THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT

One must go and so go we did. 

Amsterdam's oldest neighborhood has hosted the world's oldest profession ever since the city's inception in the 13th century.

It is said that the term "Red Light" dates to the late 19th century and originated with the early railroaders.  The men carried red laterns when they left the train so they could be found in case of emergency.  These lanterns were left outside bordellos when the men paid them a visit and were sometimes brought inside and placed in a window.  Later the red lights came to signify a bordello.

In 2000 prostitution was legalized and regulated in Amsterdam but not strictly legal.  Ironically legalized  prostitution  also brought a greater influence of organized crime.  Since 2000 the city has waged an effort to remove organized crime from the sex business.

Today Amsterdam's approximately 8,000 prostitutes are taxed on their earnings and provided health insurance.  However human trafficking is still a serious problem that the city must address.  

There are uniformed and undercover police, and surveillance camera throughout the RLD.

You've got to love this!

You can see the right light.This is usually above a floor length window and young and I guess old girls display their wares - usually in bikini's.

 Just a little street humor but probably a wise store to have in the district.

Who knew they came in such a variety of colors and designs.  Oh! you did.

And of course - sex shops that sold an assortment of "things".

I think this is in French - the language of love.

There is also a Sex Museum which is located on four floors of one the buildings in the District.  I'm not sure if our museum card will work for that one.  I do't think it worked for the 

Erotica Museum either.  

Of  course lots of "coffee shops" and shops that sell canibus and asorted pipes, etc.  Have you ever seen such a large store for these product?  One could spend hours there just looking at the assortment.  

This is what one would call an eye catching window display!

So much for our night out in the Red LIght Distrit.  It is a lively area - lots of tourists just looking to see what it is.  Been there, done that.

MORE IN AMSTERDAM (continued)

No visit to Amsterdam would be complete without visiting the Rijksmuseum.  The museum is one of the grandest museums in the Netherlands and a 10 year extensive renovation was completed in April of 2013.  The Rijksmuseum 's internationally revered collection features some of the nation's most famous work, including art by Vermeer, Fans Hals, and most notably Rembrandt's "The Night Watch". 

The museum has an extensive collecion of Delftware, sculptures, archeological artifacts, clothing, Asian art, prints, items of Dutch maritime history and many other culturally significant objects all combining to retell 800 years of Dutch history within a global context. Besides the building the museum gardens were redone and make it an ideal place to sit and relax and enjoy the magnificent surroundings. 

 ( Those were featured in an earlier blog when we were just exploring the area around the museum).

I'm only going to pick out a few pieces of art that I saw in the museum.  Pictures don't do them justice.

This is one of Frans Hals - A Militiaman Holding a Berkemeyer known as the "Merry Drinker".  Of course that would be one of my favorites - ha!

This is Rembrandt's son in a Monk's Habit.  He portrayed him with downcast eyes and wearing a Francisican habit.  The rules of this monastic order prescribed a ife of poverty and humility.

The Staalmeesters again by Rembrandt.

Issac and Rebecca, known as The Jewish Bride.  It was common for people to have themselves portrayed as historical personages.  

The famous Night Watch.  This is an enormmous painting and is lit from above.  As you walk into the large room this picture is on the back wall - most impressive.  This is a smaller version of the picture.  I couldn't capture the entire painting with the camera unless I got so far away so I elected to take a picture of this smaller version.  

Militia Company of District VIII under the command of Captain Roelof Bicker by Bartholomeus van der Helst.  This is another giant painting.  It almost covered an entire wall in the large hall of the Kloveniersdoelen.

I took pictures of some of the individual faces because they could almost be pictures.

These just show some of the interior of the building.

                                              

The Dutch Republic owed its prosperity to the sea - to its merchant fleet and fishing.  Conflicts with rival powers were also fought at sea.  After a ruinous war with England (1652-1654) the Republic built up a professional navy which repeatedly went into action with great success.  Under the command of admirals such as Cornelis Tromp and Michiel de Ruyter, great naval battles were waged agains the English, French and Swedish fleets.  Their victories made them national heroes and provided marine painters with a rich source of inspiration.

 Model of the William Rex.  This model shows the appearance of a Dutch warship in the late 17th century,  The ship has 74 guns.  The actual ship woud have been more than 12 times the size of this model.

in the 1800 - 1900 sweeping changes characterized this century.  The century began with the Battle of Waterloo, marking the end of Napoleon's rule.  The Netherlands became a kingdom under the House of Orange.  

In the arts , we see first examples of Romanticism. Painters sought drama and sentiment.  The world was changing rapidly with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.  In the second half of the century painting was reinvented by the impressionists.

The Battle of Waterloo by Jan Willem Pieneman  (Another giant painting - I couldn't get the entire painting in the picture.)  "In 1815  Napoleon was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.  This painting - the largest in the Rijksmuseum - depicts the turning point in the battle when the Duke of Wellington, the British commander hears that Prussian help is on its way.  Victory and the end of twenty years of war are in sight.  The Dutch Crown Prince, later King William II lies wounded on a stretcher (lower left on this picture) . His bravery earned him the nickname the Hero of Waterloo.

                              

I was going to include our next outing with this blog but decided I should do a separate blog because of the content.  You could be using this blog as an educational tool for your children or grandchildren.    I mean, someone out there could be, maybe.  Well, probably not, but just to be on the safe side.   This was our Friday night outing to the Red Light District.

MORE IN AMSTERDAM

I'm up and running.  Took a bit but finally got the blog to save.  Don't really know what I did but I just pushed a lot of buttons and  one of them must have done the trick.  

On occasion we just go out to see sites here in Amsterdam but we don't blog about it.  This is going to be just a "catch up" blog so I can eliminate pictures that are currently on my phone and I need to remove  so I have room for more.  

On one of our excursions we headed to the Royal Palace here in Amsterdam .  The Royal Palace is situated in the very center of Amsterdam on Dam Square.  It was originally built as the city hall for the magistrates of Amsterdam.  In the 17th century it was the largest secular building of Europe.  Today the Royal Palace is one of three Palaces which the State has placed at the King's disposal.  It is used for Royal Events like receptions of the foreign heads of state during visits to the Netherlands.

Pigeons galore in Dam Square and they are so used to people they sit on their shoulders, arms, heads.  I don't think that's for me.  Accidents do happen!  I did ask Sharon to do it.  I thought pigeons sitting on her arms would be a great picture for my blog.  She refused.  

The entire building was constructed of white stone though the weathering of the centuries has left none of it visible.  The Royal palace is known for its rich and imposing decorations.   Renowned sculptors were brought to Amsterdam and famous painters such as Rembrandt contributed to the interior.  The central theme, featuring in much of the decoration, was theh power of Amsterdam in particular and the Dutch Republic in general.  

On top of the palace is a large domed cupola, topped by a weater vane in the form of a cog ship.  This ship is a symbol of Amsterdam.  Just underneath the dome there are a few windows.  From here one could see the ships arrive and leave the harbor.

It is one enormous building and its unfortunate that the elements of nature has so discolored it.  It has not diminished the inside though.  It is truly a beautiful and impressive building inside.  It is built on 13,659 wooden piles.  The inside of the palace was renovated in 2005 - 2009.  Cleaning the outside has been considered and continues to be under discussion but the estimated cost is 100 million Euro's.  In addition there is a possiblity that cleaning the stone could damage it. 

"The Citizen's Hall, with its decoration, in grand marble and bronze that images a miniature universe, is meant to make you feel about as significant as the nibbling rats seen carved in stone over the door above the bankruptcy Chamber. "

This hall is 120 feet long, 60 feet wide and 90 feet high.  On the marble floor there are two maps of the world with a celestial hemispere.  The Western and Eastern hemispheres detail the area of Amsterdam's colonial influence.  

There is a great of symbolism in the room which I'm not even going to begin to go into.  

Remeber, I like doors!

When King Louis Napoleon decided to make the Town Hall his Palace in 1808, the municpal institutions were moved elsewhere.  However, it seemed sensible at the time not to relocate the Exhange Bank.  It was the only instituion that was allowed to continue operating after the building became Louis Napoleon's residence.  A private entrance was made for the bank to provide access from the street.  The Royal Palace with it's bank was a novelty seen nowhere else in the world.  

(The rooms use the names of those of the City Hall but are decorated as they were converted into a residence for Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. )

THE TREASURY EXTRAORDINARY

                                        

                               

Ceilings are nice also!

One of the galley's off the Citizen's Hall that lead to other rooms in the palace.  

 

THE TREASURY ORDINARY

A ceiling, not a door!

THE BURGOMASTERS' CABINET

                                    

THE  BURGOMASTERS' CHAMBER

THE PROCLAMATION GALLERY

Now known as the balcony chamber of the Palace leads to the balcony which was where Queen Beatrix in 1980 was announced to the people by her mother Juliana.  

THE EXECUTION CHAMBER

                          

THE ORPHANS' CHAMBER

THE INSURANCE CHAMBER

                                          

THE CHAMBER OF THE MAGISTRATES-EXTRAORDINARY

The palace is truly beautiful and it is filled with art and of course history.  This Blog just barely scrapes the surface.

Now one must have some social life and so we went to a local comedy club which had been recommended to us by some one we had met at the American Women's Club lunch.

Boom Chicago is Amsterdam's biggest comedy show.

The theme for the show the evening we went was ....

The entire cast.  Lots of improv and they were good.  Funny too!

It was a beautiful night and when the weather's good the restaurants and bars are filled with people.

                                     

                              

The Cheese museum is lit up at night.  We did go there one day.  Its free and they let you taste a lot of different cheeses.  In the basement they have Dutch costumes and you can dress in the costumes and you can take pictures.  I tried to get Sharon to dress up but she wouldn't.  I had the camera so I couldn't dress up or you know I would have.  

No visit to Amsterdam would be compete without a visit to the Rijksmuseum. I've decided to put that on a seperate blog.  This is getting too long.