Amsterdam beginning (#0028)

I had intended to go to Europe in November when the light for photography would be a little better, but had postponed going to December due to anxiety about the US election. Of course, it turned out that anxiety about the election didn’t abate after the election. The more studious of my travel goals now made even more sense – to try to use European history as a way to develop more understanding of authoritarian leanings in our own society.

My original plan was to spend most of my time in Flanders (Belgium and north France) exploring both WWI memorials and the industrial-era canal structures in the area, then to go to Germany to expand my previous look at 1930’s Nazism with some focus there also on the industrial revolution. Because I develop health problems when flying for very long periods of time, I had worked out that the way to have the shortest single flight was to fly from the New York area to London. I had originally planned to have a couple of ‘throw away’ days in London to get over jet lag and spend the rest of the time on the continent. Fortunately, while working on plans I discovered that the early industrial era canal structure in England was well-preserved, so my plans changed to trying to have a week in England on the end of the travel.

…..

The picture above is taken in the morning after my first night in Europe at a small hotel in Amsterdam. Since I’d previously been in Amsterdam more than anywhere else in Europe, I decided to go from Heathrow directly to Amsterdam by train and use Amsterdam for my ‘throw away’ 2 days of getting over jet lag. Surprisingly, the assumption that I was going to Amsterdam to recuperate ended in London.

Getting from Heathrow into London to catch the Eurostar train worked out perfectly okay. I had read that Eurostar boarding was almost as rigorous in terms of security as when flying, so I was prepared for that, but the Eurostar train itself was a surprise. Due to the hype about European high-speed trains I was expecting something quite modern and high-tech looking both inside and out, but the interior of the train actually looked somewhat worn with discoloring and minor tears in the fabric -- though it was as punctual and quick as expected, getting to Brussels in just 2 hours. The Brussels Eurostar (Midi) Station was the next shock, but I’ll write more about that with another photo in the future. From Brussels I took a regular Belgian train to Amsterdam and was surprised by the condition of the cars, which appeared to be 30-40 years old. More interesting, though, was the number of people (all men, mostly young) attempting to ride the train without paying a fare by hanging out in the vestibule and hiding in the bathrooms. Based on their dress and language, I suspect I was seeing some of the migrants that are much talked-about. More about that with the later photo.

…..

Amsterdam was much more enjoyable than I expected, partly because I seemed to have no jet-lag and was able to make good use of the daylight hours, but mainly because of the city. The hotel, on the Amstel, was in a relatively quiet neighborhood but only a couple of blocks from the nearest trolley and good access to the rest of the city. And, my room had this view over the canal.