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| The Dining Room All Set For Dinner! |
This
17th Century house was inherited by Louisa Holthuysen from her father -- a
wealthy merchant. Louisa left the house
with all its contents including her husband, Abraham Willet's extensive art
collection to the City of Amsterdam in 1895 upon her death. This building has been a museum since 1896 --
it is a marvelous specimen of how a wealthy couple lived in this city during
the last half of the 19th Century. From
the dining room which is set for dinner
to the ballroom -- renovated shortly after Louisa and Abraham married in
1861 and was used for all kinds of occasions from costume balls to literary
evenings. And then there is the Ladies
Salon where Louisa received her callers usually between 3:30 and 5:00 pm in the
afternoon and it was in the Club Room where Abraham would regularly hold his
"art viewings".
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| Phil in hall of Museum Willet-Holthuysen. |
As
we step back into 21st Century Amsterdam -- we are headed to Rembrandt's House
and back to the 17th Century. Rembrandt
lived in this house from 1639 to 1658 while he was at the height of his career
-- before he declared bankruptcy. It was
from the bankruptcy records that the museum was able to have an inventory of
what was in the house at the time it was vacated by Rembrandt. The recreation of the rooms is marvelous --
particularly the art studio. Rembrandt's
studio is quite large --- facing North with exactly the right, constant light
entering through the windows. I found
the "Box Beds" from this period to be interesting -- the beds are
built into the wall and are very short since people slept in a partially
upright position to keep the blood from rushing to their head. These beds are great -- very compact.
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| Rembrandt's Studio! |
Moving
along we are pulled abruptly back to the 21st Century when I spot a Flea Market
and get the urge to wander through. We
are headed back to the Central Station area to check out St. Nicholas Church --
built in 1887, a small museum called "Our Lord in the Attic", and
have lunch before going back to the ship.
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| Pat in Rembrandt's Kitchen -- See Box Bed! |
We
visited St. Nicholas Church, an imposing structure, built in 1887 and dedicated
to the patron saint of Amsterdam. We
have no luck finding "Our Lord in the Attic" so decided to have
lunch. Close to St. Nicholas is Eetcafe
Dwaze Zaken -- a great choice. Phil had
paella and I had a fabulous brie, pesto and walnut sandwich. I asked the waitress if she knew where
"Our Lord In the Attic" was and she said, "Oh, yes. I was just there with my father a couple of
months ago. It was great - such a lovely museum." She gave us directions and right after lunch
off we went.
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| Our Lord in The Attic |
Our
Lord in the Attic is a 17th Century canal house with a top floor converted into
a Roman Catholic Church. The house was
built by Jan Hartman in 1663 when it was forbidden for Catholics to celebrate
Mass in public -- so nothing on the outside of the building could suggest that
there was a Catholic house of worship inside.
This Church existed until 1887 when St. Nicholas was built. A group of private collectors bought the
house recognizing that the house and church represented a unique aspect to
Amsterdam's history. After making some improvements -- on 24 April 1888 -- Our
Lord In The Attic opened as a museum -- aside from the Rijksmuseum it is
Amsterdam's oldest museum.
We
loved this museum --- just to move up and down the stairs that so many people
moved up and down over the hundreds of years that it operated as a secret
church is amazing to think about.
We
had another great day in Amsterdam. I
must add that the Dutch people are the most friendly and helpful group that I
have come across. The fact that they all
speak perfect English is a plus for us but they genuinely want to help
tourists. Amsterdam is such a unique
city between the pot-smoking -- the red light district -- all the unusual
museums and parks and public spaces that
co-exist. Then -- of course there are
the bicycles -- everywhere. These people
must have the best posture and the strongest legs of any people in the world.
We
are so glad to have been able to spend more time in this wonderful place.
Thanks
for Reading.
Pat
Ah, Amsterdam! You and Phil make excellent use of time everywhere you travel. Still, there is so much left to see in Amsterdam. Shall we join you on the next trip?
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