Eliot's Travels

The shipping museum in Amsterdam is nice. The museum tells the story of Dutch maritime history from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. The story is mainly chronological and told by means of a unique collection of models, sea charts, globes, instruments and paintings. It has lots of models of various ships and boats used in Holland throughout its golden age and beyond. Eliot and Mary are checking them out. I enjoyed seeing maps from the 1600s, which were surprisingly accurate (with one main exception I noticed - Australia being connected to Asia).

It also has an extensive temporary exhibit that presents The Netherlands' role in discovering "the new world" during the 1500 and 1600s: New Amsterdam (Manhattan), Indonesia, Suriname, and Japan. I didn't realize they controlled trade in and out of Japan for nearly 250 years. Having lived in Suriname as a youngster, I was aware of that relationship and unfortunately their role in the slave trade.

We all enjoyed learning about the great Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter (1607-1676) via the exhibit and audioguide. Miles wasn't sure about the battle sounds in some of the rooms and kept his ears covered. De Ruyter took seventh place in the election of the Greatest Dutch Person in November 2004. But who knows exactly why he is so famous? As a seaman, he not only possessed great courage and fighting spirit, but he also displayed shrewd tactical insight and superb fleet handling. The exhibition presents an overview of his successful career and the various naval battles in which he commanded the Dutch fleet. The Four Day's Battle (1666) was De Ruyter's first major success. His defeat of the proud English fleet was the talk of Europe. Even mighty Louis XIV spoke in glowing terms of the Dutch achievement: 'Sieur De Ruyter has done deeds with heart and head that surpass human strength'.

There was even a special treat for John - beautiful wooden pleasure craft from sailboats to sea kayaks and canoes. Eliot and I liked the 10-person canoe in the loft. Miles slept (through most of the museum), while we played a kids game loading up a 17th century Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) ship for a journey east. We then headed for lunch in the cafe before heading outside to visit the Eastindiaman Amsterdam ship.

posted by Whitney @ 7:01 AM