We Toured Amsterdam, 9/10/1994 by Motor Bus and Canal Boat

Visit Rijks And Van Gogh
Museums Today

By Bob Van Leer

(AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND, Sept. 10, 1994) - Our tour really started today with a bus tour around Amsterdam and a boat ride on the city's canals. The old buildings are quite narrow and four to six stories high. Our guide, Roderick, told us there is a historical reason for this. Through the ages people have looked for ways to outwit the tax collector and this was one of those ways. At the time the houses were built in the 16th and 17th centuries, houses were taxed by their width, but not their height.

  There are many churches in Amsterdam, some quite impressive. Some are Protestant and some Catholic. Our guide gave us an easy way to differentiate. Catholic churches have a cross on top and Protestant churches have a rooster.

  Roderick seemed to know personally every structure in Amsterdam. We saw him speechless only once. Our bus turned a corner and Roderick gestured behind him without even looking saying, "The building here is . . ." at which time he actually looked behind him to see a pile of rubble. A look of consternation came over his face and he continued in astonishment, ". . . is, is gone!"

  Amsterdam discourages new residents. Subsidized apartments are available for $200-300 per month rental. But only to residents of the city or those who have jobs in the city. And only after a five-six year wait on a priority list. Roderick said 18 year-old residents living at home put their names on the list and by the time they are ready to marry they are at the top of the list. Apartments are available for others, but at prices five times that amount.

  Motor vehicles are also discouraged. Residents can rent parking fairly economically, but those from out of town pay dearly. We asked Roderick about the permissiveness we have heard about in Holland and he said the government is beginning to tighten up. The country is hiring more police and building more prisons. He said some "coffee shops" are being closed. He cautioned us some "coffee shops" are misnamed. They actually sell hashish. Marijuana is legal here, he said, for personal use.

  We stopped for a visit at the Rijks Museum (pronounced "rikes" as in "strikes") which features Rembrandt's paintings including his "Night Watch" but also many others including Halls and Vermeer. In the afternoon, daughter and son-in-law, Sherry and Scott Wills, continued our museum tour with a visit to the Vincent Van Gogh museum. The museum has a large collection of the paintings of this tortured master. After the bus tour we again took to Amsterdam's canals. Our guide pointed out the hundreds of houseboats tied up along the canals, half legally and half illegally. He said legal houseboats sell for about the price of an apartment, $100,000, and pay $200 per year for canal rent. They are hooked to electricity and water but have to use chemical toilets.

  In the evening we had our formal dinner of introduction at our hotel, Hotel de L'Europe. It is a splendid old hostelry very conveniently located. Most of the hotel personnel wear formal dress. David Rodgers, European manager for Abercrombie & Kent, told us the company was founded by two Kent brothers in Kenya taking parties on safari. He told us not to look for Abercrombie as there was none. The name just sounded good and put the company first in alphabetical listings. Sherry and Scott were honored at the dinner for their first wedding anniversary.

  Tomorrow, Sunday, we will be up early for a tour of Holland finishing the day in Germany.
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