So this is going to be about a week late but I have a good excuse! (in my head anyway) I went in to Amsterdam for the day on this past Friday, (more on that later) and on Saturday I was solidly and uncomfortably sick. I was out of it for the weekend entirely and I ended up heading to the cottage early because I was falling asleep at the dinner table on Monday. Tuesday was a bit better though I did end up dozing on the couch. Hopefully it'll be mostly gone by this weekend.
Anyway, to backtrack a bit. I went in to Amsterdam last Friday. Started a bit late, so I didn't get in to town until 11:40 or thereabouts. So I found somewhere to have lunch and headed to Dom Square in the hopes of finding the Sandeman's free tours people. I did. So I had a three hour walking tour of Amsterdam to look forward to now! My tour guide turned out to be a Canadian born Dutch woman who went by Lee. She lives in the Red Light District which has, apparently, turned into quite the family neighbourhood. It's also the safest place in Amsterdam after dark. Go figure.
The tour started in the Red Light District, which is when I learned much of those funny bits of trivia. Other things learned are: It's one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Amsterdam and has the oldest building, the Old Church (Oude Kerk) in it, and don't take pictures of the working ladies because our guide has seen tourists chased down the street by some of the women who had their picture taken.
We then went on to Chinatown, which is very different from the Vancouver Chinatown. Smaller, for one thing. Then on to one of the old customs houses which turned in to a guildhall when Amsterdam expanded. The big round tower in the middle played host to the Guild of Surgeons where they carried out public autopsies on executed criminal. Rembrandt painted a picture of one of these and a copy is hanging in the room. Apparently they hold raves in the room once a month and the effect of the lights and the painting is "Rather trippy".
On we go to the South end of the Red Light District where the Amsterdam University is located, and after that continue on to the Amsterdam Museum. A very cool building, and there are some very interesting stores around it. It also has some of the picture plates that people used to use instead of house numbers mounted on the outer walls. Apparently no one used house numbers until after Napoleon invaded and placed his brother on the throne. The Dutch didn't have last names until Louis Bonaparte either. So, according to Lee, this is why many Dutch last names are rather silly or dirty when translated. No one thought they'd stick.
After we left the museum we continued n to the newer part of the city (so, y'know, only about 400 years old) where she got us some cheese samples and showed us some of the tipping buildings and the smallest house front in Amsterdam. The house front was as wide as the front door, apparently as a tax dodge. Oh, and most people still haul their new furniture up and in through the upper windows using the hooks on the top of all the buildings when moving, which I thought was pretty cool.
The next and last stop was the Jewish Quarter and the Anne Frank House. When we got there she said "Oh look! It's a short line, only about 40 minutes!" When several of us looked at her funny she said "No, really, in Summer it can be up to 3 hours." So if I go I think I'll go in the Winter. Anyway, she told us a bit of the WWII history of Amsterdam and a bit about the Franks.
At this point the tour was over. It was a lot of fun and I would highly recommend it to anyone who goes to Amsterdam. It's a great way to get a basic idea of the layout of the central part of the city and to learn some interesting trivia. My guide was very fun, and from what I've seen on the website I'd guess most of the other guides are too.
Anyway, having finished off three hours of walking, the cold that had been lurking decided to pounce. I got very tired, very quickly, so I decided to go home.
That's all for now. Hopefully I'll remember to post again soon.
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