Travels with Paul (Amsterdam and Utrecht)

Well, my friend Paul is visiting from the US so we’ve been doing some travel. Here is what we’ve done so far and some comments:

Amsterdam (Saturday/Sunday 9/10 January)

It wasn’t what I expected it to be. I thought it would be a larger and grander, but it wasn’t. The Dam – their central square – is actually pretty small and unimpressive. That said, seeing Anne Frank’s House, wandering the lovely canals, visiting the Royal Museum, and taking the Heineken Brewery Tour made the trip very worthwhile.

Paul, a master European traveler, found a great hostel with a great location and after a little mishap meeting up (Amsterdam doesn’t have arrival information at the train station) we set out to explore the city.

It was snowing and, from what we could tell, it always snows in Amsterdam. Despite the cold we made our way through the city and took a canal tour – very romantic. It took about an hour and we saw the narrowest house in Amsterdam – not much wider than the door itself – and the furniture hooks on the gables of the houses – narrow stairs preclude taking sofas and the like inside when moving, so they use hooks to bring things through the windows – and houseboats that people live on year-round. A good choice to see a lot of the city and do some icebreaking in our little canal boat.

We visited Ann Frank’s House, which was very powerful and moving. The secret annex – where she and her family lived during WWII before they were “discovered” – is devoid of furniture and it’s a little haunting. There are quotes by Frank, from her diary, all over the house and pictures of how the rooms had looked. Just thinking about being cramped in these small rooms with others and not being able to go outside, being quiet every day, was very affecting.

(There is no good transition from Ann Frank's House to anything else...so forgive the abrupt shift.)

After taking that tour and in need of some time to decompress we stopped for some food and a drink before wandering some more and, yes, we eventually visited the Red Light District. It is a disconcerting place, but Paul and I did not play “how much for that hooker in the window.” Nor did we stop at any coffee shops for some pot or hash. Just not our style.

The next day we visited the Royal Museum and saw some amazing Rembrandts and Vermeer. They had another exhibit that depicted the power and glory of the Dutch in the 15^th and 16^th centuries. I always forget how powerful the Dutch were at that time and it was interesting to see it all laid out before me.

Utrecht

Our time in Amsterdam was up and we moved on toward Brussels and stopped in a town called Utrecht. It used to be a seat of Catholic power, but after the Reformation the cathedral was ransacked. The faces of statues of saints are clearly smashed off and the niches where others are supposed to be are empty. Most interesting is that the church now only consists of the choir (where the altar is) and the transepts. The long nave that connected it with its beautiful gothic bell tower collapsed in a storm in the mid-1600s and was never rebuilt.

As Paul and I wandered around the church a man approached us and in German and English said if we had any questions we should ask him. “No,” we said,” just looking” as we made our way toward the altar area. “Oh, if you want to go up and look around the altar you can.” Now, Paul and I are Catholic and in Catholic churches you don’t do that, so we were a little taken aback. “Oh,” we said. “We didn’t know you could do that. We’re Catholic.” The kindly older man grew a little sterner and said “Well, we’re Protestant here so you can go behind the altar.” We did and checked out the tomb of a famous resident.

After lunch we climbed the 465 steps of the bell tower. For some reason when I travel with Paul I climb a lot of stairs. The view from the top was very pretty, though the snow and fog prevented a clear view over the Dutch countryside. Since there were only four of us on the tour, we got to see where the bells (the carillon) are housed the ropes that are used to make them ring on special occasions. (No, we couldn’t ring them, but Paul did play a nice little tune (When the Saints go Marching In) on a toy carillon in the tower’s museum.

After climbing down we got on the train and headed to Brussels….I gave Paul the usual tour and this weekend we’re of to Bruges and Tournai. More to come!