DAY 16 – OUR STAY IN AMSTERDAM

We disembarked from the ship on Monday morning and were taken by bus to the Krasnapolsky Hotel where we were staying for Monday night.  We were due to meet up with Joan at 2:00; so after we got our room and deposited our luggage, we meet up with our friends, Richard and Roseleigh, in the cafe for a coffee and then the four of us walked around Amsterdam together.  Since the Red Light District was close by, we decided to take a stroll through there first only just to say we saw it.  It is really sad to see girls sitting in the windows and everywhere you walk in Amsterdam, you smell Marijuana, since both prostitution and marijuana is legal. We were all a bit uncomfortable walking through the district but we didn’t stay long, just long enough to walk down the street.  The only other thing that I wanted to do while in Amsterdam was to see Anne Frank House but when we got there, there was at least a 2 hour line-in to get in.  It is unbelievable how busy Amsterdam is; what with cars, bikes, pedestrians and tourists; you had to keep your wits about you.  I was disappointed that we could not go through the house, but nevertheless, we were able to take a picture of us standing outside in front. 

It was time to head back to the Krasnopolsky to meet up with Joan and her friend, Nell.  It was great to finally meet Joan whom I have been corresponding with over the last couple of months.  She took us on a walking tour of Amsterdam and showed us two places that I was interested in seeing and we also strolled through a flower marketplace.  We decided to a take a little break and we went back to our hotel and agreed to meet up with Joan again around 6:00 for dinner.  Nell’s son, Peter, was also going to meet up with us at supper as Peter lives and works in Amsterdam.  It was great to meet Peter as he told us more about Amsterdam from a young person’s point of view.  After dinner, Peter suggested that we should walk the Red Light District at night as it is much different at night; at first we were reluctant as we were not that comfortable with it but then decided that we would.  It definitely was different and considering it was a Monday night, we could not believe the amount of people walking around.  We could only imagine how busy it must be on a Friday and Saturday night.  Here are a few pictures from today:

One of the many canals through Amsterdam. 

Red Light District – there is where the girls sit.  You are not allowed to take photos of the Red Light District if the girls are sitting in the windows.  This is enough said about this area, I’m sure you get the picture.

This is standing in front of the Anne Frank House

Looking straight up the building.

To prove that I actually was there even though we didn’t get a chance to go through it!

This is the Hotel Krasnapolsky where we stayed Monday night. 

This is where Joan took us – Our Lord in the Attic.  When the Protestants took over which I think was in the 12th Century, they banned the Roman Catholic Religion and a man who owned this home, built a “hidden” church in his home so that the Catholic people could worship there. 

This is the main church and it actually goes up three levels.  It is amazing how they built this church within a house and actually tore floors out to make the three levels. 

This was one of the bedrooms in the home. It truly is amazing what they go do with small spaces!

This is Nell, Brian and Joan. 

We then walked over to another peaceful church setting in another part of Amsterdam but I cannot recall the name.  This depicts David and Goliath. 

This little Sanctuary was where only girls or women lived of the Roman Catholic Faith. They were not nuns but when they decided to marry, they could not live here anymore, they had to move out.  Apparently during the Protestant rule, they did not disturb this area and allowed the women to live here freely and worship but turned a blind eye to it.

   This too was almost like a hidden church where the women of this area worshiped. 

For supper, we had good old fashioned hamburgers!!  They were delicious!

Brian, Joan and me.

We then said good-bye to Joan, Nell and Peter and they walked us back to our hotel. 

Tuesday morning, we met up with our friends, Richard and Roseleigh, in the Hotel Restaurant for our last breakfast together and then had to say good-bye.  Meeting Richard and Roseleigh was one of the best parts of our trip and we promised to keep in touch and one of our goals was that we would visit with each other either in Canada or Australia, whoever gets the chance first.  Meanwhile, we will keep in touch on Facebook and Email.

Joan then met us at 11:30 Tuesday morning to take us to the train to get to Holten.  Joan was gracious enough to travel with us by train which we were so thankful for as I am sure we would have been lost trying to figure out the train system!  Rens and Annemieke met us at the train station and it was great to finally met them.  I was a bit concerned about getting all our luggage in their little car but we managed with some luggage on our laps! We have had a great afternoon getting to know Rens and Annemieke and the language barrier isn’t too bad at all.  We are getting along well and if we say something they don’t understand, we get out an English/Dutch translation book and figure it out!  It is great fun.

Tomorrow is the big day when Brian finally gets to see his dad’s grave site.  I will blog again later in the day tomorrow.