Eliot's Travels

The Dam - It was here, in the early 13th century, that Gijsbrecht II dammed the River Amstel and built a castle nearby. The Dam still remains the heart of the city, as it was in the 17th century, when Dutch and foreign merchants gathered here to do business (from Amsterdam Explored). And so begins our first walking tour of Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Explored, our tour guide, is a wonderful book that uses old maps, paintings, and historical accounts to tell the story and history of Amsterdam. The cool thing about an old city is the 400-500 years of history. The map the author refers to is from 1625 and is amazingly still pretty accurate. Some of the buildings have been torn down or their purpose has changed, but today's streets, canals, and buildings are on the map.

The Koninklijk Paleis is the official residence of Queen Beatrix, though she actually lives in Den Haag. It was built as a grand city hall in 1655. The entrance is deliberately small, for the city fathers feared a repeat of the riots in 1535, when a group of Anabaptists stormed the old town hall. On the back side, Atlas holds an enormous globe. The Magna Plaza is an interesting orange and white building that was originally the main post office (built in the late 1800s) but has since then been converted into a shopping centre.

The Dam is a big bustling square with people, trams, and pigeons. In the center is the Nationaal Monument, commemorating those who died in WW II. Miles loved running up and down the stairs and following his brother. Eliot found a new and not-so-nice hobby of chasing pigeons. You would think by the way he was running that he had never seen pigeons before! The Dam area is pretty grubby with lots of people just hanging out. Amsterdam is a big city for sure. While they were playing around the monument, Miles picked up something from the ground. I pointed to him to put it down. When it hit the ground, I realized it was a piece of glass. Not exactly the best place for kids! Today there was a book fair in front of the palace. Here, we saw the pentultimate in family bikes - Bike with the kids box (with 2 kids in the box), an extra seat on the back, and a spot for the stroller on front. Wow!

posted by Whitney @ 2:30 PM