So long, it's been good to know you

It's 11:30 p.m. on our last night in the Netherlands and time (past time, really) for my last post from the Netherlands.

Yesterday, bright and early (for us), Jeremy and I walked from the boat to the train station just to make sure we knew how to get there.  When we began to see a thousand or so bicycles we knew we were getting close.

Having figured out where the station was we walked back, ate breakfast, and headed back with our luggage.  First we had to actually get the luggage up the ladder to street level.

Goodbye Becky Addy.

Jeremy and Elaine walked back to the station with us and waited with us until the train arrived.  Then it was good-bye for now.  We had a wonderful time with them.

Then we arrived in Amsterdam.  After taking the tram into the city and finding our hotel, we went for a walk.  There were so many people!  It had been a while since we had been in a big city.  Here are a few photos of that walk.

We ended up at Rembrandtsplein.  The statue, appropriately enough, is of Rembrandt.  Here we found an Indonesian restaurant and had rijsttafel, a many course meal we had been wanting to try.  It was superb, and since we left before 8:00 p.m. we got a discount.  Can't beat that.

Today was the occasion for another walk.  This is the entrance to the History Museum -- a truly amazing place.

In the old, old days it was a nunnery.  In the merely old days it was an orphanage.  Now it's a very cleverly done museum of Amsterdam history.

There are a couple of courtyards.  Here's one.

There's a hall containing, among other things, a statue of goliath.  It gives you some idea of just how brave (or foolhardy) David was.

I have but a couple of photos from inside the museum.  It was just too much.

Here's another courtyard.  On the left you see the little cupboards where the orphans, when it was an orphanage, kept their (meagre) stuff.

Here they are, each with some information.

This one, for instance, explains how, at the time of the Reformation, the nuns were replaced by orphans.

From the museum we walked to Dam Square, the heart of Amsterdam.  There we found this.  It was a carnival!

I was struck by all this kitsch surrounded by so much ancient pomposity.

On the one side the "new" church,

On the other a ferris wheel.

This, believe it or not, is a department store.

Pretty amazing, no?

And these, believe it or not, are Gucci kiddy jeans for 160 Euros.  That's approaching $200.  Pretty amazing, no?

In Dam Square is this monument to the suffering of World War II.

I just liked the color here.  These kids seemed a bit dubious about the horse.

And here's the Old Church, the oldest building in Amsterdam.  It was started in 1250, or thereabouts.  It was, of course, originally Roman Catholic and was dedicated to St. Nicholas.

I have no idea what this signifies, but thought an interesting addition to the church grounds.

In the choir stalls are carvings dating from 1480.  They represent, according to the information we had, pithy sayings.  For example, we were told this one represents the saying "Money doesn't fall out of my ass" which apparently was the 1480 way of saying "Money doesn't grow on trees."

This is a contemporary sculpture of the famed organist and composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck.

Not all the windows were stained glass, a result, I believe, of the iconoclasm at the time of the Reformation, but there were some.

There was a beautiful organ.

Organs, actually.

And, as St. Nicholas was the patron saint of sailors, there were two model ships hanging.  Here's one.

The ceiling was lovely.  The iconoclastic destroyers couldn't reach it, presumably.

This is the famed "Red Door" which led to the place where one went to register a marriage.

It's the place Rembrandt went to register his marriage.  Right here, in this room.

Just a couple more things.  This little organ, in the room next to the marriage registration room, was irresistibly attractive.

And also this spiral stairway to the roof.  Do you see the little door on the right, the one up in the air?  This is where the most important records of the City of Amsterdam were kept.  To enter the room required perhaps five keys, each kept by a different person.  It also required a ladder.

Ok, back to our walk.  This was the red light district.  I wasn't expecting it.  Imagine my surprise when I looked up and into a window at what looked to be a ladies lingerie mannikin.  Then the mannikin moved.  In fact it/she raised her eyebrows in a sort of "Well, what about it?" look.  Nope, I hadn't been expecting that.  I mean, we had JUST left the church!

We were on a sort of tour, it turned out.  Here's the first gay bar.

And here's the first "coffee shop".  The young men smoking in front seemed to be finding something to be hilariously funny.

Our day was drawing to a close.  Here are three last photos of amazing Amsterdam.

A canal intersection.

The stately homes of the wealthy burghers of Amsterdam.

 It was a beautiful day in an amazing city.

That's it.  After a rest we headed out to find a place to eat and, once again, had marvelous luck in restaurant in a building dating from the 16th century in which we ate about 5,000 calories of good, Dutch food.

It's time to go home.