ground floor has been removed along with the dirt.  Each day brings new noises and questions.   

I got off my duff and took a walk around the neighborhood looking for the shop that had the sign in the window “Fam. Jansen Plein” or “Family Jansen Square”.   My daughter-in-law Holly suggested we purchase it when she saw the photo on Facebook.   I found the shop easily, Peter’s Letters, and inquired of the owner the cost of the sign:   102 euros.  A bit steep for a souvenir, they are custom made.  But fun to consider.  

Jim arrived home from the museum at noon; very excited about the content of the Van Gogh Museum.  He said it was one of the most complete collection that he’d seen.    A side note:  posted some photos on Facebook but because of my screw up, I wasn’t able to get the museum photos posted as they considered them already posted…..okay… everyone has seen them before and these had a screen over the prints.  They were the only ones he was allowed to photograph.  I think I hit the post button twice or something.  But it keeps the day interesting!

Our landlord, Sven, stopped by and asked if we’d like a “cleaning”.   How nice to know we’re getting all fresh linens tomorrow plus cleaning because we are here more than a week.  Unexpected but appreciated.  

About 2 pm we started our walk to the Rembrandt Plein; have it all mapped out and it’s not that far from the apartment, only a couple of miles.  There we saw the “Night Watch”, up close and personal, and took many photos.  The square is nearly always full of tourists.  From there we continued to walk to the site of Rembrandt’s home.  It’s now a museum and we visited the inside on an earlier trip.  Just wanted to make sure it was still there.   LOL 

Our walk also included the outside of a Flea Market; will visit the stalls later.  On the way home we stopped at the grocery store for supplies plus an ATM stop.  I’m trying to accumulate small euro bills for my trip to Spain this summer.  The small stores don’t like the fifty euro bills that the ATM likes to give you.

We arrived home about 4:30 pm and crashed… .both are tired from the walking.  Our steps today totaled 12,324 equaling 5.37 miles and Jim actually had 7 miles with his walk to the museum and back. Great Day!   But, we still played our daily game of cards before heading to bed.

Thursday, May 17^th, 2018          Weather dry with a cold wind        Museum and Trams

Jim went out to walk at 7 am while I continued to sleep.  He’s trying to get his sugar numbers down before he takes his morning blood test for diabetes.  He did a mile and a half in an hour.  Did it help?  Not much. 

 This is a model of the home where the church in the attic is located.  The top three floors are dedicated to the church.  The lower floors are preserved much as they would have existed during that time period..

I actually slept until about 8 am.   Housekeeping is coming today so we plan to be gone most of the day.  By 10 am we were out the door on the way to the Tram # 4 to Central Station.  We purchased a one day ticket for 7 euros each.  We rode to the Central Station and starting walking heading towards the “Red Light District”;   our first stop was at the “Ons’ Lieve Heer Op Solder”, “Our Lord in the Attic”, Museum.  It was about 16^th Century when Amsterdam closed all of the Catholic Churches.  They were allowed to practice their religion but only privately.   There were about twenty-five churches built inside of private homes.  Of those only one remains.   It is now a museum and takes over the top three floors of a large six story home of a wealthy Dutch family.  It sits on a canal and is in the “Red Light District”.    The home was restored to its original condition when it was made into a Museum.  The portion used by the family is now the Museum offices and display rooms.   The church remains as it was originally.  Beautiful.   I’m always looking for five fingered vases; found one at this museum for sale for about 35 euros.   My friend Shari collects them at home.  

We walked in and out of tiny streets near the Oudezijds Voorburgwal Canal after leaving the museum looking for the entrance to the Old Church.  Finally found it but it is closed for repairs until May 25^th, several days after we leave.  From there we walked through small streets around the Old Church and discovered the “windows” with the girls.  It was still early in the day and we only saw one girl looking for business.  Soon we’d reached the main street of Damak again where the Trams can be found. 

 

Using our all-day pass we boarded Tram # 4 again for a short ride and then transferred to # 9 that took us to the Dutch Resistance Museum near the Artis Park.   It is a small museum and having entered at the same time as a high school group of students with their teacher; it was very crowded and noisy.  The exhibits were good but mostly in the Dutch language.  We are truly spoiled by so much being translated into English in the museums and exhibits.  The exhibits basically dealt with the period of time of occupation from 1940 to 1945.  There was a photo of a window in a restaurant that had a sign stating that “Jews could not enter”.    There was a bicycle that had a wooden back wheel and a very small child’s size rubber wheel in the front.  Times were definitely not easy for the Dutch and it got much worst before the end when people were starving because their food was being shipped to Germany for the soldiers and German people. 

 

By 2 pm we were back on Tram #9 headed out towards the western end in the area of Diemer.   Once there we had to transfer to a different Tram (still a # 9)  that was nearby for the journey back to where we started at the Central Station.    We then found Tram # 26 and rode the entire length over the water to Uburg.  We returned back to the Central Station and once again started walking south. 

We walked again through the Red Light District and since it was later in the day there were five woman looking for business.  But, as everyone knows, if you take photos you run a very good chance of having your camera/cell phone tossed into the canal.  

  

We walked all the way back to Damrak Street and found our favorite Tram # 4 and headed towards the apartment and our last ride on Tram # 3.  We rode to both ends getting off in the middle on the way back to visit the flea market again that we’d walked past yesterday.   We were both hungry so purchased a sandwich and a drink to keep us going until dinner.   The flea market was fun, many very old things plus a large variety of new and cheap clothing and souvenirs.   Difficult but we didn’t buy anything but we did keep close watch on our wallets!   Back on Tram #3, we went all the way to the northeastern end; taking us past the museum area where we could see the Van Gogh and the Rijksmuseum and several others as we sped by on the Tram in both directions. 

We hopped off the Tram near our park on the way back and picked up a Subway sandwich to split before walking home through the park.  A good day, and we definitely got our money’s worth out of the Tram all-day ticket.

Enjoyed our dinner and played a game of cards after dinner. I’ve decided to do a Facebook entry with photos of bicycles.  They are everywhere and have their own special roads along the side of all regular roads.  Our steps today were 10,921 making 5 miles for a total!  The day was definitely cooler, no summer clothes and our white jackets were really not very warm.   We should have worn our warmer gray jackets.