Travel (II) - Europe 4 - Amsterdam D1, the Netherlands

Click here to view some pictures in Amsterdam 


Amsterdam is my main focus in the first half of my trip (first 1.5 weeks in Copenhagen, Hamburg, and all the Low Countries) , and it did not disappoint me.

Regarded as Venice of the North, Amsterdam is featured by layered canal rings.  I am fond of having water around the living space, as it symbolizes vitality and liveliness to me, not to mention the extra beauty that water can create.  Imagine my joy at the sight of layers and layers of canals, and rows and rows of beautiful old style buildings, with canal rings and building rows orderly sandwiching each other.  Often there are big white swans and special ducks in the water, which is not as clear as I would want it to be.  Buildings in the city center of Amsterdam tend to be dark in color, and the roofs are mostly triangle in cross-secion.  The facade at the top have various interesting shapes.  Careful observation will lead one to notice the hooks or pulleys at the top - this is how residents move stuff such as furniture into higher floors.  The staircases of these old buildings are unbelievably narrow and steep.  If one person is mounting ahead of you, his feet will be almost right above your head.

Morning of our first day, April 13th, it was a very pleasant feeling walking across canals, bridges - it was still relatively quiet and peaceful in many touristy areas, air was fresh, sunshine was fresh, spring breeze was fresh, and I felt fresh.  I suddenly realized why I like this sort of environment so much.  It is very much like some scenic spots in my home town in China, somewhere known as "water town to the south of Yantzi River", where dark-bricked old houses, narrow windy rivers, and high-arch bridges are essential elements.  Nostalgic in a different continent.  Interesting!

Dam Square is the center of the city center.  Royal Palace Amsterdam is right at Dam Square.  Today the palace is used mainly as a venue for stately reception as well as special events of the royal family.  However, when it was built in mid 17th century, i.e. the Golden Age for Holland, it was served as a town hall that housed city council, the judiciary and administrative officers.  Then it was the largest public building in Europe, and was so much loved by the Dutch that they called it the "eighth wonder in the world".  In the early 19th century, Holland's first king, Louis Napoleon, the brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, chose it as his residential palace - this is some interesting history that I did not know of.  Later, Emperor Napoleon himself took it over although he did not stay much.  The audio tour mentioned Bonaparte many times introducing every displayed room.  The palace is majestic and lavishly decorated.  What I was most impressed by was numerous splendid crystal chandeliers.  The citizen hall, the main hall, is all shiny marbles, with giant global maps etched on the floor.  Everywhere in the building there are elegant art decorations such as wall hangings, statues, and carvings.  As P was not into it, I had to rush through.  I believe there is more to it than I described, such as the meaning of those statues etc.

Before we took our excursion trip to Keukenhof, the world famous tulip park, we briefly visited Oude Kerk, which, I guess, literally means old church.  The ironic part is that it's in the middle of the red light district.  Probably because we'd seen so many magnificent churches already, we were not as excited as before.  However, it's always nice to enjoy a moment of peace in midst of a hectic city.

It's the peak season for tulip flowers, which attracts millions of tourists.  On the way to Keukenhof, we passed by vast tulip farms, which is covered by magnificent tulip carpet.  Red, pink, yellow, white, violet... all colors one can imagine.  According to the tour guide, flowers are not important but bulbs.  To avoid consuming nutrients, flowers are often cut off pretty quickly and are fed to animals.  In the tulip museum inside Keukenhof, I watched a video of how the modern tulip farms are operated.  It's amazing how the modern technology and machinery make the production of millions of bulbs so automated.  It's a long process, basically one year each cycle, for the bulbs to be planted (late Nov and early Dec), to grow, to be harvested, and to be processed and shipped to the markets all over the world.  Tulips on display are often planted in three layers, with the late blossom ones at the bottom.  This is call Lasagna Technique, used to extend the display period.  Keukenhof park is only open for two months every year.  However, 30 employees have to work for 10 months each year to design, prepare, and take care of the exhibition.  Every years, there are 7 million bulbs planted, together with 700 kg of grass seeds.  It was an ocean of flowers, carefully deployed, combined with varying terrain in the park, numerous statues, white swans, and typical Dutch style windmill.  I was impressed by the variety of tulips.  According to the video, there are more than 200 types.  To cultivate a new type, it often takes 20 years.  Oh well, Holland has had tulips for a thousand years at least, and I remember reading that the first economic crisis in the history was due to the price inflation of tulip bulbs (12th century?), very much like today's housing price bubbles. 

That evening, we walked around red light district, and visited the erotic museum.  It is in fact quite an exhibition - statues, decorative plates, small opium bottles (from China), paintings, photos, books, cartoon videos, some clothing...  I would not have any problem call most pieces on display art.  It has a collection from many different cultures, particularly many pieces from ancient China and Japan.  Also there are some replica of statues from Maya and Peruvian culture.  

A bar tender told me that there are about 65 girls in the entire red light district, from all around the world.  He said every four years policies swing a bit due to new election.  But in general the government has been trying to limit the business as well as drug.  He said he grew up in Amsterdam, close to that area, and he does not like this hectic environment either, so he married a Thai woman in Chiang-Mai (a quiet city in northern Thailand, where I just visited last November) and his home is there.  He is working in Amsterdam for a few more years to save enough money so that he can retire to Chiang Mai.