They charge 4 Euro to see the thing and its worth about that much, particularly if you don’t have a lot of experience seeing old European churches.
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Amsterdam
December 2003 - January 2004
| Day 1 Arrival |
Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 New Year's Eve |
Day 5 New Year's Day |
Day 6 | Day 7 & Departure |
Day 2
| We kicked things off with a
walk through the Oude Kerk, the Old Church, just up the street from our hotel.
The bells of this fine church had been waking us up at all hours, ringing at
both the hour and half hour, then ringing randomly with bits of Christmas tunes
and other songs I didn’t recognize as I lay in my bed wishing for sleep. So I
wanted to see what all the fuss was about. They charge 4 Euro to see the thing and its worth about that much, particularly if you don’t have a lot of experience seeing old European churches. |
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The
massive pipes of an organ dominate the room, particularly if you’re lucky
enough to be there when it’s being played. We were fortunate and the hall
boomed with the sound. Like many old European churches, the floor is lined with markers of those buried beneath the floor. There are various famous figures, such as Rembrandt’s first wife and sundry naval and civic leaders from the last 500 years, stored there. But the markers are very plain, monotone stone, often worn to the point of illegibility, and not much to look at. |
| There are choir stalls with various scenes carved into their backs representing various evils, such as "Two drunks under one roof: two people are in agreement about everything, especially what’s wrong." Some of the carvings are even stranger than this. |
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| There are some spectacular stained glass windows. Two of the largest, intact windows are in one corner. I think the ceiling of St. Peters is shown in one of them, but I can't find any evidence to confirm it. |
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| The coat of arms of the mayors of the city between 1578 and 1800 appear in the two windows on either side of the choir aisle. |
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| Other windows appear to have some or most of their original pains missing. I don't know if this is the result of war, earthquakes, or what, nor could I find anything about it online or in their brochure. It adds to the stark, ancient feeling of the place. |
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| One of the side rooms is used as a small gallery for modern work, an interesting contrast to the stained glass above. |
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| The painted ceiling is as faded and worn as the floor.
Despite the wood ceiling and colorful windows, the room feels cold and
depressing, probably due in large part to the lack of heat in the place. But
temperature aside, the place feels stark and empty. |
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We met up at Smokey’s, a coffeeshop on Rembrandtplein, Rembrandt Square. The square boasts a large statue of the famous painter and might be a pretty place to hang out, were it not for the glacial conditions. Smokey’s offered neon-lit sanctuary and powerful space cake, according to the squinty eyes of those who'd tried it. |
| We split for lunch so everyone could find something that suited their palette, and we wouldn’t have to struggle to find seating for 9, then reassembled to journey to the Jewish museum. On the way, we found an open air exhibit around the opera house, a series of monolithic display stands with a huge photograph on each side. The pictures were various aerial photographs of interesting scenes both natural and man-made, some very cool stuff. Unfortunately it was fucking freezing so we couldn’t linger long. |
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Almost the entire gang.
The Jewish museum is housed in 4 synagogues in the Jewish quarter of town. They make a point to say they’re not trying to be another Holocaust museum, but can’t help but acknowledge the war. The portion of the museum dedicated to WWII is probably the most moving bit. The rest of the place is actually dull. But it’s a nice contrast to the gilt Catholicism of Italy.
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One of the things they had was a children's section. On the wall was an
illustrated timetable of important events, like the creation of man in 3760
BC, the Jews fleeing Israel, WWII, etc., leading up to the opening of the
Jewish Historical Museum for kids.
I have to wonder - just who or what are the remains we find that are dated long before -3760? |
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We cruised a few coffeeshops, including The Tribe, a vaguely Viking-themed place, then somehow degenerate DC got us into an Italian restaurant again for dinner. Then we’re off on another coffeehouse tour, including Grasshopper, a big coffeehouse in the basement, and bar/dance club in the floors above. It was packed with trendy people on the ground floor, so we hit the second story and lurked in the corner for a while before we decided it wasn’t our kind of place and wandered back to the Smoking Bull. The Portlanders called it an early night with their bioclocks even more out of whack than ours. The rest of us managed to stay up past midnight before stumbling back up the ladder to our rooms. |
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Day 1 Arrival |
Day 2 | Day 3 |
Day 4 New Year's Eve |
Day 5 New Year's Day |
Day 6 |
Day 7 & Departure |
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