Amsterdam beginning (#0028)

Europe2016


Amsterdam beginning (#0028)

01 Dec 2016 185
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.

Amsterdam beginning (#0033)

01 Dec 2016 147
Amsterdam mid-day traffic. This is taken from very near my hotel, with the sun barely peeking out at close to mid-day December. Cycling is a very prominent version of transportation in Amsterdam -- unfortunately often without lights. The streets are dark and, walking from the tram to my hotel the night before, I came very close to a full-body collision with a cyclist who had no light.

Amsterdam Amstelsluizien (#0033)

01 Dec 2016 153
Sluices, dating from 1674 (I'm sure remodeled/refined), that allow the canals to be flushed with fresh water from the river, thus making the area more inhabitable. These are the same locks seen in the first picture (#0028) from the hotel. On top of the center pier are light tubes that are part of the winter light show (see adjacent picture). The green structure in the distance appears to be scaffolding around the tower of Zuiderkerk, a church built in the early 1600's and now used as a conference center.

Amsterdam Amstelsluizien night (#0148)

30 Nov 2016 1 3 178
Winter lightshow on the central pier of the Amstelsluizien – see the adjacent picture (#0033)

Amsterdam architecture (#0059)

01 Dec 2016 4 148
One thing I had overlooked entirely on visits to Amsterdam when I was younger (probably because I wasn't as interested in architecture) was the richness of early 20th century around the city. This is the municipal archives, originally built as headquarters for an investment firm. The building was completed in 1926 and reportedly has a fascinating interior (that will be another trip). It is interesting, but also massive and dark in appearance. Unfortunately, due to its size, it is difficult to photograph from the street. The building is considered to be a good example of the architectural style "Brick Expressionism" Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Bazel

Amsterdam architecture (#0058)

01 Dec 2016 139
Entrance to the municipal archives building. See description of architecture with nearby picture.

Amsterdam architecture (#0056)

01 Dec 2016 1 162
Statues on one corner of the municipal archives building. The building was originally designed for an investment firm and thus I assume that the reason for the shipping-themed statue was because of the historic importance of shipping in the Dutch economy. See description of architecture with nearby picture.

Amsterdam Homomonument (#0108)

01 Dec 2016 1 2 179
Near the Anne Frank house is the Homomonument to all of the men and women "ever oppressed and persecuted because of their homosexuality." The monument was created in 1987. The monument is designed around the triangle that homosexuals wore when they were arrested and sent to camps by the Nazis; the triangle has since become a commonly accepted indication of the push for freedom of expression by LGBTQ's.

Amsterdam Homomonument (#0111)

01 Dec 2016 1 224
The monument consists of three triangles within a much larger triangle. The triangle seen here, over the canal, was the most visible on the day that I visited. The other two triangles are on the other side of the cars, integrated into the plaza around the church. One end of the larger triangle points toward the Anne Frank house, the other towards the headquarters of COC, the oldest LGBT organization in the world (founded in 1946). The website for the monument is in Dutch, but the Wikipedia on the site is thorough: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homomonument

Amsterdam Homomonument (#0109)

01 Dec 2016 1 202
Though it is not mentioned in the documentation of the memorial, I find it ironic that next to the memorial is a classic public urinal of the type that might have been a cruising site for contact between same-sex active men. I don't recall seeing these sorts of public urinals anywhere else in Amsterdam, so it seems that its location is intentional. I did find a reference, not linked to the memorial, of a gay man having been killed at a public urinal in 1985, just 2 years before the monument opened.

Amsterdam Anne Frank (#0127)

02 Dec 2016 1 4 182
A memorial statue of Anne Frank, just outside Westerkerk, a church that is mentioned frequently in Anne Frank's diaries for her being able to see or hear it from her hiding place. My main interest in Anne Frank is in what the story tells us about the efforts of locals to protect Jewish neighbors during the Nazi era. I expected (and was right) that the Anne Frank house exhibit would be flooded with tourists, and thus did not visit it.

Amsterdam Anne Frank (#0128)

02 Dec 2016 2 143
Two very separate points in this picture: 1) I took this picture standing close to the Anne Frank statue seen in the adjacent picture, which resulted in this poster for a Marilyn Monroe exhibit seemed rather incongruous. 2) Across the canal are two of the clearest examples of the problems of houses that are hundreds of years old settling to very odd angles. Almost all of central Amsterdam was tidewater flats and many of the houses are built on wood pilings that were also constructed hundreds of years ago.

Amsterdam Keizersgracht Jewish Memorial (#0040)

01 Dec 2016 2 143
Very near my hotel, a memorial to the Jewish people killed from a single neighborhood. This is a sign describing the memorial along the Nieuwe Keizersgracht canal. For the memorial, names are displayed, opposite the houses where they lived, of Jewish residents killed because they were Jewish. See adjacent pictures. There is an excellent description of the walk along the Schaduwkade, along with a brief description of how this area had been the Jewish quarter at: loyaltytraveler.boardingarea.com/2016/01/27/amsterdam-schaduwkade-shadow-wall

Amsterdam Keizersgracht Jewish Memorial (#0041)

01 Dec 2016 4 178
The section of Nieuwe Keizersgracht with the memorial signs (schaduwkade (shadow wall)) for the more than 200 Jewish residents in this block (between where I'm standing and the next bridge) who were exterminated during WWII. Names are listed on the left side of the canal, opposite the houses on the right side. The creation of the Schaduwkade was a project by the residents of this block to commemorate the lives of those killed.

Amsterdam Keizersgracht Jewish Memorial (#0043)

01 Dec 2016 2 176
Residents of 6/8 Nieuwe Keizersgracht killed for being Jewish. From #6, the Salomons family, ranging in age from 8 to 50, all killed on June 4, 1943; from #8, the Kalf family, ranging in age from 3 to 37, all killed on June 11, 1943. All were killed at Sobibor, which is in now what is eastern Poland, near the border with the Ukraine

Amsterdam Keizersgracht Jewish Memorial (#0044)

01 Dec 2016 4 3 170
#6, home of the Salomons, is the right portion of the building in the center behind the tree; #8, home of the Kalf family, is the left portion of the same building.

Amsterdam expressions (#0138)

Amsterdam expressions (#0150)

02 Dec 2016 2 159
One of multiple art installations in Frederik Hendrik Plantsoen park by Atelier (studio) Van Lieshout. The structures throughout the park are all this same reddish-pink color and with a texture that looks like hardened plastic. From what I could tell, the structures are meant to be used for climbing, sitting, etc. Most of the webpages explaining the art were in Dutch and Google translate wasn't clear, so hopefully someone will see this that knows the work and doesn't mangle the interpretation as much as I have!

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