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| Anne Frank Statue. |
[Photo Album in progress]
Kate's annual KBS conference was in Utrecht, Holland this year. There was another KBS conference a few years back in Maastricht that we attended (lots of fun, we learned about "Coffee" Shops). Kate has been to meetings in Amsterdam before, but we've not been to Holland very much. One should, it's an easy place to explore, with a long history, very fine arts, lots of things to see and English is so very common, it's almost like being in an English speaking country! To our shame it's much easier to speak English than to learn a bit of Dutch.
We flew into Amsterdam from Dublin and shlepped our luggage by train to the Central Train Station in Utrecht - a little over half an hour away. Another luggage shlep in Utrecht to the nearby NH Hotel Utrecht where we discovered that our hotel was the NH Hotel Centre Utrecht. And yes, the kind clerk explains, many people make that mistake. And yes, she says "It's just a short walk to your hotel." And no I say, I'm here to tell you no, it's not a short walk! It would have been a painful hike overloaded with luggage the several city blocks to our hotel. Instead we took a cab. The Dutch are fit, we are not.
Anyways, the NH Hotel Centre Utrecht is an older walk up building in the old city. Buildings in the old city are only 3-4 stories high. Nearby the hotel there's a statue to Anne Frank (why here? Isn't the Anne Frank home in Amsterdam?) and another large one of St Willibrod on horseback. The other NH hotel by the train station is a modern tower in a blight of concrete, glass and steel in an urban renewal setting. The old city is much more interesting and it was a convenient short walk to the conference site (the Winkel van Sinkel) on the nearby central canal.
Our first night, a Friday, we had dinner with Kate's colleagues at the LUC restaurant in the old city. It was a short walk from our hotel passing by the Winkel van Sinkel and crossing over the central canal towards the train station. We navigated by Google maps which we've come to rely on. The short walks was a good introduction to navigating through the old city.
Just a few blocks away from our hotel, and dominating the skyline, is the landmark gothic St Martin's Cathedral (or Domkerk) with it's tower (Domtoren) separated from the east end of the cathedral by a nave completely destroyed in a storm back in 1674. The nave area is now a pedestrian plaza with markers where the columns used to be. What remains of the east end of the church (the transept, choir and altar) is very impressive with flying buttresses like those of Notre Dame in Paris. Sadly, the Protestant Reformation was pretty hard on beautiful Catholic churches like this one. Much of the iconography, statuary, murals and artwork were vandalized during Calvinist riots meant to free the people from the domination of the Catholic Church.
What remains of St Martin's is well worth a visit. What remains of church is quite impressive and in regular use. There's a quiet attached cloister/garden you can visit just to the south. You can also climb the tower for a view of the city (oddly I didn't). The tower was covered in scaffolding for some restoration work when we were there and I never got up it.
It was St Willibrod who brought Christianity to this area. During the Reformation Catholics were persecuted and even outlawed -- so much for Protestant tolerance and the Enlightenment. Our Libro Financial Services, where we bank, used to be called the St Willibrod Credit Union so we have a connection. I've mentioned the statue near our hotel. There's also a lovely St Willibrod Catholic Church squeezed into the neighborhood in the very late 1800's. Like the Domkerk it's in a gothic style but as it's squeezed into the neighborhood and there aren't any flying buttresses and the like -- or at least none that I could see. There are lovely murals on every wall inside to cover the story of Christ. I like visiting churches, Kate not so much, and I found this one well worth a visit. The church is still active, there was a service one day when I visited.
When not visiting churches the canals are very interesting. At the Winkel van Sinkel (Kate's conference site) you're right in the middle of the old city with lots of shops, cafes and restaurants along the central canal. Other parts of the canal, which circles the old city, are more sedate with residences and green space. On our first day in Utrecht (a Saturday) they held a Pride parade on the canal. It was a beautiful sunny day for a parade and there were lots out to catch the sights. About 70 or so barges floated by each decorated, peopled by dancers in costume, music blaring, people having fun. It was a great parade and lasted for hours. Kate got some good pictures from a balcony at the conference site (they were having pre-conference meetings on the Saturday) and I got more from street level.
The Railway Museum was an interesting visit. It's just outside the canal loop, a short walk away to the south east in a residential area. There are some interesting old trains, some royal carriages, and even a box car that had been used to transport Jews to the death camps during the Nazi occupation. Much of the museum is directed toward children with "Thomas the Tank Engine" on prominent display. There was an interactive ride as well which was a lot of fun -- you were put into a virtual train engine and took an out of control trip (out of control because you were at the controls!) with the ride shaking and rattling you about. Very scary, but fun.
Just outside the Railway Museum, as you enter, there's a Holocaust Memorial to those lost to the death camps. I recall reading recently that the state Railway, who were complicit in transporting Dutch Jews to the Nazi Death Camps, have made an apology and reparations. There are some sad stories in Holland, it's good they've not been forgotten.
Another church I bumped into was the Museum Catharijne Convent just south of the Domkerk. I went for the Museum (the Dutch call Galleries "museums" which can be confusing) which has an impressive art collection including some Rembrandt. I thought the museum was in the church itself and ended up sitting through a bit of a service that was happening that Sunday. Oddly the service was in English! I'm not sure what kind of church it is now, it was a Catholic convent at one time. Anyways it's another impressive church and again worth a visit. The attached gallery/museum has an impressive art collection, lots of religious works of course.
One day I took the train into Amsterdam to visit the Rijks Museum (or State Gallery). I was interested to see their collection of Vermeer paintings. "The Girl with the Pearl Earing" is the most famous -- it's in the Hague. There were four on display in the State Gallery on the second floor. They're quite lovely but I was surprised how small they are -- they're about 11"x14". That's a similar experience to seeing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Only here, in Amsterdam, you could get up close to the pictures, not so at the Louvre. The gallery here was busy, but not too crazy.
If you're interested in seeing "big" pictures. Rembrandt's "Night Watch" is at the end of this second floor gallery. It's huge at approximately 12'x15' and even then it had been cut down on the ends to fit an historical location many years ago (the gallery would never have cut down a Rembrandt). That gallery has several large pieces of a similar or larger size. Quite impressive.
There was a special exhibit of Rembrandt with an extra entrance fee. I was surprised by the number of etchings on display. I gather etchings, like posters and other mass market medium of today, were money makers of the time.
The State Gallery is huge and has much to see, I spent several hours there (much of the day). I didn't get to see anything else in Amsterdam that day. Didn't even see any canals or "Coffee Shops" or any red lights!
Kate and I spent a day visiting Rotterdam and the Hague by train. They're a short ride away -- trains are like city transit. They run frequently and all day long. You just go to the station and catch the next train. Trains used to be like that here but not anymore.
In Rotterdam we rented bicycles near the train station and did a bit of exploring of the city. We had lunch at Central Library overlooking the market square -- imagine that, a library with a lovely restaurant! We visited the modern enclosed market building and the nearby bright yellow Cube Houses. The architecture of these cube houses is interesting -- each apartment/home is a cube neatly balanced on one of the points of the cube -- but hardly practical. The rooms are small, there are a lot of stairs and headroom can be limited. Nevertheless people live there. We biked out to the Art Institute (which we really didn't understand) and visited a nearby Art Deco home the "Sonneveld House" built in 1933 with all "mod cons" of the time. We liked that a lot.
In the Hague (where you can find the "Girl with the Pearl Earring") we walked around a bit and had dinner at the "Luden" -- an outdoor cafe on a square not very far from the train station. There Kate found a modern silk screen of the "Girl with the Pearl Earring". There's lots to see in both of these cities, trying to cram both into one day doesn't work.
Back in Utrecht I continued my exploration of the canals and back lanes. I bumped into a old style Dutch wind mill not far from the city centre. Walking around you need to be careful where you step. Bicycles are everywhere -- they're a major mode of transportaion with devoted bike lanes. You need to be careful where you step as the bikes move very quickly. They'll often have someone riding side-saddle on the back rack, or perhaps 2 or 3 children on board, or perhaps they're busy texting on their cell phones and not attentive to the idiot tourists walking into their lane. I recall reading afterwards that laws have changed to try to get bicyclists off their phones.
Kate, Sam and I visited the "Central Museum" one day after wandering down the canals. I had thought it was a "museum" like the "Railyway Museum" but it turns out it's a large gallery like the "CatharijneConvent Museum" with an impressive collection from the very old to the very new. Again it's a well worth the visit.
On the last day I rented a bike from the hotel and went on an app-driven ride into the country. I was impressed by the network of bike lanes in the country and how they are such an important transportaion route. I'm impressed how fit the Dutch are as well. The route I was on was supposed to be only a few hours long on a loop into the country to the east. Many hours later I returned to the city tired and sore from the day of biking. On the way back into the city from my bike ride I stopped at a couple of old cemeteries. They're often interesting. These had impressive modern statuary.
Our final event in Utrecht was the KBS dinner and dance at the Ottone. It's an old church on a nearby canal that's been converted to a multipurpose event space. We met with old friends and even joined in a few songs (Michael, from Galway, wanted me to sing the Fairy Tale of New York but saner heads prevailed). I wanted to get the Canadian Contingent to sing "The Crawl" (Spirit of the West) but again saner heads prevailed again. It was a gay old time with old friends we've estabished over the last 30 or more years. But a little sad -- with Kate's retirement I suspect the annual KBS conference, which has taken us to all sorts of exotic places around the world, will be a thing of the past for us.
On leaving Utrecht the next morning we had a cab pick us up at our hotel to take us to the train station. He tells us that he'll gladly take us directly to the Amsterdam airport for 60euros (I think that's the figure, it's a flat rate for all taxis). After a little thought we gladly accepted -- it's a bit more expensive than taking the train but far easier than toting heavy bags. We ought to learn to travel with less luggage!
Utrecht was a fine city to visit. Lots of history, lots of churches, galleries and the many canals. If you get a chance to visit you will be impressed.
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