Wo meine Rösen blüh'n: Amsterdam: Ports & All

Over the semester break, I went to Amsterdam. Because I had never been to the Netherlands, and because I have Dutch roots (dad's mom), and because I know almost nothing about the Dutch language, except that it sounds like goofy German (to ignorant little me), I thought it would be an interesting and engaging cultural experience.

Rijkspalast

Jake originally proposed the trip in a Facebook message, and I figured, not only have I decided no year in Europe (since this is technically my second) is complete without a trip to Amsterdam - that's what they say, I feel - but, I have not made other plans, and it will be fun. Thus, the tale I am about to impart unfolds.

monument in main square Amsterdam

We decided to take the train, because we wanted to stop over in Cologne, and the best way to do this is with the train. Although, necessitating a night train from Vienna to Cologne, our trip did not allow us to see much countryside, as originally hoped. Cologne photos are in a separate post for brevity (not that I am often to the point on this thing...)

Getting to Amsterdam was an ordeal in itself. Mostly because no one told us that, coming from Cologne, our connection could be reached directly...i.e. get on train in Cologne, get to Amsterdam in 3-4 hours. What we did instead (which seemed the CORRECT thing to do based on what our tickets said) was take the regional "express" (express my ass) to Emmerich, and then from Emmerich take another train to Amsterdam. I had never before heard of Emmerich, and neither had Jake. But, that's what our ticket said, and what reason did we have to distrust the Deutsche Bahn?

cool building which is, apparently, a MANGO store

Well, we get to Emmerich and discover:
1. it is not a place that seems to have any sort of connection. It is literally the end. Of. The. Line. The last parcel of Germany before the Netherlands begins. We can see the Netherlands from platfrom #2 (but it doesn't look much different, so we don't really know what we're looking at). There are only two platforms in Emmerich.
2. It is 9:30 pm and the last train for the night (aside from one going to Berlin) was the one we were on from Cologne.

We take a walk to find somewhere that is open. I'm thinking we'll have to spend the night in Emmerich. We get into this hotel (perhaps the only hotel in Emmerich?) and no one is at the front desk. I mention this reminds me of The Twilight Zone. Jake tells me I shouldn't say that, or else we'll never get out of Emmerich. Finally, the hotel owner come out. He is Serbian, very nice, and helps us figure out what to do.

Obviously, we cannot get to Amsterdam from Emmerich. He says, in fact, there haven't been trains going from Emmerich to the Netherlands for 20 years, but the Deutsche Bahn (now referred to by Jake as the Scheiße Bahn) doesn't actually communicate that to its passengers - because it wants to make money on lost connections, etc.! Well, that's a bit cynical, but I can't really argue that it's implausible given our situation. He calls up a friend of his to take us across the border to Arnhem, where we will be able to catch a train to Amsterdam.

one of the many canals in Amsterdam

So, the guy takes us in his car, charges us 30 euro (far cheaper than taking a taxi, actually. It's about a euro/mile) and we make it into Arnhem to catch the 11:00 pm train to Amsterdam (meaning we will get in at midnight).

Once we're in the train station in Arnhem, Jake shares with me his fears that he was going to be mugged and killed by this Serbian in the middle of the Dutch wilderness (or what passes as "wilderness" - the Netherlands is quite densely populated). I told him the Serbian seemed like a nice guy just trying to make a living. And if he were some gangster, worst case scenario, he would have raped me, mugged us and killed us and then thrown our bodies in a dike. Although, we were two and he was one, and unless he had a gun, we could probably take him. Best case scenario, he'll take us to Arnhem like he promised and we'd catch our train. Which is what happened. I did tell Jake that if I were alone, I would have just spent the night at the hotel in Emmerich and gone to Amsterdam in the morning, instead of taking the Serbian up on his offer.

This lead me to getting to Amsterdam. It was not very pleasant at night. First, I knew that prostitution and marijuana are legal in the Netherlands. But I did not expect the first thing I saw after getting out of the train station to be someone lighting up a joint. Nor did I expect the street leading to our hostel to be lined with red windows containing scantily clad ladies. I thought that would be two blocks up or something. But we made it to the hostel without incident.

The next day, we head out to the Anne Frank Museum. It is not allowed to take photos within the museum, so I don't have any. Let me say, however, that the Anne Frank is truly a spectacularly well done museum. All of the guides to Amsterdam tell you to go to it. I was a little skeptical, I'll be honest. I thought it would be really grim and nasty and about World War II and the Holocaust...which, of course, was part of it. Don't get me wrong, those are important subjects, and they should be discussed - but not as a point of tourism, to MAKE MONEY and not as a gross-out horror show, like a glorified Halloween.

The best thing about the Anne Frank Huis is that it is taken in earnest, that the house is dedicated not only to the time the Franks and the van Pels family spent there, and not only a museum dedicated to Anne's memory, but a continuing effort to educate visitors on the necessity to eliminate, or at least reduce, prejudice in our society. Instead of dwelling on the the Holocaust and the atrocities that accompanied it, the museum takes a larger scope. Here is the realization that blame is unnecessary. Hate in response to hatred engenders more evil; it does not stop it. Forgiveness, understanding and education are truer solutions - something Anne herself realized: "In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death." I cried at the exhibit. It hurt to see this young woman, so full of potential, who could have been one of the greatest literary minds of the 20th century, killed because of her religion. But, perhaps her mission in life can be fulfilled by her memory; the few words she managed to share with the world might have been all that's needed.

Another cheery reminder of the Holocaust (well, of other points in history of prejudice as well, to be fair) is the Homomonument, dedicated to all of the people who were persecuted because of their sexual preference. This is near the Anne Frank house, and the monument itself takes up the whole square - a triangle with raised corners...I find it difficult to describe further (and since it's not the type of monument you can get in one scan of the camera, I only have a shot of the plaque). Do a Google search if you feel my description is not doing it justice.

We also went to the Van Gogh Museum, which is also worth the 14 euro entrance fee. The exhibits are great - very comprehensive of Van Gogh's work. I love Van Gogh, as I feel he is basically the father of modern art, mostly self-taught, and was a guy with real passion. You don't get that much anymore, I don't think. And you've got to hand it to him for being such an advocate for the working man!

a wooden shoe!

I believe the Rembrandt Museum is also highly recommended, if you go to Amsterdam. We skipped it, mainly because, given the choice between which I'd rather see: vibrant, colorful, and emotional canvases painted by a madman with little academic training who painted what he felt rather than what people told him to or what would make money; or, drab brown canvases painted by a classically trained, probable genius (and dozens of unacknowledged student from his "workshop")...to me, the answer is obvious. Perhaps next time I'm in Amsterdam, I'll check it out.

the former residence of Rene Descarte

17th century houses

Another thing I found funny about Amsterdam (my personal feeling is that all major European cities do this) is that its architecture is stuck back in the Dutch Golden Age (1600's) and, most naturally, Amsterdam likes to play up its former heyday. It makes for quite interesting architecture, as no other European city I've visited has 16th century buildings dominating the skyline. To include the other European cities (so you can see what I mean), London has this whole 19th century Dickensian hangup. Vienna goes a baroque pretending Maria Theresia is still strutting her stuff around. Paris has the marks of 19th century city planning (thanks for ruining one of the most magnificent medieval European cities, Hausmann!) but does reflect a bit of mishmash in terms of architecture. One of the last intact medieval cities is actually Krakow, which makes it quite stunning, even in the snow. Berlin, because it was destroyed in WWII, doesn't have any of the hangups that other European cities do (Amsterdam and London seem highest on my list of prioritizing their current reps with their former reps) and instead has a different set of hangups. And that makes Berlin dynamic (and in my book pretty cool).

Not that Amsterdam is not cool...look at this architecture! It is pretty spectacular. But I do have a bit of a problem with all of the seediness...prostitution, pot everywhere...I mean, call me a prude, but I don't think sex tourism and drug tourism is what Amsterdam should be known for. It has plenty of other great attributes! Here is more on that subject.

Jake and I also went on a windmill tour of parts of the Netherlands that are near to, but not part of, Amsterdam. Here is more on that subject.

While in Amsterdam we also went to the Katten Kabinet, or the Cat Museum, which we knew was either going to be really kitschy or actually cool. It ended up being kitschy - and smelling of cat. I counted 8 cats in the place (I petted them all as they wandered through the exhibits :D) and not a one litter box (hopefully hidden from the public!). The "museum" is basically some crazy cat person's private collections of everything to do with cats, actual cats, cat-like things, all in a nice little 16th century town house with Renaissance murals on the ceiling! There was a guy playing the piano, too! But Jake said he made too many mistakes.