Amsterdam 2015: Touring the City

Whenever we visit a new city, we like to take a guided tour to get a general overview of its history and points of interest.  In the past, we’ve gone on guided walking tours as well as commentated hop-on/hop-off bus tours.  But in the city of canals, what would be more natural than to take a canal boat tour?  Riding the canal boat gave us a unique viewpoint from which to admire the waterways and canal houses and took us to locations beyond the streets that we had planned to visit on our own.

During our tour, we passed by attractions such as the Hermitage, Botanical Gardens, Zoo, Heinekin Brewery, Bimhuis Concert Hall, and the beautiful Central Station.  As we approached the Maritime Museum, we saw a replica of the 18th Century Dutch East India Company merchant ship “The Amsterdam”, which sank in a storm in the English Channel in 1749 and was rediscovered in 1969.  The replica was built using 18th Century tools and it took 6 years to reproduce a ship that took 6 months to build originally … now that’s progress!  We also saw the Nemo Science Centre which is shaped like the hull of a large freighter ship, and the Lea Palace Floating Chinese Restaurant whose exterior is lit by over 1000 lights.   Had we realized earlier that this was a hop-on, hop-off boat cruise, we would have started earlier in the day and could have gotten off to visit some of these sights.  But we got started late in the day and only managed to catch the last loop of the route.

Since the canal tour only covered what could be seen from the water,  we also booked ourselves on a guided walking tour.  Tired of joining large tour groups where you might not be able to hear the guide or get close enough to see the feature that he is discussing, we decided that where possible, we would pay a bit more for a smaller group. We found this with OMY Amsterdam Tours, which led groups of no more than 4 people for a cost of 35 Euros per person.  The experience of a more personal tour turned out to be a much pleasanter experience and a strategy we intend to repeat in the future. Our guide David spun a good tale and regaled us with tidbits and trivia about Amsterdam’s history and culture, although we suspected him of embellishing a bit for our amusement.  We heard that you can be arrested for insulting the King of Netherlands (which we would never do) and could be ticketed for sleeping in public places (guilty, although it was more cat-napping than sleeping).   We learned about the Miracle of Amsterdam involving a dying man and a vomited last-rite wafer which would not burn in a fire. The tour started at Rembrandtplein, a square honouring arguably Amsterdam’s most famous painter.   The square featured a cast-iron sculpture of Rembrandt created in 1852, and a giant bronze recreation of his famous Night Watch painting, that was created in 2006 to celebrate his 400th birthday.

We visited the gardens and residences of Beginjhof, created in the 1300s as an enclosed community for Catholic Beguines, who were unmarried, religious women that wanted to serve God without taking vows to become nuns.  Today, the residences are still reserved for single women over age 30 and the gates are locked at 5pm each evening.  A large Protestant Reform church sits in the courtyard, while a clandestine Catholic chapel with a hidden side entrance sits across from it, secretly built to provide the sisters a place to worship. We stood in front of the flower-covered plot of sister Cornelia Arens who died in 1654, but refused to be buried in the Protestant cemetery and declared that she would “rather be buried in the gutter”.  As per her wishes, she was buried on the edge of the courtyard and a plaque marks the spot.

On Heiligweg Street, we stood in front of the gate of the former Rasphuis men’s prison, established in 1596 to reform and rehabilitate young male criminals rather than just punishing them with flogging or hanging.  The prisoners were set to work shaving brazilwood trees and using a rasp to turn the wood chips into powder to be used to make paints and dyes.  There is a myth of a dungeon used to motivate lazy inmates, which would fill with water, forcing them to pump quickly and vigorously to prevent from drowning.  Although there is no remaining proof of this, it certainly makes a good story.  The gate is topped by sculptures of two shackled prisoners on either side of Lady Justice, who is holding what I thought was a red football(?!?).  It was explained that the red shield with the 3 X’s formed a part of Amsterdam’s coat of arms, and once I knew this fact, I began to see this image everywhere.

We were also told to be on the lookout for gable stone carvings hanging above building doorways.  These stones were used to identify a house before there were street names or numbers, and the carvings often depicted the profession of the owner.  Our guide David also pointed out what he called metal “pee-guards” installed in the back of buildings usually in alleyways.  These were to dissuade drunks from peeing against the wall of your establishment, since the pee would deflect off the guard and splash back on your shoes and pants.  He also pointed out the ridges at intersections that were used to inform the visually impaired of oncoming traffic.

Armed with a great overview about Amsterdam, we were ready to explore the city on our own.  We visited two canal house museums, the Van Loon House on Keizersgracht and the Willet-Holthuysen House on Herengracht, to see how the wealthy lived in the 19th Century.  Both houses were built in the late 1600s with the last residents living there from the late 1800s through early 1900s.  The Van Loon House is the more modest of the two, both in terms of the furnishings and the elaborateness of the garden, but it did have a few unique items on display.  There was a beautifully carved and painted sled whose seat had a trap door into which heated coals could be placed to warm the riders.  We also saw a gigantic linen press and several rooms that had hidden doors which were decorated to blend into the walls.

When Louisa Holthuysen married Abraham Willet in 1861, they redecorated her inherited family home in the fashionable French styles of the times, based on decor favoured by King Louis XIV.  Accordingly, the ornamentations and furnishings in the Willet-Holthuysen House are more regal than the Van Loon House.  The pair were also avid collectors of Dutch and French paintings and prints, silver, porcelain and Venetian glass.  Abraham had a room of “Antiquities” where he kept cabinets full of weapons, rare art history books, sculptures, photographs and more.

When we think of palaces, we have in mind the majestic, ostentatious ones like Versailles in France or Buckingham Palace in England. We had to downgrade our expectations for the 17th Century Royal Amsterdam Palace (DAM) which, despite its name, was not built to be the majestic home of Dutch royalty but rather as the town hall for the city of Amsterdam.  Taken in this context, this was a very beautiful and elegant government office building and a magnificent space for politicians, judicial and administrative staff to work in.  The Grand Hall is the most impressive with the statue of Atlas holding up the world, while the administrative meeting rooms contain some furnishings and décor reflecting the brief period when Napoleon's brother Louis took possession and converted it into his palace. In the basement is the Tribunal Hall which was originally used for the trial, verdict and sentencing of prisoners, as reflected in the solemn scenes depicted by the sculptures.  Among the scenes are the stories of “An Eye for an Eye” and King Solomon claiming he would saw a child in half as a way of revealing the true mother.

Just like the “Palace”, both the 13th Century Old Church (Oude Kerk) and the 15th Century New Church (Nieuwe Kerk) look relatively modest compared to elaborate cathedrals like Notre Dame or Westminster.  Other than being the oldest building and oldest Parish Church in Amsterdam, the most interesting things about the Old Church are its proximity to the Red Light District, and the sculptures in the surrounding Oudekerksplein square that reflect this fact.  There is the bronze statue of a prostitute named Belle with the inscription "Respect sex workers all over the world", and the bronze relief in the cobblestone of a hand covering a naked breast.

 The New Church (which can only be considered new relative to the Old Church!) is no longer an active church.  Instead, it is used for organ recitals as well as providing an exhibition space for art shows.  During our visit, the church was hosting an exhibit celebrating 60 years of World Press Photo, an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam that sponsors one of the largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest.  Along with a large display reminiscing past winners, the nominees and winners in various categories for 2015 were presented.  Amongst the past winners was the iconic Pulitzer prize winning photo by Nick Ut of terrified children racing away from a Napalm bombing in Viet Nam and in particular, one nine-year-old girl running naked because her clothes had burned off of her.

The photojournalism stories chosen for recognition in 2015 reinforce the old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words”.  One photographer used a drone to capture a series of aerial photos of groups of people praying, exercising, or attending weddings and funerals.  His point was to highlight the types of gatherings that have been accidentally hit by American drone strikes.  Another display compiled images of family photos of few of the 276 Nigerian girls kidnapped by Boko Haram, along with some of their belongings including a school notebook and a pair of shoes.  It was jarring to see the girls in relatively modern clothes as opposed to the hooded robes that they were shown wearing in the news.  Then there was the shocking photo of the boat jam-packed with Libyan refugees, prior to being rescued by an Italian frigate.  Although we had read about all of these news stories in the past, seeing these photos brought an added dimension to, understanding of, and empathy for each of them.

The most fascinating and impressive place of worship in Amsterdam was actually a secret church hidden in the top three floors of a wealthy merchant’s home.  Built in the 1660s, it filled the need for Catholics who were forbidden by law from practicing their religion or worshiping in public.  The exterior and bottom floors gave the impression of a normal 17th Century canal house.  But each Sunday, over 200 people filed up a secret staircase to access the pews in what is now known as “Our Lord in the Attic” (Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder).  The anti-Catholic laws were repealed in the 1800s so secret churches were no longer needed.  In 1888, the house was turned into a museum.

One space that we visited as much to see the beautiful building as the exhibits inside was De Bazel, the former headquarters of a Dutch Trading Company and now the housing the Amsterdam City Archives as well as some exhibition galleries and conference rooms.  The building, stretching from Keizersgracht to Herengracht, is an example of the style “Brick Expressionism” which uses bricks or tiles as the main source of exterior decoration.  Built from 1919-26 by Dutch designer Karel de Bazel, the building may have been influenced by Louis Sullivan’s similar looking Prudential Guaranty Building, built in 1896 in Buffalo, New York.  The exhibit inside dealt with Provo, a Dutch counterculture movement in the mid-1960s which tried to provoke (thus the name Provo) police through non-violent actions with the hopes of promoting social change.  Their white bicycle campaign was aimed at improving traffic issues by closing central roads to motorized traffic and adopting a bicycle share system to provide free access to bicycles for all.

Again, mostly motivated by the desire to see the interior of the gorgeous Theatre Tuschinski, we decided we were going to watch a movie.  We didn’t even really care which movie we ended up seeing.  The primary criteria was to be in the main auditorium, which is the original movie theatre and live performance space, decorated in early 20th century styles including Art Deco and Art Nouveau.  We splurged and got reserved VIP seats in the balcony (15.5 Euros instead of 8), since we were told that this is where you would get the best view of the theatre.  Based on the stunning front lobby, ticket booth and concession stand, we knew we were going to be in for a treat.

We didn’t realize just how great an experience this was going to be.  The theatre was as gorgeous as expected.  With its two rings of balcony overhanging the floor, royal red seats, large stage and curtain, it was designed and decorated in the same vein as grand old theatres like the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto or the Old Vic in London.  We were surprised to learn that our VIP seats included a free drink and snack (popcorn, chips or chocolate) and that there was a little table between each seat for us to rest our food on.  The seats were comfortable and roomy plush arm chairs with so much leg room that even Rich could stretch out.  This is definitely the way to watch a movie.  Unfortunately, we didn’t like the movie that happened to be playing in the theatre, which was the George Clooney sci-fi/fantasy film Tomorrowland (renamed Project X in Europe due to copyright issues).  I was hoping to see Pitch Perfect 2 and Rich would have liked Mad Max or even Age of Ultron, but we were stuck with the movie that was playing in the theatre that we wanted to sit in… oh well.  It was still a hoot to watch a movie in such an elegant and beautiful venue.

It was fun just wandering around various shopping districts such as the quirky Jordaan/9 Streets and the high-end Pieter Cornelisz Hoofstraat, poking our noses into shops with interesting items for sale.  I enjoyed stepping into the large wooden Dutch shoes that seemed to be good touristy advertisement for the shops all over Amsterdam.  I loved the cow sculpture and rubber duck stores and would have seriously considered buying one of the tulip purses that we saw in the Bags museum, if it had not been really expensive and totally impractical functionally.  It was nice to rest our feet while trying out the standalone hammocks in the hammock store, and we enjoyed our chocolate cherry truffles from Tasty Chocolates so much that we went back to get more the next day.  Of course, Rich never passed by the opportunity to check out every luxury or vintage watch store that he came across.

It’s amazing how walkable the central canal rings of Amsterdam are, as all the attractions are relatively close to each other.  There is very little motorized traffic so you just need to worry about dodging the bicycles.   Being in Amsterdam for 12 days, we also had the opportunity to explore further afield, but I will leave that for the next blog.