about the book:Taking you on a trip through his life in the Netherlands, Marc Resch makes us grateful for his powers of observation and capacity to remember all that assaults your consciousness and sub-consciousness alike. - XPat Review
23 August 2010
From BusinessWeek:
The 180-year-old chestnut tree Anne Frank mentioned repeatedly in her diary while she hid in an Amsterdam annex during World War II fell over today. “At 1:30 p.m. we heard a loud noise, about 30 tons of wood came thundering down,” Hans Westra, director of the Anne Frank Foundation, said by telephone. “The Anne Frank house wasn’t hit. I’m very glad no one was hurt.” A steel harness was put around the tree about 18 months ago to keep it upright after fungus attacked the chestnut. The tree will be replaced by one of its saplings, Westra said.
The top of the tree, which stood in a closed garden behind one of Amsterdam’s canal houses, could only be seen from one particular spot in Anne Frank’s house. German police arrested Anne Frank in the house on Aug. 4, 1944. She died in March 1945 in the Bergen-Belsen death camp at the age of 15. The Anne Frank House opened in 1960.
Read the full article here
From Radio Netherlands:
It's not unusual to see Amsterdam's canals crawling with boats and barges but today the city's main seaway had a slice of the action. SAIL 2010 kicked off with a procession of boats travelling from coast to capital - with thousands turning out to watch them arrive. And for a landlubber who'd never actually heard of this nautical event, being afloat among thousands of boats was an impressive experience. While people-watching from the press boat was an amusing pastime, the tall ships taking part really stole the show. This year the offerings fall into two different categories: those more than 40 metres long, and their smaller siblings.
The procession was led by the flagship Stad Amsterdam - a behemoth of a boat measuring 76 metres long. Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander made an attempt to hide behind the reams of rigging, finally obliging his fans with a wave from deck before ducking back below deck. It's tough being royal. Other notable entries this year include the Swedish Gotheberg, with its bright blue and gold helm and a giant lion striding its prow. Like many of the vessels taking part in the SAIL 2010 event, the Gotheberg is actually a replica of a sunken ship - but they're so impressive it doesn't really matter.
Read the full article here
From Sail2010.nl:
SAIL Amsterdam is the largest event in the Netherlands which is free to the public. In 2005 the event drew 1.8 million visitors, who gave SAIL Amsterdam 2005 high marks. SAIL Amsterdam 2010 will take place from Thursday 19 August to Monday 23 August 2010 on and around the IJ river.
SAIL's main attraction will be the impressive fleet of Tall Ships, sailing heritage craft, modern ships, naval ships and replicas. In addition to this, every day there will be a varying programme of all kinds of cultural and sports activities. The theme of SAIL 2010 is ‘a nautical encounter between the past, present and future’.
The idea behind SAIL Amsterdam originated during preparations for the celebration of Amsterdam's 700 years of existence in 1975. After the huge success of SAIL Amsterdam 700, organisers decided to hold another SAIL Amsterdam in 1980. In order to effectively manage the organisation, the permanent SAIL Amsterdam Foundation (SSA) was established in 1977. Since then, the SSA has successfully organised SAIL Amsterdam in 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005 and is now focussing on the 8th edition of the event.
Lots more information and the complete programme can be found on the Sail2010 website
From iAmsterdam:
Amsterdam Gay Pride is a huge celebration and devotion towards equality for the gay, lesbian and transgender communities held between 1 and 8 August in 2010, with parties, drag olympics and of course the canal parade. Amsterdam Gay Pride remains one of the best celebrations of its kind around the globe, taking place in the first weekend of August every year, and drawing over 350,000 gay and straight participants and visitors to stay and play in Amsterdam. The city is a rainbow of events in gay and straight venues alike, from dance parties to film festivals, sporting events, culture and more.
The canal parade is the festival's centrepiece, where lavishly decorated barges give the term 'float' a literal meaning. On Saturday 7 August same-sex skin soak up the Dutch sun and put on a show for those on the banks of the Prinsengracht and Amstel River with onboard DJs, ridiculous themes and plenty of smiles. Meanwhile smaller boats line the canal walls and at the mouths of adjoining canals, enjoying the party by shimmying up to each other, forming a flotilla of fun.
A full guide to all the events can be found here (iAmsterdam.com)
From Unesco.com:
The historic urban ensemble of the canal district of Amsterdam was a project for a new ‘port city’ built at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. It comprises a network of canals to the west and south of the historic old town and the medieval port that encircled the old town and was accompanied by the repositioning inland of the city’s fortified boundaries, the Singelgracht. This was a long-term programme that involved extending the city by draining the swampland, using a system of canals in concentric arcs and filling in the intermediate spaces. These spaces allowed the development of a homogeneous urban ensemble including gabled houses and numerous monuments. This urban extension was the largest and most homogeneous of its time. It was a model of large-scale town planning, and served as a reference throughout the world until the 19th century.
More here
With the tulips in bloom and spring in the air, there is no better place to be than in Amsterdam on Easter weekend. Enjoy an exquisite brunch in one of Amsterdam’s finest hotels, hunt for eggs in an historical zoo or visit one of the museums – there is a multitude of things to do. Beginning on Good Friday, visitors to Amsterdam’s historic Artis Zoo can watch chicks hatch in the incubator. On Easter Sunday and Monday there will also be a free Easter egg hunt in the zoo. This informative pursuit will take you along various ‘egg-laying’ animals and other residents of the zoo. Watch newborn lambs and cuddle and feed them at various farms in the surroundings of Amsterdam called 'lamb-days'. On Sunday 4 April, there is a large Easter party at the kids farm Bijlmerweide in Amsterdam. There is an egg hunt, painting of eggs, lemonade and more.
In the centre of town most shops and warehouses will be open on Good Friday and both Easter days. Worth a visit on Sunday 5 April is the Funky Easter Market - a special version of the Sunday Markets (the first Sunday of every month) at Westergasfabriek with arts and crafts, music and buskers as well as delicious, home-made food and drink. Other markets open during the Easter break are the Albert Cuyp and the Flower Markets, open on Good Friday but closed during Easter.
Time asked three Amsterdammers what their perfect day would look like. Former mayor Job Cohen said the following:
"I'd spend the morning walking along Amsterdam's 17th century canals and through the alleys of the city center, then visit the Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder museum, a former church hidden behind the façade of a canal house. After that, I'd move on to the Jordaan district, and take a stroll along the market stalls at the Noordermarkt. For lunch, there's the V&D La Place restaurant on the top floor of the new Amsterdam Public Library, where the views are stunning. Afterward, I'd head by canal boat to the Hermitage Amsterdam museum, and an exhibition at De Bazel, the Art Deco former headquarters of the Netherlands Trading Society and now the city archives. Dinner would be at Freud, a restaurant run by former psychiatric patients. In the evening I'd watch a classical concert either at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, an impressive new theater at the IJ embankments, or at the world-famous Concertgebouw."
We’d been having such a glorious time on, amazingly, our first visit to the gently subversive city of gables and canals, bikes and barges. The Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum were matched by the simple pleasures of wandering between characterful bars and crazy window-shopping in crazy shops. The faces in Rembrandt’s paintings are the faces you meet on the street in Amsterdam, usually belonging to bike riders who wing past you as quiet as ghosts. Continuing massive refurbishment at the Rijksmuseum deterred us from inspecting the Old Masters for confirmation.
Tiny Runstraat was our favourite of the Nine Streets. In a short stretch it boasts a shop devoted to bizarre toothbrushes and dental products, the city’s best cheese shop and best bread shop and Gerda’s fragrant florist’s alongside an affordable and very cosy Indonesian restaurant called Cilubang, where we spent just €20 each on its house speciality rijsttafel. This style of dining, legacy of the Dutch East Indies Company, offers soup, rice and up to 20 small spicy dishes – soy, peanut and coconut flavours dominating. This was a lovely, authentic example.
Read the full article here, with many addresses and tips on what to do and where.
Tips for traveling, getting around and where to stay in Amsterdam from the Daily Mail:
It's low season in Amsterdam right now, and that means affordable flights and good deals in hotels. And even though it can still be a bit damp and chilly, the city's cafes offer the perfect refuge. Here's the Crafty Traveller's guide to the best-value hotels, and tips on how to save time and money getting around and sightseeing. There's also a selection of great places to eat and drink - where you may well be the only tourist.
Oudezijds Achterburgwal is right in the centre of Amsterdam’s Red Light District. It is a narrow canal lined by sex shops and special windows where women in lace-trimmed lingerie sit on high stools, facing the street, manicuring their nails, reading magazines or chatting on their cell phones. If the curtains are closed, it means they are at work. This part of Amsterdam comes alive late afternoon. It is not risky or dangerous. Peep until your eyes fall out, but don’t take photos unless you want to learn some Dutch four-letter-words.
If you explore the Red Light District during daylight hours, you will notice quaint houses with beautiful facades that are obscured by neon lights at night. This stroll starts at Oudekerksplein. In front of number 23, embedded in the pavement is a bronze woman’s breast and a hand caressing it. Walk round the church and you will find the statue of Belle. It was erected in honour of the millions of people around the world who earn their money in prostitution.
Amsterdam and the Bay Area might not have snow in common, but there are many other things that reminded me of San Francisco - small navigable streets, beautiful architecture and a history of tolerance. It made it easy to see why I felt at home so quickly. Alongside traditional Dutch restaurants were those offering the foods of the ethnic communities that contribute to the country's culinary traditions - Indonesian, Surinamese, Turkish and Moroccan. The traditional dishes may be almost medieval in composition, and the use of nutmeg, paprika and curry are reminders of Amsterdam's prominent position in the spice trade.
And, just as in San Francisco, diners in Amsterdam seem drawn to restaurants that are gezellig - cozy and sociable - feelings that are also reflected in their food. One of my favorite Dutch comfort dishes is stampot, a mash of potatoes and another vegetable. It's easy to eat when you're cold and tired, and works well with variations. Stampot is one of those dishes that every family serves and few make the same way. The most popular version uses curly kale, and while it's often eaten with sausage, vegetarian sausages, roasted vegetables or stews would make a fine substitute to keep this dish vegetarian. The Dutch are fond of spicy Dijon-like mustard, so I make my stampot with a heaping spoonful - or two - and top it with a dusting of nutmeg, another favorite Dutch spice.
I arrived in Amsterdam ready to be put off by the food, but I fell in love with the homey dishes and their simplicity. Plus, Amsterdam is stealthily turning into a food mecca, with restaurants that boast chefs who worked at Chez Panisse, and people who are reading Michael Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma" and Jonathan Safran Foer's "Eating Animals." It may not be where San Francisco is now, but Holland is definitely buzzing, and not just from the coffee shops.
The Dutch capital has launched what it hopes will be a new Christmas tradition by holding it's first yuletide canal parade. On Christmas Eve, 17 festively decorated passenger boats sailed through the canals of Amsterdam. Many of the city's bridges were full of spectators who turned out to see the spectacle. One of the boats featured a folk choir singing Christmas classics. The organiser's say they were pleased with the event and look forward to making it a permanent fixture of Christmas Eve in Amsterdam.
From Radio Netherlands
Vijf, vier, drie, twee, een, Gelukkig nieuwjaar! Five, four, three, two, one, Happy New Year! Speaking Dutch seems impenetrable but the language of New Years in Amsterdam 2009 manifested itself it each and every person that stood in the city that night. The celebration of New Years varies from towns, to cities, to countries, but Amsterdam offers one that I would see again and again. Here is true freedom and energy so palpable that I can still taste it months after the fireworks have faded. As an American it is fairly easy to describe what image concocts in one's mind when they think of this city. Pot and prostitutes. A city full of shops where marijuana is sold legally and a street that is dedicated to the profit of sex, The Red Light District, where women advertise themselves in store windows, dressed in negligee. This image, however vulgar to many, is needless to say, true, but only partly. There are many Coffee Shops, but The Red Light District is only one street in the whole city. Also, the legality of pot and paid-for sex does not reel in any more criminal activity than your average large metropolitan area. In actuality, the stoners and men shopping for love in windows seem to make up the more demure population of the city, and more times than not, they are tourists. In fact, The U.S.A transcends Amsterdam in serious crime rates such as murder and rape. The city's most widely spread crime is simple pick pocketing. So holding on closely to your purses and wallets is the best defense, yet as simple as this sounds, it is an important rule of thumb when traveling anywhere.
Amsterdam is unlike any city I have ever been to. Its material world comes from a time so old and mysterious yet its energy is that of youth and a new age. Of course, it is not for everyone, especially those easily offended. Yet like in any travels, if the journeyer goes in with an humble mind and open heart it is extremely difficult to not get lost in the wonder. Even as summer approaches the snow flecked canals remain in the back of my mind, and my heart retains the energy of humanity that penetrates us all.
On the harbor directly across from Centraal Station, a symbol of Amsterdam’s next cultural evolution is rising from the ground — and, by sometime in 2011, cinephiles in the city will be rejoicing. The organizers behind Filmmuseum, an Amsterdam institution that has been an important agent in screening and preserving old movies, broke ground in September on a site they hope will widen the museum’s audience and appeal.
The museum’s current location, within the Vondelpark, close to the Museum District, has its limitations. The new harborside building, say the museum’s spokespeople, will help the museum move beyond its core vision — serving as a tool to educate movie geeks. The new space will offer state-of-the-art, modern viewing spaces; the organizers hope to draw more than 200,000 visitors per year to the new building. The prospect of yet another monumental building lining the waterfront underscores the ongoing transition turning the city’s harbor into a major, modern cultural draw.
Read the article here
Cycling along a street in the east of Amsterdam five years ago on Monday, Theo van Gogh, the outspoken Dutch film-maker, was shot and, as he slumped on the ground, his murderer slit his throat and pinned a letter to his dead body. The killing of Van Gogh, targeted by a second-generation Dutch Moroccan because of a film critical of Islam and notorious anti-Muslim remarks, shocked the nation and intensified an already heated debate about the "Dutchness" of the country's 1m Muslims. Five years later, Geert Wilders, the far-right politician who was among the critics of Islam threatened in the blood-stained letter attached to Van Gogh's chest, still lives under the permanent police protection hastily arranged after the murder. In a sign of prevailing sentiment, Mr Wilders' Freedom Party, which would seek to end all immigration by Muslims and ban the Koran, has seen a surge of support and is polling 17 per cent of the vote , enough to make it the second biggest party in parliament were an election held tomorrow.
Job Cohen, Amsterdam's centre-left Jewish mayor since 2001, acknowledged that little had changed since he used a Holocaust Memorial Day speech almost two years ago to warn that fear and suspicion among ethnic groups were at a postwar peak. But investment by the city in "anti-radicalisation" programmes has made a tangible, if unverifiable, difference, he says. "We're more able to find people who might radicalise and we have found methods to bring them, as much as we can, to a more normal path," he said. "I think the risk of [a Van Gogh-style murder] happening again is much lower." As well as encouraging teachers, youth workers and others to signal concerns about the 2 per cent of young Muslims seen as at risk to radicalisation, the city has sought contact with mosques and religious organisations and tried to foster "social networks".
Early one evening Helena van Gelder heard bricks falling. Minutes later, she and her three young sons were standing outside their 17th-century home, watching it sink eight inches within hours. It was a terrible shock, but the family living on Amsterdam's Vijzelgracht thoroughfare was merely the latest casualty of a tunnel that has been the city's 3 billion euro ($4.5 billion) headache for seven years. Years behind schedule and so over-budget officials have abandoned hope it can recoup the cost of construction, the new metro project is wrecking historic buildings as it cuts through spongy sand and water more than 30 metres below sea-level.
Built to house a rapid transit system aimed at connecting business in the north and south of the city and relieving overcrowding, for now the subway is a gash through the city and risks joining history's great construction fiascos. No-one has died in the project so far, unlike the 195 killed during construction of the Hoosac tunnel in Massachussetts before it finally opened in 1876 - at a cost seven times original estimates, according to the North Adams Public Library. The Dutch project's cost is still less than the estimated 10 billion pounds poured in the 1990s into the Channel Tunnel between Britain and the European continent - that was double the original estimate.
Costs incurred so far on the tunnel already total 1.1 billion euros or 1,419 euros per resident: an additional 600 million would have to be paid in fees if contracts were canceled and the tunnel abandoned, the June commission headed by former Agricultural Minister Cees Veerman concluded. The tunnel is the ninth to be drilled in the Netherlands and will connect travellers faster to the business and legal district where banks such as Royal Bank of Scotland, ABN AMRO and ING are based. Even though the new underground railway won't open for another eight years, engineers point out it is just one of a handful of similarly problematic projects in Europe. Archeological findings during construction have caused delays in Rome's new subway of 31 underground stations. In Cologne, two people died in March after the city archive collapsed as a result of construction on the metro.
Through saplings descended from the majestic horse chestnut tree that gave her so much pleasure in her bleak hideout, Anne Frank will soon have her story joined with that of the Little Rock Nine — the black students who integrated an Arkansas high school under the guard of 1,200 soldiers in 1957. The school, Little Rock Central High School, is one of 11 sites dedicated to fighting intolerance that have been chosen by the Anne Frank Center USA in Lower Manhattan as the destination for saplings that originated from the tree in Amsterdam, now 150 years old. Anne often marveled as it changed through the seasons, blooming flamboyantly, then slowly losing its leaves, outside the small office building at 263 Prinsengracht where she and her family were hidden during the Nazi occupation. It was one of the few things she could glimpse for those two years.
With the horse chestnut reaching the end of its life, the Anne Frank Center announced in April that it would take applications from institutions that wanted a derivative sapling. Thirty-four applied, though three — the White House, the World Trade Center site in New York and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis — were chosen ahead of time. The saplings are currently in a nursery outside Amsterdam and will be shipped to the United States before year’s end, said Yvonne Simons, executive director of the Anne Frank Center. They will be quarantined for two years to make sure they do not carry certain plant diseases. Ms. Simons said the 11 sites were chosen largely because they showed “the consequences of intolerance — and that includes racism, discrimination and hatred.”
Though it enjoys a well-deserved reputation as a vibrant and cosmopolitan city, Amsterdam is not usually considered a gourmet paradise. But the last ten years have seen huge changes in the Dutch capital. Fusion cuisine, molecular gastronomy and, more recently, the organic movement have all found their time and place in its evolving food scene. Unlike nearby Belgium and France, the Netherlands' ambivalent attitude toward food -- often alleged to be overly tolerant of bland dishes and poor service -- has left it open to immigrant cuisines: Indonesian, Thai, Moroccan and Japanese being just a few. What's more, the Dutch are travelers. Top Dutch chefs have almost all trained or gained experience elsewhere, and they all draw inspiration from time spent abroad.
Amsterdam's high-end restaurants have always attracted a business clientele, but now they're also hoping to win over the foodies -- well-traveled types who are curious about food and demand value for money.
While many of Amsterdam's well known, larger Indonesian restaurants serve the ubiquitous "rijsttafel" -- a prosaic range of small dishes to share -- Blue Pepper breaks the mold. The small, experimental restaurant just west of the center of town serves its guests Pacific Rim-oriented tasting menus. Javanese-style monkfish with a kencur carrot and candlenut puree is fragranced and full of smoky, charred flavor: innovative but tasting recognizably of itself. For many Amsterdam chefs, the latest culinary trend is emphasizing the pure flavor of individual ingredients.
Read the entire article here (includes information for several restaurants in Amsterdam)
If cats don’t like water, you wouldn’t know it from a group of felines who make their home living on it. Meet the Dutch cats who live on a barge – more officially know as De Poezenboot or The Cat Boat – a sanctuary for cats right on Amsterdam’s Singel Canals, one of inner-most canals in the city’s semicircular ring of canals. Among animal lovers, De Poezenboot may be as popular, if not more, than Amsterdam’s Anne Frank House, the National Rijksmuseum or even the city’s famous red light district.
According to the organization’s Website, De Poezenboot got its start back in 1966 when Henriette van Weelde, an Amsterdam resident, found a family of stray cats. She took them in and soon she was caring for other stray cats. When her own house became too small for all the cats in her care, she got the idea that a sailing barge could do equally well to accommodate the cats and in 1968 acquired one.
At De Poezenboot, the cats are not confined to cages but move about freely. During the day, shelter workers are on hand to care for the cats and attend to the many visitors. If you have the good fortune to visit Amsterdam, do take time to visit De Poezenboot at Singel 38 G, Amsterdam 1015 AB. Visiting hours are daily between 1 and 3 p.m. except on Wednesday and Sunday.
