The Netherlands: Take 1
After spending two weeks in Germany it was time to change countries and checkout the Netherlands for a few days.
Quick educational pause: As I have never really been clear on the difference between The Netherlands and Holland, I’ve done some Googling. The quick answer is that the name of the country is The Netherlands, the people are Dutch and their language is Dutch (A friend’s clip on the subject for your enjoyment ) So why is the country’s official website holland.com? Where does Holland come from? In The Netherlands there are twelve provinces, two of these are: Noord Holland and Zuid Holland (North and South Holland). These provinces are the most populated, and the most internationally famous for housing cities like Amsterdam. As a result, holland.com is the country’s website despite it’s true name being The Netherlands. A side note I discovered while googling, another of The Netherlands provinces, Zeeland (Sea-land), gave New Zealand it’s name. When New Zealand was first explored by Europeans it was Dutchman Abel Tasman who first arrived. Confused after his journey, he thought he had landed in Staten Landt (an island off of Argentina). When the cartographers Hendrick Brouwer and John Blaeu realized the mistake the country was renamed Nieuw Zeeland or New Sea-land. I’m off track now. Back to Amsterdam.
To save money I stayed at a hostel bit out of the city centre. The colourful red room was nice enough though I didn’t spend much time there. As I only wanted to pay for two tram tickets a day I left the hostel in the morning, spent each day in the city and didn’t go home until I was exhausted. Luckily for me, simply walking around Amsterdam is a great pass time. The gorgeous canals lined with houseboats are stunning.
Sadly, my free walking tour was not as informative as others I have been on as it was the guide’s first time doing the tour. Thankfully, the second more seasoned guide who came along to supervise the newbie was a little more entertaining since he was high the entire time. We wandered the canals stopped at various churches and statues and of course wandered through the famous Red light district. As it was midday there weren’t many women in their windows and those who were seemed to either be on their phones, fixing their makeup or chatting to their neighbour. We continued down the street past a day care and out towards China town. On the tour I met a Russian girl, Lilia, who I continued to walk with after the tour partly because she was planning on checking out the flower market I wanted see, but largely because she said she knew a good place to get ice cream. We were slightly devastated when we found the ice cream place had closed for the winter season, but Ben and Jerry’s saved the day.
Ice cream in hand we went to see the IAmsterdam sign to get our touristy photos, and to Rembrandtplein to see the life sized sculpture of Rembrandt’s famous painting: The Night Watch.
As I knew I was going to be coming back to Amsterdam with my family at Christmas I didn’t rush through all the attractions this time around. The two main ones I saw were the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh museum.
If you are going to the Anne Frank House either go right when it opens, or an hour or two before it closes. At midday the line is ridiculous. The annex where the families hid has been left unfurnished at the wish of Otto Frank as all the possessions were removed after the secret residents were discovered. Evidence of their lives there is displayed through scale models, interviews, newspaper and magazine clippings Anne put on her walls, and of course, her famous diaries. At the end of the tour a video displays clips of celebrities, artists, activists, as well as Anne’s friends talking about her, and the fame her diary has garnered. Some spoke of her courage and the horrors she lived through, others spoke of the reality that she was just one individuals of the thousands who lived and died in similarly horrifying circumstances. Walking through the house you feel closer to Anne and her family. You feel the history in the walls and memory in floor. I haven’t read her diary since high school but it is now on my “To Read” list.
The Van Gogh museum was a four hour visit for me. I may have mentioned in an earlier post, art is not my specialty. That said, I do l know when I’m looking at something I like, and Van Gogh fits in that category. In the museum you not only see his artworks but also into his troubled life through the letters he wrote to his brother, fellow painters and friends. Walking through the galleries you see his art evolve from the paintings with mainly dark earth colours to the bright vibrant ones he is now known for. Photography wasn’t allowed in the galleries, but here are some photos of Van Gogh’s work that I have seen displayed in museums since where photos are permitted (this is the one time that me being so far behind on blogging is working in my favour!)
After Amsterdam I wanted to see one of The Netherlands smaller cities so I set off for The Hague. I only had one full day in The Hague and sadly it rained for the majority of it. I started the day by checking out the market and unfortunately I left a little disappointed. De Haagse Markt is promoted as the largest market in Europe with over 500 stalls. I went in with the expectation of fresh produce and interesting food for miles. I guess my misunderstanding was that this is not strictly a farmers market and that a large portion of the market is full of stalls selling everything from cheap clothes, electronics, cosmetics, to cutlery. That said, if you are in The Hague and are looking for deals on any of the above hen De Haagse Markt is well worth a venture. As the rain started I left the market and found myself missing the Halifax Seaport Market and the addictive “OMG egg croissant sandwich” they sell at Norbert’s Good Food (if you are in Halifax please go eat one of these).
The rest of my day was spent at the Humanity House, a museum that puts you in the shoes of a refugee, and in the Mauritshuis, a museum with many Dutch artworks including Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Here she is:
At the refugee experience in the humanity House I was given a number and my photo was taken. When my number came up on the screen I walked into the first room which was made to look like a home recently abandoned. I’m pretty sure there was even real wine in the cups on the table (I smelt it, I didn’t drink it).
My visa was slipped through a slot in the door and I moved on through the next door where a blinding light was shone in my eyes, and the sound of barking dogs and yelling men blasted through speakers. Other parts of the experience included walking through narrow alleys designed to look like shipping crates where you could listen to people’s stories through small speakers, and an extremely dark staircase which actually frightened me most. No, the How I Met Your Mother joke about all Canadians being afraid of the dark isn’t true. I just thought I had taken a wrong turn or gone too quickly though one room and I genuinely couldn’t see where my feet or hands were (which is not ideal at the top of a staircase).
While the refugee experience was interesting, my favourite part of the humanity house came at the end where an art exhibit highlighted the firsthand stories of refugees who had arrived in The Netherlands from various countries. The art instillation actually spans a much wider territory than the museum. The little figures on display have actually been spread across the country and people are encouraged to move them around the country so more people interact with them.
After my brief, rainy stay in The Hague it was time to leave the Netherlands and for a couple months and board a train for Brussels.
Side note: I’ve finally arrived in New Zealand and am settling in so I should be posting more regularly now (fingers crossed).
