May 6
~ Amsterdam
[Our last full day on the continent, we began the morning waiting for the metro to go into the city. This was the little park across the street from our hotel . . . ]
[And this is our hotel from the metro stop.]
[We’re in town now, walking down some streets familiar from the previous day. The Professor recognized immediately these were not the right size . . . ]
[As did the Super.]
[Photo by Pam]
[Not my fault . . . we just kept running into it. Seemed like a deal?]
[The Super and Pam scoping out the alternative vegetation.]
[The clock tower above the open air market.]
[3 shoes = 6? Maybe that’s the new math people have been talking about?]
[Pam shooting the city map for future reference purposes. Lots of water around here – looks like Lake Minnetonka.]
[Speaking of diamonds, the last time we were in the Netherlands we got lost in Antwerp.]
[From Wikipedia: Pathé Tuschinski is a movie theater commissioned in 1921. The interior and exterior are a spectacular mix of styles, as designed by Hijman Louis de Jong; Amsterdam School, Jugendstil, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco. The main auditorium hosts many premieres of Dutch films. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful cinemas in the world.
The building contains Asian influences while the lobby was designed in a way to offer theatergoers the feeling that they are stepping into an illusion. The Tuschinski’s main auditorium has served as both a movie theater and a live performance space since its opening. In addition to a film screen, it also contains a stage and an organ.
When it first opened, the theater contained electro-technical features, then considered revolutionary. Its unique heating and ventilation system kept the temperature even throughout the building. In 1940 a Wurlitzer- Strunk theatre organ was installed, consecutively to a Wurlitzer model 160.]
[Tom and Pam took the theater tour – they said it was well worth it. The Super and I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather by walking the neighborhood.]
[I did stay long enough for the Free Hug! (Photo by Pam)]
[Back on the street again, the now familiar clock tower.]
[Restaurant rows encircle the soon to be seen sculpture square.]
[And here it is . . . ]
[Featuring some guy who was famous in an artsy field.]
[Well, the Super was in a military logistics command!]
[Where we were . . . this is all just a block (or was it two) from the theater where we left Tom and Pam.]
[We were the early birds and had our choice of seating early on. But the crowds built up fast, including tour walking groups coming from boats similar to ours.]
[Do-si-do and allemande left . . . ]
[And more restaurants . . . ]
[And the Super got me here!]
[Theater and square hopping done, we’re back on the canal boats.]
[Here’s one of the “hop on, hop off” stops.]
[Passing by the Basilica of St. Nicholas.]
[And saying good-bye to the Basilica.]
[“The Lady in Shades” will now be internationally-renowned as a result of this blog post.]
[The Basilica is now in the receding distance.]
[The bridge I could find nowhere in a search of “images of Amsterdam waterway bridges” – go figure?]
[Do you remember this from the previous day’s adventures?]
[Really too bad we didn’t have a nice day?]
[The classic Amsterdam canal photo?]
[Ye old lift bridge]
[National Opera and Ballet, again]
[Not something you see on the side of most homes.]
[Photographing a photographer who is photographing . . . ]
[A couple sitting on a sofa on a canal pontoon.]
[Oy, we’re back at Rembrandt Square again?]
[Never pass up a photo op.]
[Tennis, anyone?]
[Advertising, anyone?]
[Club Nasty . . . named in honor of Hillary?]
[A mural in Rembrandt Square . . . ]
[Oh, we came back to show Pam and Tom!]
[And remember those black tulips of Koblenz?]
[That looks like a river cruise tour group there now.]
[Now that’s how to advertise!]
[And this, too?]
[From Wikipedia: Johan Rudolph Thorbecke (14 January 1798 – 4 June 1872) was a Dutch politician and statesman of liberal signature, one of the most important Dutch politicians of the 19th century. In 1848 he virtually single-handedly drafted the revision of the Constitution of the Netherlands, giving less power to the king, and more to the States General of the Netherlands.]
[And this is his plaza.]
[The leaning lamppost of Amsterdam.]
[Say no more, say no more . . .]
[The ubiquitous bikes, the ubiquitous canal bridges, the ubiquitous tourists in the ubiquitous canal boats.]
[This was May 7th . . . was the graffiti prescient?]
[Back at the EYE Film Museum . . . ]
[And the bike parking ramp . . .]
[And a good time was being had by all . . . ]
[And appears to be part of Central Station . . . ]
[And the Sea Palace . . . yes, a lot of doubling up, but it was a beautiful day for a boat ride. ]
[A black house on a corner – a coffee shop, perchance?]
[Art]
[A boat stop]
[Now we’re coming to signs of the previous night’s Independence Day celebration (remember May 5th) . . .]
[As we go under the lift bridge . . . ]
[The “under” part of going under . . . ]
[And here’s where it all took place. Of course, we didn’t know anything about it until we got back to the hotel the previous night. We turned on the TV, channeled surfed, and discovered the Netherlands’ version of “A Capitol Fourth.” A major stage production with a full orchestra, an emcee, and singers all dolled up in their “Sunday finest.” A terrific program . . . and maybe we got the Capitol Fourth idea from them?]
[The lights and scaffolding were coming down.]
[An artsy non-focus shot?]
[More scaffolding from the previous night . . . ]
[Amstel Hotel]
[And again, a 5-star hotel and thus out of out league.]
[Catching rays]
[That’s either a bird’s nest . . . or what may happen if you flush floss through the sewer system.]
[They make a beverage of some sort.]
[No, I don’t know her.]
[More beer . . . ]
[And the Rijksmuseum, again.]
[It says it’s a gymnasium.]
[The American Cafe is in sight . . . ]
[And here it is.]
[And American Hotel . . . I guess all the same franchise.]
[Back in Dam Square.]
[Then we took a last metro ride to the end of the line we hadn’t been on yet.]
[And a windmill was sighted on downtown Amsterdam on our return trip.]
[And back downtown – there’s the Super!]
[A hotdog stand? We did not partake.]
[Back at our hotel, this was our room. We thought it pretty spiffy!]
[Just some sights around wild and crazy Amsterdam on our last day there. We ate our last meal at a Chinese restaurant around the corner from our hotel that featured “afhaal” service?]
If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home. ~ James Michener
Up Next: The end?
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