Wednesday, June 22nd:
The Beautiful Canals of Amsterdam:
Hallo Amsterdam! Today was our first full day in Amsterdam, and I love this city. Each building has so much character to it, and so many of them just make you smile when you walk around. They all look like gingerbread houses that someone squished together on their side walls to make four-story skinny buildings that line city canals! And there are so many house-boats that it just makes you laugh when you walk up on a canal that is filled with these massive boats that probably can no longer even drive under the bridges in the city. We started our day rather late, around noon, with a nice breakfast at a little place called Orvieto. I had a Dutch Breakfast, which consisted of two fried eggs with ham and cheese on top of toast. Jen had a veggie breakfast which had mushrooms, beans, tomatoes, and eggs on toast. We also both shared a Dutch pancake with stroopsyrup—so delicious! After stuffing ourselves, we walked over to Centraal Station again to pick up some money for Jen at Western Union before starting our sightseeing.
The Koninklijk Paleis (Royal Palace) at Dam Square:
We walked along the main road out from Centraal Station, passing the humungous St. Nicolaaskerk (St. Nicholas Church…why are there so many of these…) and walked until we met a tourist-filled square called Dam Square. This square stands in front of the Koninklijk Paleis (The Royal Palace) and is filled with pigeons and masked entertainers looking for street money. We turned into the Red-Light District area, although the girls aren’t out that early in the day, and made our way to the Oude Kerk, the Old Church of Amsterdam. It is super weird that a 13th century gothic church is right in the heart of the world’s most famous legal prostitution Red Light District “De Wallen,” but I guess it works. The church is pretty barren on the inside, but has some interesting information about Rembrandt’s marriage as he had to apply for it there. From there we walked towards the Rembrandthuis, a museum set up in a 17th century home where Rembrandt briefly lived. As the story goes, he purchased the house and furnished it with little regard to expenses until he went bankrupt. Most of the furniture and works inside were preserved, however, and today the tall and skinny house serves as a museum to the great artist.
The Oude Kerk (Old Church):
We then walked the short way to the famous Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam, but were saddened to learn that it was undergoing construction on the interior. We were still allowed inside, at a discounted price, but honestly it was not worth it. The beautiful wooden interior was covered with scaffolding, and the floor that is normally covered with fine sand was just wooden floorboards. I was disappointed at this, but we kept our day moving anyways, walking back through the Zuiderkerk market to Dam Square again. Unfortunately, again, the Royal Palace was closed due to renovations and construction, and while one of the main stained glass windows of the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) was covered with scaffolding, tourists were allowed inside. Much like its Old Church counterpart, the New Church is built in gothic style and contains little inside. It was built in the 15th-17th centuries, and all the royal monarchs have been crowned inside since 1815. We went back to the hotel next for a nap before we wanted to walk around the historic Jordaan district in the afternoon.
Houseboats in the Jordaan District:
The Jordaan district is the place where most of the real canal houses are in the distinct Amsterdam-style, as well as a majority of the house-boats. The area’s buildings are historically protected, and this is the area where it is so much fun to just walk around, try to get lost, and just admiring the architecture. The gingerbread-looking houses surprise you at each turn, and a lot of them also seem to lean out towards the canal, as if the inhabitants wanted all that much more to be close to the water. We walked around this area for over two hours, stopping occasionally for drinks at local bars along the way. One that was particularly lively and I liked a lot was a bar called Café Belgique that sold a tasty Belgian microbrew called La Chouffe. When it got later we found a cozy French restaurant on the canal that was open late called Bistro Bonjour. Here we had a three course feast of mozzarella with tomatoes, basil, and pesto for a salad, I ate roast duck in orange sauce, and Jen had steamed catfish. We washed it all down with a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, and both of us had profiteroles for dessert.
The Leaning Gingerbread-Like Canal Houses and Homes of Amsterdam:
After dinner we walked back towards the hotel, doing a little bar hopping along the way and perused the Red Light District. Both of us remarked at the strangeness of the situation, and it is almost one of those experiences that you might not really enjoy or want to check out, but your attention is drawn anyways and tourists line the streets. Some of the red-light apartments are thrown in amongst other businesses, and some smaller alleys are dedicated solely to the profession of sex workers. I wondered to myself how many tourists or people in general actually come there to “indulge” in the services offered, as the whole time I did not see a single person actually go inside of one of the stalls. We had a few more beers and walked around before heading back to bed around 2am. The bars closing at 1am put a bit of a damper on things in this crazy city, but at least they are open until 3am on weekends.
More Canal Homes in Jordaan:
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