Tuesday 5th September
A gloomy day today, perhaps a taste of normal weather here in the Netherlands. I check the temperature at 9.00am and surprisingly it is 18c, not to bad, High will be 20c not a lot of variation. When we do venture out after breakfast there is no wind, maybe a very slight breeze coming off the canal. We are off to the Dam in “Amsterdam”, the central plaza that was the site of the original damming of the Amstel river and the origins of the cities name. All around the central plaza are magnificent buildings, typical of most European cities. We are heading for the Royal Palace, that originally started life in the 17th century as the cities town hall. The plaza or square is actually a rectangle about 200 x 100 meters of cobbled stone. Currently it is occupied by horse drawn carriages that will take you for a clippity clop tour of the area.
Other than those, you can also find Batman, the Grim Reaper, a fellow in a golden suit apparently levitating in some magical way above the cobble stones and various other characters out to make a buck from the tourist. As we cross the plaza towards the Royal Palace one of the characters entertaining the throngs of visitors lets loose a wave of bubbles that float into the air and rise above us.
The Royal Palace is still used by the current King Willem-Alexander, Queen, Argentinian born Maxima and their three daughters, Catharina-Amalia (heir to the throne), Alexia and Amelia. Apparently although the Palace is always kept in readiness for their use, it is not used as regularly as Buckingham Palace in London. The family preferring to live on their estates in Wassenaar about 42 kilometres south along the Dutch coastline.
The main essence is that the Palace was originally the cities town hall and was built in 1655 on thousands of wooden pilings, that also form the foundations for most of the buildings in Amsterdam that are now lopsidedly sinking into the earth below them. The exterior stone was brought from Germany and the interior is constructed of sold marble. At the time the building was the largest in Europe. Amsterdam had four mayors in those days, the building held all the administrative staff they needed to run the city, accountants, tax collectors, judges, marriages where conducted there as where executions. This was truly the centre of life in Amsterdam at the time. Probably the most artistic merit goes to the intricate marble sculptures and reliefs found in all corners that took Artus Quellijn and no doubt a team of stone masons fourteen years to complete, the details phenomenal.
The crowning glory though is the statue of Atlas high on the wall of the central hall overlooking three circular intricately maps of the worlds eastern and western hemispheres and the northern hemisphere night sky, inlaid with marble, ebony and brass the works show a map of the world as the Dutch saw it in those days. Australia is called New Holland and is joined to New Guinea, the tip of Tasmania beautifully drawn but joined to the mainland and named Terra Diminis, after Van Dieman, the Dutch explorer who was first in those waters. The Dutch were a major sea power in those days and had accumulated great wealth through trade with the Far East.
It wasn’t until much later in 1806 after the fall of the Royal house of Orange and Napoleons brother Louis was installed as Louis the 1st of Holland that the town hall became a palace, then in quick succession his son Louis the 2nd of Holland took over. They both made a good many improvements to the Palace to make the building more liveable as it was reputedly an extremely cold draughty place to be in winter. One of the largest collections of empire style furniture still exists here in the palace to this day, commissioned by one of the Louis Bonaparte’s. The Palace briefly became the private home of a French governor who took over when Louis the 2nd fell from grace, only to be ousted himself when Prince William VI (son of Prince William V of Orange), returned to the Netherlands in 1813 when the building again became a royal palace and has remained so ever since.
All of this and more we gleaned from our audio tour after we purchase tickets and pickup our audio devices. Technology again, this time the devise doesn’t have so screen and you don’t need headphones, you simply point the devise at the point of interest station as you walk around and then hold the device to your ear like a mobile telephone and the narration begins. You can press a button for further information on works of art or move on to the next veiling point. All in all it takes us two hours to walk around and admire the Palace’s first floor, as a working Palace there is a lot though you don’t see.
Back out onto the streets we head for the nine streets district, so named because this grid of three rows of three streets equals nine. The narrow streets cross the canals that pass underneath, and age lined with smaller, almost tiny copies of the larger merchant houses that line the canals. They once held the homes of the services and trades people, now they are full of quirky little shops and restaurants. We just wander around taking in the atmosphere, the city is full of people, thousands of bikes line every street and every canal, amazingly they never seem to diminish. At one point we find ourselves in a market area that is selling flower bulbs by the thousands, of course tulips are the main bulb, but others like narcissus, snowdrops, carnations, violets, peonies or orchids are all there on what are supposed to be floating stalls, but it’s hard to tell that they are floating from the street front. You can also buy Marijuana starter kits in cans, this is Amsterdam after all.
We stop to take the occasional photo gradually making our way back towards the hotel. Amanda spots a barber and sends me in for a clip. Euro$27.50 later I am a little light headed, how much if I had hair I wonder! The day has warmed up just a tad, but now a light rain is beginning to fall, so we hurry back to the hotel that is now just a few minutes away. We decide to have an early dinner in the hotels bar bistro as it is now late afternoon, they actually make a great cheeseburger, that and a glass of rose and we are feeling done for the day. Besides we have to pack again tonight in readiness for our transfer to the river dock area where we will pick up the River Duchess, to begin our fourteen day journey along the Rhine and Danube rivers tomorrow. We are both excited, this is a totally new experience for us, one we are really looking forward to.