Overnight we sailed into the Netherlands, where over 50% of the land is at or below sea level. About half the land is used for agriculture. The Netherlands is the second largest exporter of agricultural goods in the world.
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| Dam Square with some protestors |
In 1275, Amsterdam
was a small village in a swamp, then they built a dam on the Amstel river, now
Dam Square. The city became very rich, when the Dutch East India company was
heavily engaged in world trade. They even created a stock exchange to allow the
merchants to invest in several voyages rather than risk their investment on
just one ship. We cruised the canals. There are now 2500 house boats on the
canals, used since the 1950s when there was a housing shortage. Each is
connected to city water, sewer, and electricity. Amsterdam has 1269 bridges.
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| Bridges on the canals |
Our tickets to the Van Gogh Museum had been canceled because they were expecting thousands of protestors supporting the Palestinians to show up there. So, instead I did a walking tour of the city, starting at Dam Square. There were just a few protestors here. In the afternoon, I did a walking tour of the city starting at Dam square. I continued on to the Ann Frank House, where some of our group were touring. My find for the day was the Church in the Attic Museum. When William of Orange defeated the Spanish Hapsburgs in 1578, all the Catholic Churches were closed in favor of the Dutch Reformed Church. They tolerated other religions, if they weren’t public about it. Three homes were combined in the 17th century, and the top 3 floors were converted into a Catholic Church. We climbed steep stairs up, stopping to see a kitchen, living room, and several bedrooms until we reached the church in the attic.
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| The Church in the Attic |
That night Brooke and Tristan, Richard’s daughter and
son-in-law joined us from London for the Captain’s Farewell Dinner.
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| Tristan, Brooke, Char, Richard in Amsterdam |
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