Amsterdam - Street Karaoke - and a site, Photo Gallery

Street karaoke, gender yes, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Amsterdam is a relaxed and livable city. Outdoor cafes, bikes and more bikes. Karaoke - the gentleman in the boots was very talented - much applause from all of us. This was near the Anne Frank House.

Here is a fine photo gallery for Amsterdam: www.pbase.com/bauer/amsterdam.

More blogs about The Netherlands Road Ways.

Amsterdam - Coffee House (not coffee); and the District

Recreation at will, so long as someone does not interfere with someone else. Users tolerated, dealers, not.  Focus on the regulation, the sources.  Monitoring, safety, health measures, not prohibition.

Users have access to soft drugs at controlled settings, free of contact with the hard users or dealers; such as at this "coffee house."  Users are not the target,  but producers and dealers are. Hard drugs are considered an unacceptable risk to society, but the softer ones not so.
Distinction between soft and hard drugs.

Here is a coffee house - remember that the name does not mean that coffee is sold there. It is a recreational substance establishment. All is relaxed about people's personal choices. A person is free to be responsible for himself, users are tolerated, pushers are not. We missed the Hash Museum. See www.hashmuseum.com/.

One of the sculpture lions outside the Rijksmuseum even had a joint in its mouth. Looked perfectly happy.

Hemp has been used for medicinal and other purpose for centuries - maybe the first reference is 8000 BC in Mesopotamia. For details on various categories of uses, see www.sdearthtimes.com/et0199/et0199s11. Examples: rope, materials for the Dutch sailing and shipping industries.

And in the District, many people are friendly, and wave from the windows when they get bored or just want some fun, and business gets conducted without the tawdry desperation we see here. Join the profession, leave, as you like. Other in the windows just are there, looking bored or tired. If she contracts an illness, I understand, she must stop and can take retirement with treatment and at subsidized housing. True? Regulation rather than prohibition? Up to the Powers, but information always helps. Check out your own.

How do we know this? Because we were going to church. This one.

We were going to the Museum Amstelkring - and it is in the District. It is an example (now museum) of a hidden church, necessary for the Roman Catholics when Catholicism was outlawed in the late 16th century. The church is splendid -- on a second and third floors of a house, spreading over two widths at those higher levels. The sanctuary is two floors high. See ://www.bma.amsterdam.nl/adam/uk/huizen/ozvb40i.html/ for Our Lord In The Attic.

We would have walked around the District anyway.

And in the District, many people are friendly, and wave from the windows when they get bored or just want some fun, and business gets conducted without the tawdry desperation we see here. Join the profession, leave, as you like. Other in the windows just are there, looking bored or tired.Some of the best-humored seemed to be the older purveyors - friendly waves. With skills, they can continue for years: just pay the rent. Far less fear for everyone on the street, including the pedestrians. See ://www.answers.com/topic/prostitution-in-the-netherlands/

Amsterdam - Canal ice cream, houseboats, parking

Heron on houseboat, Amsterdam NL

That is a heron on the houseboat. Houseboats can be rented by the week. Prime real estate.

Watch for the canal take-out.

On this canal, we saw a family pull up while still in their little outboard motorboat, ring the brass bell and out cames a waiter to take their ice cream order. Dash back in and presto - cones for all. Houseboats are becoming pricey, I understand - best non-real estate deal around.

Houseboats, canal, Amsterdam, NL









The canals are lined with houseboats.


Boat-it over for ice cream, canal scene, Amsterdam, the Netherlands



Houseboat row, Amsterdam, the Netherlands



 

Parking is hold-your-breath. The cars just roll right in all the time. Parking is usually at an angle, to maximize space. And to facilitate the big splash. The authorities have special car-retrieval equipment.

There are also large underground garages.

Most areas along the canals are limited to residents who display a parking permit. So head for the underground lots. When finding a place to stay, it is best to find the garage first, in an area with some hotels, then park and find a nearby hotel. Mark a map where your hotel is, and write out the cross-streets. Easier to ask directions back.

Amsterdam - Big-As Life Chess, Sandlot Soccer - City Block size

Life-size chess board, Amsterdam

On the big chess board, White was winning.

This approach to chess is not unusual in Europe. Find one in Salzburg, other places. 










For the soccer, there was an entire half-city block full of sand - no dogs allowed - and it was soccer each time we went by.

City block-size sandlot soccer, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Update July 3, 2010 - The World Cup Soccer in South Africa is going on, and the Netherlands just beat Brazil, see ://netherlands.worldcupblog.org/

Other countries:  clear sandlots and watch the pickup games pick up. Is that so? soccer sandlots as feeders for champion teams.  Make it a part of everyday life.

How about the Bronx next?

Also see street soccer in Dubrovnik.

Non-Romanticizing Any Country - Amsterdam, The Death of Theo Van Gogh

Theo Van Gogh
Immigration, Tolerance, Intolerance, How to Survive Together

Van Gogh had made a film in the Netherlands that offended a particular Islamist because of the film's depiction of treatment of women, among other issues. There are now about a million Dutch-born Muslims in the Netherlands - of a total population of about 16 million. He was murdered on November 2, 2004 in Amsterdam, for producing the film.  See a chronology of news accounts and links at ://www.religionnewsblog.com/category/theo-van-gogh/  He was the great-great grandson of the brother of Vincent Van Gogh, also named Theo. See ://www.imdb.com/name/nm0324660/

Travel leads to post-trip interest in the country's political, social, religious events and climate. The issue of global immigration and conflicting religious views leading to violence is historically familiar, whether Christian or Islam, see Originalism and Literalism v. Reason and Practicality. Throughout the world, see the clash of intolerance of self-determination deviation and tolerance for self-determination. The murder of Theo Van Gogh highlights its modern form.  See the book Murder in Amsterdam, The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance, by Ian Buruma, reviewed by Christopher Caldwell in the New York Times, 9/20/2006 at page 8.

Philosophy, tolerance, the place of newcomers, and what if the newcomers are physically aggressive about their cause, the the old-timers use language and political processes.  These are global issues.

There is an active counterculture, and no resolution in sight.

The issue fosters a deadly earnestness about oppositions. Extremes east and west, not limited to any particular framework.  Moderates are in each.  Sing of moderation.

Hwaet. Listen up. See Beowulf's bard being sure he has people's attention before telling his tale at ://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/beowulf-oe.html/


Theo Van Gogh. Do an Images search - fair use thumbnail, see userstelenet.be. One of many. Beware the hate sites disregard the obvious: that extremes do not speak for the middle and that Christians have engaged in purges of others also, and some still do.  See Scott Roeder at ://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/us/30roeder.html

Amsterdam - Residents - Anne Frank, Etty Hillesum; Holocaust Memorials

Anne Frank House, Amsterdam

The Diary of Anne Frank.

Here, is Anne Frank's hidden place, behind walls and up attics from her father's business, where day to day work continued while everyone kept silent above during the day, fearing flushes. These posts began as travel-logs. Now, current events and comment move in.

An old tree, outside her window, at the top, is apparently going to be preserved, after an initial decision to cut it down because of disease.

Anne Frank was the young girl who kept a diary of the time she and her family and others hid from the Nazis in WWII. Her home is also a museum now -- perhaps too much spruced up, looks too modern from the outside (last visit was in 1961), and is more manicured and staged -- still, not to be missed. See an account of her letters at www.literarytraveler.com/articles/anne_frank_her_life.aspx.

The door to the warehouse-office is the one with the little sign to the right. See the Anne Frank Museum website at www.annefrank.org/content.asp?pid=2&lid=2.

Look up more information about the Franks.

There is a biography of Anne Frank also - by Melissa Muller, 1998 or so. The review in the New York Times, Tuesday, 11/29/90, says that the Franks nearly made it safely. Their train, to Auschwitz, was the last to leave the Netherlands. Anne and her sister died just a few weeks before the camp where they ended up, Bergen-Belsen was liberated.

Her father's efforts to save the family. 

 Recently, letters showing her father's efforts to get the family out of Holland and by any route to safety, including into the United States, have been in the news. See post-gazette.com/pg/07026/756900-44.

We turned the family away because of huge immigration waiting lists, policies restricting who could enter, anti-Semitism and other issues. See today's (2/15/07) Hartford Courant http courant.com/news/nationworld/hc-frank0215.artfeb15,0,1490308.story.

Here is a fair use quote from Richard Breitman, cited there. He is an American professor interested in intelligence issues, both German and American from the time. "The decision to try hard came too late. The Nazis made it hard to leave, and U.S. made it hard to seek refuge there, both by accident and by conscious policy."

Other young besieged diarists:

Rutka Laskier, Bedzin, Poland. See "Rutka's Notebook: A Voice From The Holocaust," 2008, see Poland Road Ways, Children of the Holocaust Diaries, Rutka Laskier.

At pages 86-89 of Rutka's Notebook are listed more -

• Dawid Sierakowiak, from Lodz, Poland;
  
• Mary Berg, from the Warsaw Ghetto;
  
• Miriam Chasczewacka, Radomsko, Poland;
  
• Julius Feldman, Krakow;
  
• Moshe Flinker, emigrated from Poland to the Netherlands, ultimately deported to Auschwitz;
  
• Tamara Lazerson, Kovno, Lithuania;
  
• Ruthka Lieblich, Andr;ychow, Silesia;
  
• Halina Nelkin, Krakow;
  
• Masha Rolnik, Vilna Ghetto (Vilnius), Lithuania;
  
• Isaac Rudashevski, Vilna Ghetto (Vilnius);
  
• David Rubinowicz, Krajno, Poland.

Zlata Filipovic - Bosnia Road Ways- the then-11 year old girl, Zlata Filipovic, in Sarajevo in 1991. There is a review of Zlata's work, comparing that to Anne Frank, at jvibe.com/popculture/zlata. Other young people have posted videos and posts from bombed areas in Lebanon since then, as well as from other countries. See searchforvideo.com/countries/lebanon/ and other countries. Or go to YouTube.

Etty Hillesum - Back in Amsterdam, Etty Hillesum is another Jewish person who wrote her diary, one less known that that of Anne Frank, and in a different age group altogether. She was a young woman in her late 20's, living and working in Amsterdam, and writing before and even while at Auschwitz, where she died. Very different life issues.

Try the diary of this 27-year old young woman, for an adult perspective and series of thoughts, on relationships, circumstances, in Etty - A Diary 1941-43 by Etty Hillesum,  She was born in 1914, and died in Auschwitz in 1943. Triad/Panther paperbacks 1985 (my copy).

She lived in Amsterdam.
Petr Ginz, Prague, the Czech Republic, see Czech Republic Road Ways, Prague at War (see excerpt from Diary of Petr Ginz about the assassination by the Polish Resistance of Nazi leader, Reynhard Heidrich). See also Places of Petr Ginz.

Here are some of her words: www.creativequotations.com/one/291.htm.

The Holocaust is also well remembered at an open-air theater, the Hollandse Schouwberg where Jews were collected and catalogued and then could go home before being "called up" to report. See www2.holland.com/us/discover/amsterdam/highlights/jewishheritage/quarter.jsp. There are names, pictures, accounts.

For the history of the Jews in the Netherlands, see www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/netherlands.

Amsterdam - Diary of Anne Frank; compare to Prague child-diarist, Petr Ginz

 Anne Frank

Anne Frank is a familiar diarist, a child writing in hiding during the German occupation in World War II, and finally being sent to her death in Auschwitz. See, one out of many resources, www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/af/htmlsite/. She lived with enforced silence around her every day.

A young adult, Etty Hillesum, also kept a diary, as did others. See Netherlands Road Ways, Anne Frank and Etty Hillesum, diarists.Another child also kept a diary, Petr Ginz in Prague. See Places of Petr Ginz; and Petr Ginz: Lens and Legacy.

This is to encourage countries to cross-reference the places and writings of diarists in WWII, in their own museums and reconstructed houses. There are many. Give us a map, with pins even.

They all differ in the environments and concerns they had before the War, and during, until their deaths. Each offers another side to the prism.

Petr Ginz was far more objective than Anne in describing his daily life, but then again, he was still in the middle of his life's activities. Anne was already isolated.

He lived with his family openly in their home, conducting a daily family and school life as far as the Occupation and devastation would or would not permit. His entries lay out the mechanics of progressive intrusions, deportations, and deprivation. He also was killed at Auschwitz, at age 16.
.
Dusni Synagogue, Spanish Synagogue, Prague. The surroundings of child diarists in WWII, here Petr Ginz
 .
We know few of the places that Anne Frank loved in Amsterdam. She was locked in. By contrast, Petr's diary is alive with city happenings, and references to events.

Here, for example, is the portal of the Spanish Synagogue in Prague, the "Dusni" Synagogue (it was located on Dusni Street) where Petr watched property being removed by the Nazis. Diary at Page 49. Did they read, shalt not steal.

Anne saw none of the daily violences of Occupation.

Read his full diary in the 2007 book, The Diary of Petr Ginz 1941-1942, edited by his sister, Chava Pressburger who also includes an introduction and some entries from her own diary. This was translated from the Czech by Elena Lappin, Atlantic Monthly Press 2007. The many sides of experience, and how people cope.

Amsterdam: Narrowest House in the City? The World?

 Step Right Up to the Narrowest House In The World?

Alley-houses. A single door width at street level, single windows going up.

Several cities around the world boast this kind of residence, built in the alleyways, as the narrowest in the world. See Scotland's bid at ://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/1634975.stm; and Brazil's at ://freshome.com/2007/11/06/narrowest-house-in-the-world-just-1-meter-wide/

Alley-house in Amsterdam. Narrowest house in city?

The advantage of this location location location is, or used to be, low taxes.  Taxes were often assessed based on front footage, or first-floor footprint.  In some places, that practice led to overhangs on higher floors, extending in various directions.  Many places boast skinny houses built in the equivalent of alleys between other buildings.

Which is the narrowest in Amsterdam?  The contestants line up.

We recall that this is, but another site shows another house entirely: see ://goeurope.about.com/od/amsterdampictures/ss/amsterdam_7.htm/.

And this next one shows a clock facade:  ://www.amsterdamtourist.nl/en/home/about+amsterdam/Amsterdam+Surprise/article/xp/content_artikel.Surprise+EN+-Narrowest+house+in+the+world/default.aspx /

There is a house near Conwy Castle, Wales, that makes the same claim as the world's narrowest house.

So, in Amsterdam, said to be the narrowest house in Europe. See Another narrow house. Then there is this one at Singel No. 7, fair use thumbnail from ://farm1.static.flickr.com/54/128061040_a35ac665e7.jpg

said to be the narrowest house in the world:

Then there is this one,


fair use from http://www.nedwater.eu/pictures/amsterdam%20narrowest%20house.jpg

Do an images search for narrowest house Amsterdam, and see even more. Somewhere is a site with stories about how they came to be, but we lost it. Gentlemen, start your facades.

Art in Amsterdam - Rembrandt; VanGogh; Vermeer; the Rijksmuseum

 Art in Amsterdam:  Artists, Museums

Rembrandt. 1606-1669.

Find his history and place in art at ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/rembrandt/. At that site, you can click on specific works - go to The Night Watch - one of his most famous.  Here is a fair use thumbnail of The Night Watch from ://college-de-vevey.vd.ch/auteur/livres/connaissance/tomeIV/night-watch-rembrandt.jpg

The Night Watch.

The 1642 painting is also misunderstood as Night Watch. They are just militia.  No reference to time of day. The dark color is not the time of day, or event.  Varnish darkened over time and when that was removed in 1942, the name stuck.  The group in the portrait, and the real title, is Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch, Kloveniersgoven militia, civic guard, caught informally, just before moving out.  See ://www.dutchamsterdam.nl/139-rembrandt-night-watch/  Some of the officials did not want to pay because their faces were not full front. See www.historyofholland.com/rembrandt-and-the-nightwatch.html/.

Back to the ibiblio site at the top, click on the sections for his individual portraits - note the light and dark, the light source, the fading and contrasts.

This Rembrandt statue in Rembrandt Square in Amsterdam highlights the light. Walk around it and it appears to move, the folds of the gown, his expression.  His house is now a fine museum. See The Rembrandthuis at www.rembrandthuis.nl/cms_pages/index_main.

Rembrandt Statue, Rembrandt Square, Amsterdam

See Rembrandt Square, the old Butter Market, at
aviewoncities.com/amsterdam/rembrandtsquare.

The Rijksmuseum.

This is worth a day in itself. Save your museums for when it rains.

Or, you can download the Rijkswidget and see a different painting from the collection every day. Go to rijksmuseum.nl/widget?lang=en.

Trips trigger the past. I found there a particular painting, Old Woman at Prayer, by Nicholaes Maes 1656 - a reproduction that was absolutely huge (the original is little) had been familiar since childhood.  That is a little kitten scratching at the lower right corner of the tablecloth.  Any painting there:  see the website's easy referencing.

Old Woman at Prayer. 


Fair use thumbnail of Old Woman at Prayer at ://www.wisdomportal.com/Gratitude/Maes-OldWomanPraying.jpgIt is even reproduced in the museum store. To find what you want: start at masterpieces, selecta theme (for this old woman, at her meal, I typed in "woman;" and scrolled across every single object-painting with woman as a main theme. Ingenious locator. Go to rijksmuseum.nl/index.

Going up the walkway, we saw a joint in the lion's mouth and lots of tourists taking pictures. So did we. Amazing how legal things can blend in, regulate behavior as it affects others, but not in privacy; and people just make choices.  In the Netherlands, soft drugs like hashish and marijuana are treated differently than hard drugs, and users are not punished:  go after the big dealers. Decriminalize.

US approach:  Make something illegal as to users.  Then see all the negatives of deputizing and enforcers fly about like, pointing fingers, regardless of what they do in their own lives, like so many airborne monkeys. A new Oz.

Van Gogh Museum.  Then see the VanGogh Museum across the way. Modern. This site takes you to many cities and sites - go to arounder.com. For the Van Gogh in Amsterdam, go to amsterdam.arounder.com/arounder_specials_van_gogh_museum/java. For VanGogh himself and his art, go back to the Web Museum site, Paris - ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/gogh/.  We understand that many tours do not go to the Van Gogh because it has an admission fee.  It is worth it.

A favorite in Amsterdam - The Potato Eaters, unforgettable look at regular people, homely like you and me, eating regular food.

The Potato Eaters.

Fair use thumbnail of the Potato Eaters from ://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anthfood/images/Potato_Eaters_Van_Gogh_April_1885.jpg
Click on the thumbnail of the painting at the site, and the large size appears. For VanGogh fake paintings issues, see vggallery.com/misc/fakes/fakes2.

Johannes Vermeer. A huge mural here. Here is the Rijksmuseum gallery of Vermeer works: rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_artists/00017083?lang=en. Girl with Pearl Earring. Vermeer's Painting. See about-vermeer-art.com/vermeer/vermeer-oil-paintings/paintings/1.

Here is Vermeer's Milkmaid.

The Milkmaid.
Fair use thumbnail from ://www.navigo.com/wm/paint/auth/vermeer/vermeer.milkmaid.jpg/  You may remember Vermeer from his Girl With a Pearl Earring, later a book.