Wandering through Amsterdam

Had a bit of a "relaxed" start as they call it today- on the bus at 9am.
But I had to set my alarm early because there was important  stuff to be done - the washing!!!!!

This high tech, new fangled, brand new hotel (only opened on April 9) doesn't do the basics like a plug for the bathroom sink!!! So improvisation was the name of the game... the shower was not part of a bath either, so my clothes are kind of rinsed in water and hung out to dry in my room!!!! One thing that is good is that you can set the room temperature, so I've turned it up a bit while I'm here and actually the sun is shining brightly today. The current temp is 26⁰ and my windows face west, so hopefully they will continue to dry.  This blog could perhaps be subtitled the adventures of Wattle's Washing!!!!

As I said above, it was a beautiful day - just perfect for being out and about.

Our first adventure today was a canal boat ride along all the major canals of Amsterdam

Canals of Amsterdam

I took a few notes as they were giving the commentary today...

• There are over 100 miles of canals in Amsterdam. 
• There are 1753 bridges across the canals
• There are approximately 15 000 bikes in the waters of the canals !!!! Bike theft is very common in Amsterdam and bikes are very securely locked when left... yet many of them end up in the canals and they have to dredge them up every now and then to clear the bottom!
• There are more than 3000 house boats on the canals. Housing is really scarce in Amsterdam and many people chose to or had to live on a house boat. However, you can't live on a house boat unless you have somewhere to dock it. So you can only buy a houseboat if you have a place to secure it.
• Cars also fall into the canals, so insurance companies have installed little metal barriers along the canals, so that the cars don't fall in..... Truly amazing!!!!

Here are some pics of the above...

Houseboats along the canal

Note the barriers in front of the cars

Seven bridges of Amsterdam

Apparently back in the day, houses were taxed by their width, so that is why most houses are very narrow at the front, but go back very deep.

Houses along the canal

Note the narrowest house in the middle!

Then, if you were rich and posh you would flaunt the tax rule and build very wide houses to show off your wealth and prestige. All those wealthy merchants who thrived in the 16th and 17th Century would have built houses like these....

Rich merchant's house

Then, some of the houses are actually leaning, as they are built on stilts and they are based on the very dodgy soil underneath, so they are actually falling over a little....

Leaning houses!

So that was a very informative and interesting way of getting an overview of Amsterdam.

Once we were off the boat we were given free time, and had to meet back at 1.30pm.
It was just on 11am and Nathalie our tour guide pointed out a Catholic Church that had lovely stained glass windows.

Hmmm... it's Sunday...  Hmmm... I have some spare time.... but.... hmmm... I only have a little time to spend in Amsterdam. So I came to a compromise.
I went to the Church and sure enough, Mass was on. However, it was a sung Mass in Latin (there you go, brother Jim!!!) Now I knew that would take a long time, so I decided to go and have a coffee and load up the Net and read the readings in English, then perhaps go back....
I lit a candle while I was there at the Church for all my friends and family back home

Alternative to Church readings in Latin!

But, by the time I had finished my coffee and wandered back at approx 11.40am they were only just starting their readings...
So I lit another candle!!!

Inside the Church

 So, I figured, God would want me to explore more of Amsterdam, which I duly did!
Then about 12 noon-ish I wandered back again and they were just up to the Agnus Dei! (Lucky I still remember the Latin Mass!) so I stayed for communion. Actually after communion, they sang the Regina Coeli, which I knew from my school days, so I joined in very happily. But then they decided to read the notices in Dutch, so I was out of there.....  😀

Things you do on the road... !

After that I just had a wander around Amsterdam and found a nice little cafe for lunch (hamburger and coffee) and they had free wifi, so I could answer emails and read the footy etc...

After lunch I had signed up for  a walking tour of Amsterdam. (Did lots of walking today)

The first place our guide, Ernst, took us was the Begijnhof.

From wikipedia....

The Begijnhof is one of the oldest hofjes in Amsterdam, Netherlands. A group of historic buildings, mostly private dwellings, centre on it. As the name suggests, it was originally a Béguinage. Today it is also the site of two churches, the Catholic Houten Huys and the English Reformed Church

The Begijnhof differs from the usual Amsterdam patricians' court in that this old people's home was not founded by private persons. It bore closer resemblance to a convent, although the beguines enjoyed greater freedom than nuns in a convent. While beguines took a vow of chastity, and while they considered themselves obliged to attend Holy Mass every day and pray various official prayers, they were free to leave the court at any time in order to get married.

Begijnhof

Begijnhof

Begijnhof Chapel

Begijnhof

He then took us to the Royal Palace, which began life as the Town Hall, and then when Napoleon Bonaparte took the reins, he sent his younger brother Louis to Amsterdam to be in charge, so it became his house. Then eventually it went down the line to become the Royal Palace. The current King, King William, does not live there, but uses it for State occasions, and people like Winston Churchill have stayed there, so it a place for dignitaries to stay.

Royal Palace

We were taken right through the Palace and the meaning of the many statues was explained to us, however sadly I have forgotten much of what was said... my feet were getting sore by this stage! - so I'll just put up a few pics!

These statues were in the Justice Room where people were sentenced to death

Statues that meant something special.... if only I could remember!!!

Map showing the Dutch knew of the existence of Australia in the 17th Century

So, after all that history and culture, we hopped back on the bus for a rest break before we went out tonight. Our excursion tonight took us to one of the oldest restaurants in Amsterdam, followed by a walk through the red light district!

Here's our restaurant

The walk through the red light district was obviously an eye-opener for me. We were warned beforehand, quite strictly, not to take photos. Nathalie explained people had their phones or cameras taken from them and thrown in the canal.

Also, they've just  made a new rule that tour guides were not allowed to take groups through this area. So Nathalie walked in front of us, but we had to pretend we weren't with her and were not allowed to ask questions until later.

Statute that invites us to respect sex workers

I thought it was sad to see these girls standing in the window, with little on, and just inviting customers. I wondered whether any of my students would end up in similar circumstances...???

It was a beautiful balmy evening though and it was good to have  walk after a wonderful dinner.

Canals at sunset.

There were still heaps of people just walking around as well and the city was really hopping. Amsterdam ranks 11th in the list of easiest cities to live in and I can see why.... but I'm not sure  I would like to live there myself!