Our consolation
prize for today is a trip to the Jewish Quarter. Our first stop
was for breakfast at Jennifer’s, a small restaurant around the corner from our
hotel for Dutch pancakes. These a bit like crepes, but a little thicker and not
folded. Marty had strawberry
pancakes with strawberry ice cream (at 8:30 a.m.!). I have to admit, it did look pretty good. I was a traditionalist, with apple, and
Jeri had banana (both without ice cream). With plenty of pancakes and coffee, we began our cross
town trek to the Jewish Quarter.
Across the street from the Portuguese Synagogue is the Jewish cultural museum, Joods Historich Museum. This is a complex of 4 synagogues built by Ashkenazi Jews in the 17th and 18th Centuries. The synagogues were the center of Jewish life until the holocaust decimated the Jewish population during WW II (the Jewish population went from 140,000 pre-war with only 28,000 survivors). The synagogues are no longer in use, but house the museum dedicated to Jewish history from 1600 to present day.
We were all psyched for Ed Rooth’s Bake apple turnovers and hiked about 20 minutes out of our way. We found it surprisingly
easily, but, yet another disappointment we must bear, it was closed. I guess we will have to return to the Netherlands for apple turnovers and tulips. We had some crackers that we bought at Ed Rooth’s 2 days before and ate them in front of the bakery.
Our next stop, close by, still in
the Jewish Quarter, was Museum het Rembrandt, or the Rembrandt house.
This was Rembrandt’s home from 1639-1660 where he dealt in art, his own
and others, and where he painted and gave art lessons. Many of his most famous pieces were
created here. The house was valued
at that time at over 13,000 guilders when the average workers salary was 300
guilders per year. The cost was
too much for him to bear when he began running into financial difficulties and
he was forced into foreclosure by the bank which sold off all of his
belongings. There was a very
detailed inventory which survived allowing retrieval of many original articles
and knowledge of furnishings and appointments. The house had a beautiful wooden circular staircase to each
of its 5 floors. The family lived
on the lower floor, and his gallery, studio, and classroom on upper
floors. The fifth floor, or attic,
was not accessible to visitors.
Many original sketches as well as some paintings adorn the walls. There were also 2 living exhibits
demonstrating etching and printing techniques used by Rembrandt and on paint
mixing, canvas preparation and painting techniques used at this time. It was interesting to learn about the
way art was done at that time.
Colors were generally not mixed and applied, rather a base layer was
applied, say blue, then to make green, a yellow translucent layer was added to
create the desired hue. Because of
the cost of paints, often Rembrandt might be working on several pieces at once,
apply all the blue to all the pieces then apply the translucent colors allowing
each layer to dry between applications.
It was sort of like an art assembly line.
Heading back we had cruise the Red-Light District. What an eye-opener for all of us. I am happy to tell you that not only did none of us know what most of the objects in the sex shop windows were, but with all of our combined brain power, we couldn’t even figure out what some of them were for even where you put them. I hope the prostitutes have an alternate source of income, because they can’t be pulling in too much considering their looks. They certainly get plenty to eat- all were quite zaftig!
After much deliberation, we decided
to take Marty to another steak house for dinner, Toro d”Orado. Their wine list was extensive and
expensive and they were all out of any wines under 40 euros. The steaks, though were excellent. On the trip back we found a homemade
gelato place that was amazing.
Good thing we found this late in our stay in Amsterdam, otherwise it
would have added a few pounds.
Off to Woudsend tomorrow and the
beginning of our barge trip.
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