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We left from Newark Airport on Friday night and arrived at Schiphol Airport, near Amsterdam, on Saturday. Schiphol has only one terminal, but the place is clean, modern, efficient and very tourist-friendly. From the airport, we took a train into the city. The train took us to the Centraal Station in Amsterdam (at right) and only took 20 minutes. All trains and trams start here in the Centraal Station. How convenient to have a train that goes to Amsterdam right at the airport terminal. Another thing about the trains in the Netherlands, they are very clean, very cheap and very on time (you know who liked that last part). A train into Amsterdam runs every 15 minutes. While we were in the airport, we bought Amsterdam Passes for only €29 each. This turned out to be a big bargain for us. Along with a three-day tram pass, it had free admission to museums, canal rides and discounts on many other things. They use Euros here now
(€ is the symbol for euros), the Dutch Guilder has been almost completely replaced. Some places still give the price in both, but we never saw a guilder while we were there. The Euro dollar is worth around 90 cents (in 2002), so it is pretty close to the American dollar. Once you arrive at the Centraal Station, you can take numerous, and many times colorful, trams throughout the city (if you look closely you see the Mercedes Benz logo on the front of the red tram). There is one tram ride that goes around the city and is good to see the sights.
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We were staying at the Inntel Amsterdam Zaandam Hotel, which is in Zaandam, a city about 6 miles northwest of Amsterdam across the North Sea Canal, about 10 minutes by train. The picture above-left is of one of the trains in the Zaandam train station that we took into Amsterdam each day. After arriving at the Centraal Station, we had to switch trains to Zaandam. We found the hotel easily enough; it is right next to the station. The room was very clean and pleasant. After a little unpacking we went back to the train station and bought tickets to back to Amsterdam. The tickets were cheap; a round-trip for the two of us was only € 6,60.
The architecture of the Centraal Station is very interesting. This is the major train station in Amsterdam (a frontal picture is at the top of the webpage). The Neo-Renaissance red-brick railway station was designed by PJH Cuypers, who who designed the Rijksmuseum (National Museum), and was opened in 1889. The Dutch created three artificial islands, first driving 8,600 wooden piles into the water, to build the station on. It cuts off the view to the water, but makes an incredible entranceway to the city. 1,400 trains come through this station everyday. On the left is a picture of one of the two towers. It looks like a clock, but it's not. It's actually a weathervane (It's between the Z or zuiden and the O or oosten - so the wind is from the south-east). The west tower (left in top picture) has the weathervane and the east tower (right in top picture) has the clock.
Since this was our first trip to Amsterdam, we decided to get acclimated to the city by taking a canal boat ride. Amsterdam is a city of canals. It has been called the 'Venice of the North.' The sky was beautiful, but it was a little cool and breezy so we took our jackets. They took a good picture of us getting onto the canal boat in the Damrak (below). It was a one-hour canal ride. The boat was glass enclosed so we were warm, almost hot. We went clockwise around the city canals (at right). We didn't know the city very well, so we didn't know where we were. After we returned to the Damrak, we started to walk around the city.
The next evening, we would took another canal boat ride, however, this one was free because of the Amsterdam Pass. It was getting dark so it was nice to travel on the canal at twilight. Many of the canal bridges are lit up.
After our first canal trip, we followed the tourists and headed to the Oude Zijde (Old side) section of the city. We headed to the Oude Kerk (Old Church) and quickly realized that we had unknowingly wandered into the Red Light District. The streets was full of glass doors, with red neon lights above them, with scantily dressed prostitutes smiling at the people passing by. At night, they would have black lights in their booths, which gave their white outfits (what little there was of them) a glow in the dark effect. These booths extend around the Oude Kerk. There were sex shops and strange fountains, which even I couldn’t take a picture of.
| Flag of Amsterdam: The three Xs -St. Andrew's crosses- represent the three virtues of the city; Valor, Resolute and Merciful. A popular tradition also links the X's to the three threats to the city, Water, Fire and Pestilence. |
In the center of the Oude Zijde (Old City) is a large cathedral called De Oude Kerk or 'Old Church.' The origins of De Oude Kerk date from the early 13th century when a wooden church was built here in an old cemetery on the bank of the Amstel river. The large Gothic church here today, with little houses clinging to it's sides, was built later in the 14th century. It wasn't built all at once, but started as a small stone church and was enlarged over the years. It has grown from a single-aisled church into a large basilica. The large spire, which can be seen from all over Amsterdam, was finished in 1566. A few years later, during the Alteration in 1578 (when the Calvinist took over Amsterdam and kicked the Catholics out), the paintings and statues were destroyed. Luckily the ceilings and stained glass windows were not touched. A 47-bell carillon was added in 1658. There is an incredible organ inside (if you look closely at the picture, you can see the green 'Urinoir' on the lower right-hand side).
Like most churches of Europe, it has more then it's share of tombs inside. This includes four famous 16th century Dutch admirals (Van der Zaan, Sweers, van der Hulst and Schey), Rembrandt's first wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh, and Kiliaen wan Ransselaer (1586 to 1643). wan Ransselaer was a Dutch Patroon (Patroons were rich landowners in America) owning the largest and most lucrative fur trading area in New Netherlands, the upper Hudson valley near Albany, New York. He owned the land, but never actually came to America. Ransselaer stayed in Amsterdam and had his son to run it for him (his decedent Stephen van Ransselaer founded Ransselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.) Apparently, at one time everyone of any importance in Amsterdam was buried beneath the stone floor of the
Oude Kerk. Between 1300 and when they stopped in 1865, over 10,000 people were buried here.Another interesting aspect of the church, apart from the fact that it is in the middle of the Red Light District, are the 17th and 18th century houses built against the outside walls of the church. Above the former sacristy is a red door with an inscription above it. It's a warning for those contemplating marriage that says, 'Marry in haste, repent at leisure.' The church itself was in serious danger of collapsing and had to be closed from 1951 to 1979 for restorations.
In the Dam and next to the Koninklijk Paleis is De Nieuwe Kerk or 'New Church.' The Nieuwe Kerk was built in the late 14th century and became Amsterdam's second church as the population of the city outgrew the Oude Kerk. It was partly destroyed and rebuilt again after several fires. During the Alteration in 1578, it was stripped of it's valuables. In 1645, fire damaged everything but the facade and walls. Vying for importance with the Town Hall & Royal Palace, the Nieuwe Kerk lost out in its rivalry with the Town Hall because it was denied a tower by the city's magistrate. Inside the church, the pulpit is the focal point, not the altar, due to the Protestant belief that the sermon is more important then anything else. The pulpit, which is very elaborate for a Dutch Protestant church, took 15 years to carve. What appears to be the side of the church (photo at right) is actually the main entrance.
Ceremonies for succession to the throne are held here. The queens of the Netherlands have all been crowned here; Wilhelmina in 1898, Juliana in 1948 and the present queen, Beatrix was coronated here in 1980. On February 2, 2002, the wedding between the Prince Willem-Alexander of Orange (the Queen's oldest son and heir to the throne) and Princess Máxima of Argentina took place here. Admiral and conqueror of the Spanish Armada in the 17th century and who died in battle against the French at Messina in 1676, Michiel de Ruyter, is buried here in an elaborate tomb in the right side of the church. Other famous Dutch admirals, van Galen and van Kinsbergen, are also buried here.
About two blocks south of the Nieuwmarkt in the University District within the Old City is De Zuiderkerk or 'Southern Church.' This church was also designed by Hendrick de Keyser. Construction started in 1603 and was completed in 1611. The Renaissance-style Zuiderkerk was the first Calvinist church to open in Amsterdam after the Alteration. It is a pseudo-basilica, six bays long, with Tuscan columns, timber barrel vaults and dormers. The white spire, red clock and onion dome are prominent landmarks in Amsterdam. In 1929, the Zuiderkerk closed it's doors as a church. In 1988, it was restored and re-opened as a public housing exhibition center. You can go inside and climb the tower here also, but again we didn't. They have a carillon that plays on Sundays between 4 and 5 in the afternoon (which you see in the picture at left). The church here is partially hidden in the photo on the right by some canal houses on the Raamgracht. Architect Hendrick de Keyser is buried in the Zuiderkerk. In 1921, a memorial stone was placed on top of his tomb to commemorate the three-hundredth anniversary of his death. Richard Clyfton is also buried here. He was the Separatist pastor of Babworth's All Saints' Parish Church in England who started the Pilgrim movement. Among his congregation was future Pilgrim leader and governor of Plymouth, Massachusetts, William Bradford. Since the church was deconsecrated, they built a new floor over top of the original church floor, so the grave markers cannot be seen.
On the Western side of Amsterdam is De Westerkerk or 'Western Church.' It has the Prince's Canal (De Prinsengracht) in front of it and the Emperor’s Canal (De Keizergracht) behind it with open space on either side of it. The church has the tallest tower in Amsterdam at 272 feet high, topped by the Imperial Crown of Maximilian of Austria, and the longest nave of any Dutch Protestant church. The Westerkerk was designed by Hendrick de Keyser, who died in 1621, a year after work began. It was completed in 1631.
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The hour bell is the heaviest in Amsterdam and weighs more than 7 tons. There is also a carillon of 50 bells. The photo was taken from across the Keizergracht.On October 8th, 1669, the painter Rembrandt van Rijn was buried inside the church in a rental grave. However, no one knows exactly where he was buried. In 1906, three hundred years after Rembrandt's birth, a plaque was unveiled on one of the pillars in the north aisle, not far from the place where Rembrandt’s son Titus was buried.
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On March 10, 1966, Princess Beatrix and German diplomat Claus von Amsberg were married in the Westerkerk. Queen Beatrix became the Queen of The Netherlands in 1980 for those who didn't know they still had a monarchy (her husband, Prince Claus, passed away in 2002). The Queen lives in Noordeinde Palace in The Hague.If you climb to the top of the spire (at left), which we didn't, you can get some great views of the city. The church is only a few houses away from the Anne Frank Haus. This was the church, whose bells Anne Frank describes in her diary. Outside of the church, there is a small statue of Anne Frank. The time we were there, the church was closed so we didn't get a chance to go inside.
On Saturday night, we went to Palm Sunday Mass at The Krijtberg (The Chalk Hill). It's a Jesuit Church that is officially known as Franciscus Xaveriuskerk (St. Francis Xavier Church) on the Singel near the Spui Plaza. Many old churches in Amsterdam are known by their nicknames rather than by their patron saint. These churches were in hiding from the time of the Reformation when the city council became dominated by Calvinists in 1578 until the midst of the 19th century. It was quite normal to hear one Catholic say to another: 'I went to church last Sunday in The Parrot, but I think I will go next week to The Tree or The Dove.' Since house numbers are a fairly recent invention, most addresses were known by names, rather than by street and house number. The hidden churches took their name from their address, and kept these names till today.
De Krijtberg started out as a hidden church in the early 17th century and took the recently canonized Jesuit Francis Xavier as their patron. The protestant city council knew about the more than fifteen hidden Catholic churches, but as long as money was paid they would let the Catholics have their churches. When the Catholics obtained religious freedom in the 19th century they built a new church. The current church, squeezed between small canal houses along the Singelgracht, is a tall twin-steepled Neo-Gothic building constructed in 1884. In side the church there are statues to St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius are either side of the high altar. In the 1970's, as Catholic attendance dropped, the Krijtberg was going to be demolished but was saved by parishioners who raised enough money for the churches renovation which was still going on when we were there. The photo of the church is from the Spui Plaza across the Singel.
Palm Sunday Mass took about an hour and a half. It was in Dutch so it wasn’t easy to follow. Lack of sleep and the heavy use of incense were having its effect on us and we struggled to keep awake. The church pews were not very comfortable either. They were very high, someone who shall remain nameless couldn’t reach the floor with her feet.
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