Aug 5, 2022 - Amsterdam, Netherlands

It’s been a really crazy day.  There are people EVERYWHERE here in Amsterdam.  It happens to be Pride Weekend and the rainbow flag has exploded here.  It is on nearly every building, flying out of every window, on every street, bridge, and shop.  In an area called the Museumplein, there is an installation of the 71 countries in the world that still have legal penalties against those who are gay and still 11 countries that consider it worthy of death.  It was powerful (and not in a good way) to see that many flags flying in the park, with the name of the country, and the penalty they give.

And with so many people in Amsterdam, nearly every museum I tried to get tickets for was sold out.  I did get to go to the Royal Palace and I have tickets tomorrow for a concert at the Nieuwe Kerk, which also has a photo exhibit going on.  The highlight of my day was spending it with Jacque, a former member of my Leetsdale Church, who now lives in Amsterdam working for NIKE.

I had heard that our version of American Apple Pie came from the Netherlands, but I have yet to find any reference to that, nor have I found any Apple Pie in any form, here.  So, who knows.  

Amsterdam is another beautiful city when it comes to architecture and I have lots of pictures to show it.  I must admit that I know very little of the Netherlands and their history.  The Royal Palace and the audio guide helped fill in some of my lacking knowledge.  Jacque helped, as well.  Here is what I know boiled down to just a brief summary of a couple thousand years of history.

The flood plains of the Netherlands were a difficult land to farm and settle into, so they became more of a seafaring people.  This would come into importance by the Middle Ages.  As larger countries such as Spain, England, Portugal, etc… began colonizing the lands recently discovered, this little Dutch Republic (made up of mostly Germanic tribes and Viking ancestors) also began getting into the colonization game and soon dominated with their seafaring background and savvy trading sense.  Both the Dutch East India Trading Company and the Dutch West India Trading Company became some of the most powerful businesses during this time.  They controlled the trading routes and often the countries that had goods and services to trade.  And so The Netherlands (literally translated as “the lands under”) dominated in the 17th Century and became quite prosperous.  As the city centers grew, flooding became a serious issue, therefore the businesses/politicians/and community organizations worked together to build canals and dykes to ward off the damaging waters of the sea.

But then Napoleon came to power in France and invaded The Netherlands, putting his brother William as King of Holland in 1806.  The Netherlands have remained a hereditary monarchy ever since.

Built originally as Amsterdam’s Town Hall, the Royal Palace became William’s residency and restyled to fit the needs of a monarch.  Here are the pictures of it below.

Some of the great architecture:

This church is called Westerkerk, a Christian Reformed Church of the Netherlands.  Handed over from the Roman Catholic Church to the Protestant Church in 1631.  Rembrandt was originally buried here, but has since been moved.  You can also see a picture of his home following the pictures of the church.  Bathed in color to celebrate Pride, the church hosts multiple speakers and services throughout the week which enhance its leadership role in the community.

Rembrandts’ home, now a bar/restuarant:

Last comment for the night.  After walking along one of the canals this evening, I stopped to get a bite to eat.  The Dutch aren’t well known for great food, but they do have every kind of ethnic food that you can imagine in Amsterdam.  I was seated next to a table of 6 men all in the same outfit - red t-shirts with a name on the front and some kind of picture on the back that I couldn’t figure out what it was.  I finally asked why they were all in matching clothes.  One of the men said that they were in Amsterdam for the weekend to celebrate a bachelor party for one of their friends.  They were all from Belgium.  Using a lot of Google Translate from French to English we spent most of the evening chatting together and watching the very colorful crowd walk by.  I found out that Maximillian was getting married to Judy in September and this was the only time that all 6 of the best friends could get together.  When Maximillian’s brother, Jerome, found out that I was a minister, he told Max that I should officiate at the wedding.  We talked at length, but there was no way I’d be able to do the wedding in September.  Even after much insisting.  I hope “picking up” a random pastor in a foreign country wasn’t there only option for an officiant and that they have some other plans for the wedding - LOL!