Amsterdam Weekend Part II (4/24-25/1983)

Sunday, April 24, 1983

I had wakened and couldn’t see my watch. I thought I pushed the button to see when the alarm would go off to get enough light to see the time. Instead my watch peeped. Marsha got up to go to the bathroom and confirmed it was only 6:00. I must have set the hourly alarm, because my watch peeped at 7:00 and 8:00. We got up and took turns showering, and when my watch peeped again at 9:00, I fiddled with it and finally turned off the peeping. We went down the narrow stairs to breakfast at 9:15, where I had tea and Marsha and Ruth had coffee. There was a basket on the table with 4-5 slices of brown bread, 4-5 slices of white bread, 3 toasted rounds, and three pieces of what seemed to be pumpkin cake. There were also soft-boiled eggs, butter and jam, and slices of cheese. Jan & Kirby came down when we were nearly finished. We went to our room to get our luggage and brought them down to be stowed at the reception desk for the day. We left the hotel to hurry to the Dam for the 10:00 departure of our second bus excursion with Key Tours. We had the very same tour guide, cute little Paul. Andre was our bus driver. We headed north this time, going through the IJ tunnel under the harbor. We were definitely out in polderland. We drove through a cute little town of Monnickendam, supposedly one of the dead cities of the Zuiderzee, because there is no more Zuiderzee/South Sea on which this was a flourishing city. Now the town has very narrow streets with neat brick houses and lace curtains in large windows. We passed the large 14C Sint Nicolaaskerk/St Nicholas Church, and a lady behind me pointed out the empty niches in the façade where statues once stood when the church was Catholic, but were removed during the Reformation. Some of the houses had stone reliefs depicting the occupation of the owner, such as baker, fisherman, etc.

Once through Monnickendam, we followed a dike until we stopped at /Kaasmakerij De Jacobs Hoeve, a farmer-style cheese factory.

De Jacobs Hoeve house

We were first taken to the goat barn, then to a large room with separators moving through vats of milk, while a farmer explained the cheese-making process (similar to making Gruyère cheese!). They make Edam and Gouda cheeses, Gouda being made with whole milk and Edam with part skim milk, so the Edam is a little drier. The longer a cheese matures, the stronger its taste. They can be made with cow, goat or sheep milk. The grand finale was for the farmer to throw open the doors behind him to show shelves full of ripening cheeses! The next room was a shop where we were allowed to sample the herbed (garlic!) cow cheese and goat cheese. Back outside we saw the sheep in a neighboring pasture, before going up to the second level of the barn where we could observe the cows and the automatic milking apparatus below.

Tour buses

We returned to the bus and this time Marsha and Ruth sat together while I sat next to an Air Force guy. His wife and mother-in-law were across the aisle. The bus continued along the dike until we reached the fishing village of Volendam. We drove right to the waterfront street that was very narrow and full of tourists. We were let out and given an hour. Most of the houses were made of wood and many were painted green.

Volendam brick house with bike

Volendam canal

Volendam harbor

The houses along the waterfront were cute with those typical lace curtains.

Volendam housefronts with lace curtains

Side canal

Dike

I saw only one lady in traditional dress with the high pointed white hat. Everyone else was a tourist! Out on the water (Ijsselmeer) we could see several sailboats and several larger older boats with big dark sails (fishing boats).

Fishing boats with dark sails

Marsha and Ruth got ice cream and I tried a raw herring sandwich with onions. Marsha and Ruth didn’t want me to get too close! We left the waterfront to leave the crowds, and found a nice street of houses along a canal. We wandered the back streets, then returned to the waterfront to walk farther along the shore, which appeared to be a dike disappearing around a curve.

We returned to the bus before 12:00. A couple ladies were five minutes late, and even though no one else on the bus was Swiss, a lot of people were upset! As we left, the lace curtains were again pointed out, as well as the colorful gardens in the tiny front yards.

It was explained that when the Dutch government decided they needed more land, they built a barrier dam between the Zuiderzee and the North Sea, and then a dike around the parts of the Zuiderzee they wanted to reclaim. This was also to control the flooding that often took place. Sluices were put in place to let the salt water out of Zuiderzee, and the freshwater river IJ refilled the dammed area. The process took 5-6 years before the lake was considered fresh water. They began pumping water out of the diked polders, and the remaining body of water was named Ijsselmeer. Towns like Volendam once thrived on salt-water fishing, and the industry began to die out. But many decided that “where there is water, there is fish,” and switched to fresh-water fishing.

We followed the dike to the south and saw lots of bicyclists and horseback riders. We crossed a connecting dike to the island of Marken, a dead fishing village. Where Volendam was a lively Catholic town, Marken was a straight-laced Protestant one. After the bus parked, we followed the guide through the town.

Marken harbor

We saw a few people in traditional dress and most of the inhabitants seemed very old.

One lady in traditional dress

Almost all the houses were green-painted wood and several of the older houses were built on pilings (from the days when the Zuiderzee flooded). The town was basically closed on a Sunday.

Marken rowhouses and sheep

We came to a cemetery that had curious carved and numbered wooden posts instead of the usual stone grave markers. We re-boarded the bus at 13:00 and headed back to Amsterdam, arriving about 13:30.

We returned to the hotel to pick up our luggage, then went to catch a tram to the train station. I erred when I thought we could take any tram, but the one we boarded turned away from the Dam, and we had to change trams. We put our bags in a locker. They are remodeling the train station and have new ticket windows and a new baggage area. We went to an outdoor café for lunch, having meat croquettes with French fries (with mayonnaise). Across the street I saw a sign that Wall Drug (Wall, South Dakota!) was only 5,397 miles away!

Wall Drug sign

We were entertained by a rock ‘n’ roll band playing in front of the train station.

Tram in front of the train station

We caught the #9 tram to Rembrandtsplein and walked over to Herengracht #605, the Willet-Holthuysen Huis, a museum that is a fully furnished canal house. I walked up the steps to the front door, but it wouldn’t open. We discovered you were supposed to enter through the door under the stairs! We paid the 1.75 NLG/63 cent admission fee, and they made Marsha check her large handbag.

Willet-Holthuysen Huis ticket

We went first to the basement kitchen that was full of blue delftware. Upstairs were fancily furnished 16 and 17C rooms including a dining room set for a formal dinner, a couple parlors, and a sort of sun porch overlooking a garden with shrubs pruned in designs. Up another floor to a bedroom, a bright blue room, and rooms with displays of porcelain, tapestries, portraits, etc. It was nice to see inside one of these canal mansions as it once was. We walked to one end of Herengracht to see the American eccentric’s houseboat again, and the bridge like the Magere Brug.

American eccentric's houseboat

Bridge similar to the Magere Brug/Skinny Bridge

We walked back along Herengracht to Reguliersgracht where you do not have the nice view of the seven bridges like you do from a boat.

Reguliersgrach row of consecutive bridges

We continued to Vijzelstraat to catch the #16 tram to Weteringplein to change to the #7 tram to Speigelgracht, then walked across the bridge to the Rijksmuseum/National Museum. We paid admission of 4.50 NLG/$1.60 and joined the crowds.

Rijksmuseum ticket

Headed upstairs to see the “Night Watch” painting by Rembrandt van Rijn. We turned from the souvenir area to the row of alcoves and wondered  what the people at the second alcove were seeing. I was surprised to see it was the “Night Watch”! It was now in a brightly lighted spot and not behind glass (although there was a guard rail, and guards!). The doors to where the painting used to hang were sealed off.

We saw a sign for the sculptures Marsha wanted to see and headed to see a few of the Roman sculptures. Then lots of furniture: exquisite inlaid coffers and trunks, furniture from Indonesia and other former Dutch colonies. Things made from ivory, tapestries, porcelain including all kinds of Delftware (modeled after Asian porcelain), religious objects, gold and silver items, and some interesting little gadgets like a treehouse clock with a ladder curving from it. We wound our way back to the entrance by 16:45 and the museum was to close at 17:00. Then Ruth saw a sign for dollhouses, and we went downstairs. There was a huge dollhouse (there were steps so you could look into the upstairs rooms) with finely detailed objects inside. We wandered through the furniture displays, decorative plates, musical instruments, and passed the Asian arts before finding another dollhouse.

Now it was time to leave, and we crossed the bridge to Spiegelgracht to catch the #10 tram to Rozengracht, and changed to the #24 tram to Westerkerk/West Church with Maximilian’s crown on the steeple (he must have had a huge head!). We walked down Prinsengracht to see Ann Frank’s House, They were remodeling the façade of the fronting house. From across the canal, you could look above the gables and rooftops to see the attic windows where Ann Frank was hidden. We took the #13 tram back to the train station. from there we headed towards the area of Chinese-Indonesian restaurants, crossing Damrak Haven to Warmoesstraat, and left on Lange Niezel. The Red Light District was not as busy as at night, but there was still business being transacted. Crossed the Niezel bridge that was lined with seedy-looking men, going straight across a couple more bridges to Binnen Bantammerstraat. Several of the recommended restaurants were closed this evening, so we ended up at the Azië where I had gone with my sisters. Our waiter spoke a lot of English, but we didn’t always catch his meaning. Marsha and Ruth ordered a Rijsttaffel for two, and they each got a small bowl of rice and shared the 18 dishes. The dish was developed to represent the many types of food you would eat in colonial Indonesia. There were: 1) large shrimp crackers, 2) peanuts, 3) fried shredded coconut, 4) pickles, 5) pickled cabbage, 6) boiled cabbage, 7) meat croquettes, 8) fried bananas, 9) curried chicken, 10) beef in spicy sauce like Hungarian goulash, 11) little fried sponges, 12) grilled chicken, 13) fried crispy noodles, 14) spring rolls, 15) potato in a sauce, 16) hard boiled eggs in chili sauce, 16) ?, 17) ?, 18) the rice?!! I got Nasi Goreng: fried rice with peas and carrots, chicken, shrimp, and mushrooms, and a fried egg on top. Marsha and Ruth got coffees, and it took a long time to get the bill. The waiter went into a long explanation that no one understood, and we couldn’t decipher all that was written on the bill, but we were okay with the total and paid it.

Dinner bill

We walked over to Gelderskade and up that street with its discount Red Light spots, and came out at Schreierstoren, which is also the point where Henry Hudson started his journey to North America while in the employ of the Dutch East India Company. We went underground to reach the train station and retrieved our bags. We boarded the 19:49 train for Basel, again having cuchettes. In Utrecht we were joined by an Italian who really wanted to talk. As the only Italian speaker, I buried my nose in a book. Saw a brilliant red setting sun. In Arnhem we were joined by a Dutch girl carrying a basketball. Since the Italian spoke Dutch, he now had someone to talk to. After border controls, we made up the beds. Marsha and I were at the bottom, Ruth and the Dutch girl were in the middle, and the Italian was on top…

Monday, April 25, 1983

We were awakened at 5:00, and went to freshen up. The steward had our tickets and passports, so we didn’t have to bother with customs at Basel Bad. We arrived in Basel at 5:48. We caught the 6:18 train to Biel, and catnapped along the way. Arrived at 7:26 and Ruth went to get her car to drive home. Marsha and I took the bus, and met Rita I on her way to work. Once at the hospital, Marsha and I went to shower, then reported for work at 9:00! We had no time to nap during the day, and after work we had the aerobics class that we lead at the hospital on Monday and Wednesday evenings. Then after aerobics we were invited to Bene’s (Bernadette H) going away dinner. That didn’t begin until after 20:00, starting with Sangria cocktails (with ice cubes, sugar, orange and lemon slices). The meal was ham, potato salad, carrot salad, peas and corn salad, and homemade bread. Later there was coffee and Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. We didn’t get home until 23:00!