Packing to leave – Greetings from Amsterdam one last time.

It’s been a great last day. After spending a bit of time in the early morning doing some work (yes, work!) and a bit of organizing so that packing won’t be too awful later in the evening, we headed out for a wonderful last lunch. We took the tram and changed to a bus (did it all correctly, today, no mistakes! Getting to be a local) to get to DeKas Restaurant which is located in a wonderful greenhouse just inside Frankendael Park. Apparently it was slated for demolition and the owners decided to repurpose the greenhouse and these restauranteurs decided to use part for a working greenhouse and the other part for a charming, spacious restaurant. They also have a 4-acre farm on the outskirts of Amsterdam so all of the food is sustainably grown. The restaurant’s specialty is combining sweet and sour flavors.. so they use interesting vinegars in many of the preparations. “Picked in the morning, served in the afternoon” is the mantra here.

It was a wonderful meal – (big on various kinds of kale!) – and each portion was plated like a work of art. Interesting conversation with the waiter who suggested we try a Dutch wine! It was quite good. (White). He said the Dutch wine business is in the early stages but that given global warming they expect the wine regions to change and that the Netherlands will become a significant player in the wine industry.

From there we boarded a bus again and headed to the Tassenmuseum – a small museum devoted to exhibiting handbags and luggage. Apparently Heinz en Hendrikje Ivo had collected small antiques. One day, Ivo found a leather handbag from the 1820s, made of tortoise shell and was fascinated by the beauty and started researching the history of the handbag and went on to build an amazing collection which they initially showed at their house (turning it into a little museum). Some years later the museum moved to its present location in a canal house in 2007.

The exhibit is very well done and the collection probably has more than a thousand items – from 17^th century bags to current, from a green handbag used by Madonna when she attended an event in London to the purse carried by Teresa May. We strolled the exhibit which was fascinating and well documented, and then hopped onto a bus to take us to Het Schip – a social housing project in northwest Amsterdam.

Het Schip  (the “Ship”) is an apartment building in the Spaarndammerbuurt district that reflects the architectural style of the Amsterdam School of Expressionist architecture. It is considered perhaps the single most important example of this style of architecture using brick expressionism. It was designed by Michael de Klerk and it vaguely resembles or reminds one of a ship – hence the name. While there is a huge amount of design integrity, it’s quite different from different angles. It was designed in 1919 to house working class residents in 109 units and to include a meeting hall, and a post office (which is now a museum of the Amsterdam School.

In the 19th and early 20th century, Amsterdam faced a housing shortage, with many working-class people living in cramped quarters – often without electricity, heat, or running water.  Often several people lived in one room. In the early 1900s (1901, I think), the Dutch government passed the National Housing Act (Woningwet). This law set high standards for housing and resulted in the demolition of old, inadequate tenement-style buildings and also created new housing reflecting the desired living conditions and were developed with prices that made them accessible to Amsterdam’s low-income citizens. This law also set aside financial resources for the development of other low-income housing. One of the affordable housing developments created after the passage of this act was the Spaarndammerbuurt, where Het Schip and several other Amsterdam School social housing projects are located. Most of this housing was funded by cooperative housing associations and workers collectives, socialist organizations, and religious groups. One of these groups commissioned the architect, Michel de Klerk, to design and build three blocks of “proletarian housing,” including Het Schip.

The apartments in this complex reflected a radical change regarding living conditions for the poor and working class people in the early 1900s. The units included several rooms rather than the typical single-room occupancy that was common at the time. They also included flush toilets and had good natural light and ventilation from windows. Ground-floor units had gardens. The building also housed a post office, and a telephone box.

We had planned to visit, and then found out that the little museum that explains the building was closed on Mondays. We decided to go anyway, thinking that seeing it all from the outside would be fine.

So, we got there and were walking around the perimeter and then I decided to try the main door (leading to public spaces) – It was open so we walked in.. We were checking out the lobby (cautiously, knowing that perhaps we weren’t supposed to be there) when a woman appeared. She asked how we got in and we explained that the door was open. She was a bit flustered but then we struck up a conversation. Turns out she founded the little museum and is very active in the social housing movement. Apparently one day she stopped at the post office and admired the building and was told it was to be demolished. She thought that was a terrible situation and fought to reclaim it as a museum to honor Dutch architecture, Het Schip, and social housing. She’s been managing it ever since. She gave a us a quick history of the place including the fact that there had been a small school at the site and deKlerk literally designed Het Schip to be built around that school – above it and adjacent to it and behind it. The school is no longer there and additional housing was created.

The craftsmanship, details, and overall design are amazing to see – an honor to the residents. Alice (the woman) is feisty and intelligent. She talked to us about more recent struggles to ensure that social housing will remain forever in the hands of low income people and not go the way of the UK which privatized units within their social housing and made efforts to increase the amount of privatization. We talked about the need for affordable housing in the US and when we finally bid adieu to Alice she cheered us for caring about this issues amid (as she called it) these “Trumpies” who want to destroy civilization! We promised to tell everyone we know to come to visit Het Schip – so I am doing that here. Don’t go on Mondays because the museum is closed and you might not luck out to meet Alice.

She let us stroll the courtyard, and then we walked the entire perimeter.  From what I can tell, the design ensures that every resident has their own “front door” on street level, even though some doors lead to staircases that lead to second or third level units. Resident gardens are thriving and the entire complex is very well maintained; looks like lots of kids and families as well as singles.

As it got dark (we had to change our clocks on Saturday night so the sun sets at around 5:30 now), we headed to the bus and back to the Central Station, from which we could walk back to our hotel. We just finished dinner (decided to eat at the hotel so that we wouldn’t lose much time) and now I’m wrapping this up and shutting down, packing, and headed to bed – Need to head to airport at 7 am.

See you all stateside. Hope the fires are subsiding (but we are well aware of the realities – it’s all over the news here).

Best –

Fern

 

Greetings from an exhausted American in Amsterdam

We started our day with a relaxing (although a bit rushed) breakfast at the hotel, and then headed to the train station (Amsterdam Central) to catch a train to Rotterdam where we would then supposedly find out how to get to Kinder Dijk – which is about 15 kilometers from Rotterdam. It is the site of a “community” of 19 windmills begun about 270 years ago and are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many of us associate windmills with the Netherlands, and here at Kinder Dijk they blend seamlessly with the landscape – and are functional and performing an important role in the ecology of the region. Strolling the 800-acre site and wandering over small bridges and into marshlands and along paths that take visitors to the front steps of 250-year old windmills, following and crossing over the canals is transformative.

Construction of hydraulic works for agricultural drainage and settlement began here in the Middle Ages and has actually continued to the present day. Kinder Dijk is an example of the typical features associated with this kind of technology – dykes, reservoirs, pumping stations, administrative buildings and absolutely stunning and well-preserved windmills. It’s known that the Netherlands has had centuries-old challenges with rising waters and the collection of windmills at Kinder Dijk was constructed to address flooding. These windmills sit on a waterlogged plot of land surrounded by two rivers. The area has always been threatened by floods. So, to keep the water at bay, residents built a series of what we might call “earthworks” way back in the 13th century. These dykes, sluices, and canals channeled water away from homes and farms and protected the area for generations. But by the 18^th Century, this system needed to be updated and the set of windmills were constructed, beginning in 1740. They are extremely large and were designed to drain the wetlands. By harnessing the wind, the windmills transferred water from lower parts of Kinder Dijk into a higher basin that flowed into a nearby river. This created an expansive irrigation system that still exists today.

OK.. So it was worth what it took to get there.

We walked to the Amsterdam Central Station, bought one-way tickets to Rotterdam (we weren’t certain what route we’d take to get back to Amsterdam), and had a pleasant trip to this other, lesser-visited city. But after we came up to the Rotterdam Central Station, there wasn’t any information as to how to go the next 10 or so miles to Kinder Dijk. We had heard there was a waterbus from Rotterdam, but there isn’t any water close to the station. We also heard there was a bus, but there wasn’t any information. So we found our way to the info desk and were told we missed the waterbus and they only run every two hours. They guy was helpful and said we could take Tram 23 to Beverwaard and then there would be a bus that would get us to Kinder Dijk. The tram would leave from the station in 8 minutes (transportation here is amazingly efficient – 8 minutes means exactly 8 minutes). We literally went straight to the tram, without a stop at the ladies room.  We hopped on the tram without a ticket, but we were able to purchase it on the tram – credit card only (as it is everywhere here), and marveled at some of the architecture we could see out the window. Rotterdam (I don’t think I have ever been there before) is clearly a re-made city, following WWII, with lots of good architecture, interesting housing, clean roads, good transportation, and friendly people. We knew that we were supposed to get to our stop at (exactly 1:01). As the time approached, Carol said she thought we had seen the stop before – sure enough we had taken the wrong tram (21 instead of 23) and we had actually now come full circle. The staff person who rides the tram explained that we were on the 21 not the 23.. so she guided us to go a few more stops and then deboard and cross over and take #23; we had lost about 20 minutes.

Boarded the 23 and headed to the correct stop and then tried to find the bus (#489) being extra careful to get on the right bus. But there weren’t any busses in sight. Then we spotted what looked like a bus yard and figured our bus must be in there. We went through some gates (which we thought was strange) and then passed dozens of trams and went into an office, where we were told we were not supposed to be in that area at all. We left and then realized (or thought) we were totally locked in. We were in a tram yard – where all the trams begin or end their trips, come for repairs, etc. The whole setting was eerie. As we approached the automatic doors that open when a tram comes, we spotted a fence door and tried to open it, but it was locked. Fortunately, before we could freak out, a tram drove up and the gates opened. The tram driver stopped – amazed that we were standing there and asked what we were doing. We explained and he looked incredulous, but he opened the gate for us and we then went once again to find bus 489. We spotted a little bus shelter and sat and waited. The bus ride was about 25 minutes and wound through some lovely villages, canals, and farm areas.

Eventually (3 hours after we began the 1.5 hour journey), we arrived at Kinder Dijk to stroll and to stare in awe.

After about two hours, we realized we had to return,. When we bought our tickets for Kinder Dijk, we inquired about the return trip and were told the last waterbus to Rotterdam would be at 4:00 and that was way too early for us. We were then told we could take a very small ferry across some canals to catch a different waterbus and that ferry (the last one) would depart at 5:14. This seemed perfect. We got to the “dock” at about 5:10 when an actual waterbus pulled up, but it was going to Dordecht. The attendant told us this would be the last boat for the day and that if we didn’t take this one we had to go back by the bus/tram combo we had used to get to Kinder Dijk several hours before. Problem was – this waterbus was going to Dordrecht and we didn’t think there were any “direct” trains from Dordecht to Amsterdam.

We hopped on the waterbus and decided we’d figure it all out when we got to the Dordecht Station. The ride was smooth and quick – sort of like taking the ferry from Manhattan to Staten Island. Naturally the waterbus doesn’t arrive at a pier at the train station, so we called a taxi to get us to the station – about 7 minutes away. The sun had already set about 45 minutes before – Europe changed their clocks – moving back by an hour, midnight last night. We got to the train station only to be told by the clerk that the “fast” train to Amsterdam would leave in exactly one minute; she sold us a ticket (they are flexible and not assigned to particular trains), and then flat out told us we missed the train. The next one wouldn’t come for 30 minutes and it was not the direct express (meaning it would take about twice as long and stop many times).. So be it. We waited and eventually arrived back in Amsterdam at the Central Station at about 8 pm.

We had already decided, while on the train, to find a very simple place for dinner and to go directly from the train before heading to the hotel. We did a little research and decided to take a taxi from the station to Bird – a Thai restaurant, in Amsterdam’s Chinatown. It’s on a walking street with scores of small restaurants. We found it and there was a line of about 30+ people trying to get in. They do not take reservations. Tired, hungry and a bit surprised, Carol held our place in line and I headed out to scout the nearby places to find an alternative. About 8 minutes later – Carol texted to say to come back that the line had begun to move and it was going fast. I turned around and we made our way into Bird. It was perfect, and also quite charming. Great Thai food, two levels, friendly staff, and a good mixture of locals and foreigners.

Back at hotel. Sending this and heading to bed. Just heard on Al Jazeera that Trump said Al Baghdadi was “whimpering and crying, while running through a dead end tunnel, begging to be saved.” Oh, I have to get a new mindset ready as I head to the states in 36 hours.

Tomorrow will be my last missive on Netherlands.

See you stateside.

Fern

Greetings from Amsterdam –

Our journey is nearing an end – but not quite.

Today (Saturday) we headed to the Saturday Market at the Noordermarkt (“Northern Market”) in a square in the Jordaan neighborhood (one of the wealthy areas of the city), and adjacent to a large church (Westerchurch, I think or maybe it’s Noorderkerk). En route we stopped at a very cute little café for a simple breakfast (pastries with coffee for Carol and a great green juice for me). Apparently this market dates all the way back to the 17^th Century. From what I read, during WWII, the organizers of the famous February Strike held their first meetings at Noordermarkt Square to protest deportations of Jews by the Nazis. There is a plaque at the church commemorating this activity. The market includes mouth-watering pastries and breads, fruits, cheeses, meats, and also interesting trinkets, fabrics, and handmade goods (again, many expressing the country’s interest in recycling and reusing materials). We saw bags made out of old military tents and things made out of old wool suits.

From there we strolled the Joordan and criss-crossed dozens of canals. Today was our shopping day so we strolled the famous “nine streets” – a series of small streets lines with somewhat quirky and eclectic shops and cafes that straddle the city’s grand canal. It’s known to locals as De Negen Straatjes or ‘The Nine Streets.’ It’s got lots of vintage and designer shops. We did help the Dutch economy a bit, but frankly we were pretty restrained. Although Carol accomplished her goal of finding a unique pair of eyeglasses (very chic!) and I also accomplished my goal of switching from a shoulder bag to a very sharp cross-body bag. We’ll see if I can get used to the switch. I know it will be better for my back.

We then headed to see some of the almshouses — Almshouses–collections of small apartments around a central courtyard that generally has a well-tended garden. The one we went to has a single gate and was tucked away behind a street façade within the center of the city. The earliest of these ‘hofjes’ was built in the 13th century. I believe this is a very Dutch housing and community type. Most were built in later centuries and were set up as housing for singles and very low income or destitute Dutch people. Wealthy Amsterdammers built them for elderly widows who could live there for free in the last years of their life. Now, they seem to house students and artists. They are like peaceful oasis in the middle of the city.. small in scale overpowered to some extent by the robust gardens. There are signs that say they welcome people visiting but to “keep the peace” of the community. The one we visited had about 12 small units surrounding the courtyard. The houses were each two stories. Some were built by Catholics and “rented” only to poor Catholics. Great solution for contemporary homelessness.

En route to the almshouses we stopped for a wonderful salad and pasta. After more strolling in the nine streets and beyond – we headed back to the hotel for me to be in time for a client conference call, and then headed to dinner.

Tonight we ate at Floreyn (considered “modern Dutch”) – quite wonderful. Started with a great steak tartare (shared), followed by haddock (for Carol) and veal (for me).. and then we succumbed to wonderful desserts —  “deconstructed pies” – strawberry for Carol – with watermelon slivers goat yogurt and watercress; deconstructed apple pie for me with ground almond, citrus, and cinnamon ice cream.

Following our very over-indulgent day, it started to rain and we hopped in a taxi to the hotel. Tomorrow we will head to the “kinder-dijk” – about a two-hour trip by train and “waterbus.”

Again- hope you’re all safe and sound and far from the fires.

All the best

Fern