At the end of last week’s installment, K and her friends had just arrived on a late-night train to Amsterdam from Brussels. I’ll open with a few of her images of Amsterdam—bikes, flowers, people, and barges.
Images of Amsterdam
Thurs. p.m.
Yesterday didn’t get written up—and already it seems far away. We went out shopping in the morning. Three of the places where the handles of Bertha’s bag fastened came loose, so she had to buy a new purse. We went to the big department store—BeeHive—tho’ the spelling is far from that.
The flagship store of the De Bijenkorf (meaning “the beehive”) department store chain is on Dam Square in Amsterdam.
The National Investment Clubs are having a convention in Rotterdam. Two of our club members are attending. They came to Amsterdam to visit the Stock Market. We went there to meet the group. We were too early so we were told we could get a quick lunch in the “Warehouse”—the BeeHive. It was an Expresso Shop. We went back to the Exchange, and they rolled out the Red Carpet for us as we waited—served us coffee, etc. We heard a short talk, watched the Stock Market (oldest in the world), went to the Exhibition Room.
Here’s a picture of the trading floor at the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (now called Euronext).
Outside, as we were leaving, was a Calliope—which I turned. Real corny but fun.
One of K’s friends must have grabbed her camera—here she is on the street with the basket/purse she bought in Bruges, and then she’s turning the calliope! I also found a video of one from the Netherlands in action so you can hear what it would have sounded like.
Turning the calliope
Then shopping on Kalverstraat. Two blocks long with no traffic except people—plenty of those.
Kalverstraat (“Calf Street”), the most popular shopping street in the Netherlands, was apparently named after the the cattle market that was held there from 1486 until 1629.
We ate dinner in the hotel grille—very good food—and inexpensive. In the evening we took a ride on the canals and across the harbor. It took some maneuvering to get the big boat around and through.
Amsterdam’s canals, and the islands and bridges over and around them, are some of its most distinctive features. Three of the main canals were built in the 17th century and form concentric belts around the city. This area was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. Canal boat tours remain one of the most popular tourist activities in the city.
Today—Thursday—we went to the Post Office, and to some other shopping areas. I have bought little things—nothing big. We ate lunch in the hotel tavern—thin bread sandwiches—wonderful beef—all on a tray, no dishes. Very good, very inexpensive.
In 1963, the main Amsterdam Post Office was in this historic building, which has since been converted into a shopping center called Magna Plaza.
This afternoon we went by Rembrandt’s house—there wasn’t time to go in. Helen and I went shopping with Bertha. She is timid about being alone. I feel real seasoned in comparison.
The Rembrandt House Museum, opened in 1911, is located in a house occupied by the famous Dutch painter between 1639 and 1658. According to Wikipedia, “the museum shows Rembrandt's living and working quarters, including his living room, art room and the studio where he created his masterpieces…This gives the visitor an idea of Rembrandt's daily life, his studio practice and what a private house and artist's studio looked like in the 17th century.”
In the elevator I met a woman from Shaker—lives but two streets from Sussex!
Katherine lived in Shaker Heights, OH, where she taught at Sussex Elementary School (now the Early Childhood Enrichment Center). It’s always fun to meet someone from home when one is traveling!
In the evening we ate at the Black Sheep. It was a very interesting place—we had a good steak dinner.
The Black Sheep (‘t Swarte Schaep) was apparently established in 1687, and occupied all three floors of a 14th century building. It was described in a 1974 New York Times article as having “a comfortable, shabby-elegant decor—leaded glass windows, rough-hewn wood beams, etc.” and offering an extensive menu of mostly French dishes. It’s apparently closed now…the last mention of it I found was in a 2000 newspaper article.
We walked a bit—the lights on the canals were beautiful. I went back (with Helen) on the street car to get a picture. The flower barges were all outlined with lights.
K took this picture of the lighted barges on the canal. This seems like a good place to end the post. See you next week!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this installment of Travels with K! If you know someone who might like to join us on the journey, please feel free to share.
Have many visits here. Looks a good bit the same as the photos.