Where in the World are the Wendells: Netherlands

We finished our BeNeLux trip in The Netherlands, where we spent stayed in Delft and in Amsterdam, then took day trips to other Dutch cities. The posts on Luxembourg and Belgium are below...

Delft

We spent four nights in Delft and really loved this beautiful market town encircled by canals. The Markt Square is picturesque, and there are several other beautiful squares lined with cafes. Both the Oude Kirk (old church) and Nieuwe (new) Kirk are beautiful, as is the old Town Hall on the main square. In the Nieuwe Kerk, the tomb of William of Orange, the 17th century father of Protestant Netherlands, is really impressive. The old town is surrounded by a ring of canals, which creates beautiful views with the 17th century buildings lining the canals. The Water Authority building dates from the 17th century, and is the oldest municipal service, responsible for managing the water level of the canals. The Oostpoort is a gate in the former wall around the city.

Oude Delft canal

William of Orange tomb
in the Nieuwe Kerk

Nieuwe Kerk

View of Oude Kerk and Market
from Nieuwe Kerk

Delft Markt and Nieuwe Kerk

Delft canal

Oude Kerk window

Oude Kerk nave

Water Authority (17th century)

Nieuwe Kerk

Behind Weigh House

Town Hall

Delft is known for their famous blue porcelain. We toured the Royal Delft factory, which provided an interesting overview of the manufacturing process, which hasn't changed much since it was founded in 1653! Seeing an artist paint a porcelain piece was really impressive, and explains why Delft is so expensive - each piece is an individual piece of art. See Delft artist at work here.

We stayed at the Arsenal Hotel, built in 1692 as a warehouse for the Dutch East India Company, and later as an arsenal for the Dutch military. De Waag Eetcafe, the former medieval weighing station for the customs house, was a great place for drinks and dinner overlooking town hall. De Dis on Besstenmarkt, a beautiful wooded square, served creative dishes. Rossio served Basque cuisine such as Spanish Rice and Tarte Tatin with artichoke fennel and goat cheese. Dinner at 't Pistkantoor was good, the atmosphere was great inside and in the large rear patio.

Dinner with canal view

Arsenal Hotel

Markt and Town Hall
from Nieuwe Kerk

Leiden

When the Puritans left England to escape persecution, they first sought refuge in Amsterdam; after one year, they left for the quieter (and safer) town of Leiden, where they stayed for 10 years before leaving for a new start in the New World. The Puritans worshiped at Pieterskerk (St Peter's Church), and a plaque on the church well memorializes those who died before setting sail for America. Upon arriving at Plymouth, they referred to themselves as Pilgrims.

Leiden thrived in the 16th and 17th centuries after William of Orange broke the year-long Spanish siege of Leiden. The Rhine River flows through Leiden, making it a trading center since Roman times. It was a walled city, surrounded by a moat (Singel); the walls have been removed, but the Singel still defines the perimeter of the old town. Here is a video of a windmill operating. The Galgewater (Gallows Water) Canal is named for the adjoining field where executed criminals were left to hang as a deterrent.

Leiden University, founded in 1575 by William of Orange, became one of the premier universities in Europe. Leiden's most famous resident was Rembrandt van Rijn (Rhine), son of a windmill operator who milled grain; Rembrandt learned to paint in Leiden before moving to Amsterdam in 1623 at the age of 17.

Singel windmill

Rhine Canal

Leiden City Hall

St Peter's Church with 17th century
shops attached like barnacles

Puritans who died prior to
leaving for America in 1620

St Peter's Church

Rapenburg Canal bridge

Rapenburg Canal

St George's Gate

Rembrandt statue at the
site of his childhood home

Galgewater Canal

Operating windmill and canal bridge

Carpenter's Guild House

Singel windmill

Den Haag

The Haag, capitol of The Netherlands, is dominated by government buildings, not particularly historic or appealing (somewhat sterile). But there are some nice areas of historic buildings with shops and cafes. We liked Noordeinge (with the Noordeinge Palace), and Denneweg, a nice shopping and dining street where we had great brunch at Walter Benedict.

Denneweg shop

Peace Palace

Noordeinge Palace

Plaats

Prison Gate

Dutch Parliament building

The Palace of Justice, home to the UN's International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration, is housed in a magnificent building funded by Andrew Carnegie. The Maritshuis museum is quite small but has a nice collection of Dutch Masters, including their most noteworthy piece: Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. It's called the Dutch Mona Lisa, and it has that same mesmerizing effect.

Vermeer View of Delft (1661)

Vermeer Girl with
a Peal Earring (1665)

Rembrandt Anatomy Lesson
of Dr Nicolaes Tulp (1632)

Mauritshuis parlor

Mauritshuis entrance

Mauritshuis Museum

Rotterdam

The port city of Rotterdam, largest port in Europe, was leveled by Nazi bombing in WW II, as Germany invaded the Netherlands in the early days of the war. There are very few buildings that survived the war, so most buildings in Rotterdam date from the 30 years after the war, reflecting the economic challenges and ugly architectural style of that period. The impressive City Hall dates from 1917 and was spared by the Nazis in order to serve as their headquarters. The oldest surviving building is Laurenskerk (St Lawrence Church), unfortunately closed the day we visited. Near the church is a statue of Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536), a humanist philosopher who created the connect of "a citizen of Europe" based on his extensive travels across the continent. Near the harbor, the statue De Verwoeste Stad (The Destroyed City) commemorates the destruction of Rotterdam by the Nazis.

The Destroyed City

Rotterdam old harbor

Deiderius Erasmus

Laurenskerk

Rotterdam mural

Rotterdam City Hall

One notable building development from the 1970s is the Cube Houses, comprised of 39 identical cubes offset 45 degrees. From the outside they appear uninhabitable, but inside they create a surprisingly comfortable 2-bed, 1-bath apartment.

Cube Houses

Cube House kitchen

Cube Houses

The Witte de Withstraat is a nice shopping street, with the oddest public sculpture we've ever seen. It is supposed to be Santa Claus holding a Christmas tree, but the locals refer to it as the "butt plug gnome". You decide...

Witte de Withstraat

Santa Claus and tree?

We enjoyed lunch at Tier March & Co, which has been awarded Best Burger in Netherlands 2024; I ordered a burger with Manchego cheese, Serrano ham, pepper sauce, and Chorizo crumbles (very good!).

Edam

Voorhaven house

Bell tower

Kwakelbrug

Edam is famous for their eponymous cheese, and it is a really cute town. There is a great cheese shop where we bought cheese to bring home. Edam’s cheese festival was fun to watch, with locals marching in uniform through town, accompanied by a brass band (see video here). The oldest house in Edam (built in 1530) is preserved as a museum, furnished as it would have been in the 17th century. The basement floor actually floats on the town's high water table (see video here)! Dam Square is really cute, with the Town Hall and a brick "hump" acting as a bridge over Spui (spow) canal. The Cheese Market hosted a weighing ceremony while we were there. The nearby Grote Kerk is massive and impressive inside.

Oldest House parlor

Oldest House kitchen

Oldest House (1530)

Massive Grote Kerk

Grote Kerk nave

Cheese Market

Brick "hump" over Spui canal

Edam City Hall

Dam Square (hump bridge on left)

Cheese parade

Spuistraat bridge

Cheese warehouses

Returning to Amsterdam from Edam, we walked a couple miles to Volderdam, a seaside town known for its herring and with a cute waterfront promenade full of restaurants. It was very relaxing to have a drink while overlooking the harbor.

Volderdam steet
(below sea level)

Volderdam boardwalk

Volderdam waterfront

We then took a ferry to Marken, a very cute little harbor-front town of wooden houses.

Waterfront shops

Marken harbor

Marken street

Marken church

The daytrip to Edam-Volderdam-Marken truly demonstrated how exceptional public transit is in the Netherlands! We took trains, trams, subways, buses, and even a ferry (but never a taxi or Uber); it was so easy, clean and efficient, it created a stark contrast with the state of transit in America.

Alkmar

Alkmaar is known for their weekly cheese market. A short train ride from Amsterdam, it's a really cute town with a cathedral-like Weigh House (which houses the Cheese Museum). There was a market and festival in front of the Weigh House. The Grote Kerk (Great Church) us really impressive.

View of Weigh House from Old City

Old City

Alkmar Town Hall

Gedempte Niewestraat

Weigh House

Cheese festival

Cheese weighing

Grote Kerk

Haarlem

Haarlem has become a bedroom community for Amsterdam, but it's a beautiful market town in its own right. The Grote Markt is great, and the organ in St Bavo's Church is amazing. The Corrie Ten Boom House is famous for the Ten Boom family who risked their lives to hide Dutch Jews during Nazi occupation. When the Gestapo was tipped off that they were hiding Jews, the Ten Booms were arrested, the parents dying in a concentration camp; the four Jews they were hiding were not discovered, and later escaped; this was the inspiration for the 1971 book (and 1975 movie) The Hiding Place. As in Amsterdam, there are Struikelstenen (stumbling stones) marking the last residence of Jews deported and murdered, with their names, birth dates and place of death.

Grote Kerk

Grote Markt and Grote Kerk

Town Hall

Struikelstenen

Grote Markt

Nieuwe Gracht

Grote Kerk organ

Grote Kerk nave

Grote Kerk organ

Grote Kerk carving

We had lunch at the Jopen Brewery, located in a former church. I enjoyed the Many Faced Got - imperial gotland dricka aged in red wine barrels, 10.5% ABV. The Netherlands is known for indonesain food, because of their former colony known as the Dutch East Indies for 300 years until Indonesian independence in 1945. One of the top Indonesian restaurants is in Haarlem; restaurant de Lachende Javaan (the laughing Javaan) was excellent, and great atmosphere too. We ordered the Rijsttafel (rice table), a tasting menu of 18 different foods, and really enjoyed Doging semur (beef), Babi kecap (pork), and Daging rendang (spicy pork).

Amsterdam

Singel (moat)

Haven front

Singel at night

When we last visited Amsterdam with the kids, we hit the famous sites like Anne Frank House, Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum, all are excellent, but we chose to see new things this time.

Dan Square is the heart of Amsterdam, where all the celebrations and protests take place. Flanking the square is the massive Royal Palace, the Nieuwe Kerk, and the National Monument to those who perished during WW II. From Dam Square, Kalverstraat is the main pedestrian shopping street.

Old Post Office

House from 1580

Royal Palace on Dam Square

The Oude Kerk (Old Church) dates from the 14th century, is the center of the famous Red Light district, which is really the oldest historic part of Amsterdam. The Nieuwe Kerk, "New" is relative since it is over 500 years old (but 100 years younger than the Old Church). Both churches were Catholic until the Protestant Reformation, when they were confiscated from the Church, stripped of their ornamentation, and converted to Dutch Reform.

Damrak

Mint Tower

Oude Kerk

Amsterdam Museum

The Unknown Prostitute

Zuiderkerk

The Begijnhof is a 500-year-old small communal living space for widows, who devote their lives to religion. The Begijnhof is still home to about 30 female residents. There is a Catholic chapel and a Dutch Reform church where the Pilgrims worshipped before leaving for Leiden (and later the New World).

English Reform Church,
where Pilgrims worshipped

English Reform Church,
Pilgrim Window

English Reform Church

Begijnhof

Oldest House in Amsterdam

The Protestant Reformation contributed to the growth of The Netherlands, and Amsterdam specifically, because the global trade capital of Antwerp was engulfed in Catholic-Protestant fighting, so the merchants and traders of Antwerp moved to the relative calm of Amsterdam, developing that city into the new center of global trade in Europe in the 17th century and ushering in the Dutch “golden age”.

When the Protestant Reformation came to the Netherlands in 1578, the Protestants outlawed all open Catholic services, and converted all Catholic churches to Dutch Reform churches. Catholics were forced to celebrate mass in secret, and many rich Catholics built chapels in their home to support their congratulation. This is exemplified in Our Lord in the Attic, the former home of a wealthy Catholic merchant, who built a chapel in his attic for clandestine church services. Visiting this museum begins with touring the 17th century townhouse with its period furniture, but culminates in a 150-person chapel built in the Attic, including an ornate altar and pipe organ. It was really incredible.

Our Lady in the Attic

Our Lady in the Attic parlor

Our Lady in the Attic bedroom

The trauma of occupation during WW II, and the horrific extermination of the Jewish community, is visible through museums and memorials across Amsterdam. Below are four examples:

1) The Dutch Resistance Museum was excellent, both informative and thought-provoking. It is a very well curated history of Nazi occupation during WW II, and is easy to follow through the phases of war, occupation, collaboration with Nazis, resistance, and liberation by the Allies. It's a relatively small museum, but we spent over three hours!

2) The Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names is another sobering and thought-provoking recognition of history. It is comprised of 102,000 bricks, each listing the name, birth date, and location of death for each of the Dutch Jewish victims of the Holocaust. We found Anne Frank's brick, and were chocked to see there were dozens of Franks listed, an entire extended family wiped out.

Memorial of Names

Anne Frank brick

3) In the Jewish Quarter we visited the Hollandsche Schouwburg (Dutch Theater). This building was used by the Nazis as a processing center to deport Jews to concentration and extermination camps in Germany and Poland. Children were separated from their parents and processed at the school across the street. There are dozens of personal stories that you can listen to, describing the inhumanity of this era.

Preschool

Dutch Theater memorial

Dutch Theater

4) Throughout the city, and especially in the Jewish Quarter, you will occasionally find Struikelstenen (Stumble stones) imbedded in the sidewalk. These brass markers are placed in the former residences of Jews who were murdered by the Nazis (most in extermination camps). Entire families are listed, the women and children sharing the same location of death, but the men dying later in a different location; this is because Nazis selected the men to work in weapons plants, women and children were not seen as valuable for slave labor so were immediately exterminated. Pure evil at an industrial scale.

Struikelstenen in de Pijp

Struikelstenen house
in Jewish Quarter

Struikelstenen in Jewish Quarter

We liked wandering the streets of the Jordaan (your-dan) neighborhood, and visiting the Nordermarkt farmers market and Lindenplatz market, where we tried the tasty stroopwafels. The West Canal district, just east of the Jordaan, is even more picturesque but less crowded than Jordaan. IN the West Canal, we had dinner at Proeflokaal A Van Wees, a former brewery, that has great atmosphere and specializes in 4 shot flights of Dutch liquor jenever (hay-NAY-vet); the mussels and Dutch stew were great.

Proeflokaal A Van Wees patio

Proeflokaal A Van Wees

We really enjoyed a food tour by Hungry Birds, a female owned and operating tour company. Our host Anne took us to several places in the lovely de Pijp (pipe) neighborhood, especially through the daily market on Albert Cuypstraat. Anne introduced us to herring at Volendammer Vishandel, the Dutch delicacy, for the first time. It’s a small, deboned fish that you eat whole, just dipping it in raw onions with a pickle chaser. We also tried the eel (I liked it), and kibbeling, deep fried chunks of cod (very good). At Toko (eatery) Romee, we had the Indonesian version of empanadas (very tasty). Febo is a local chain of automatic fast food: basically vending machines with hot croquettes of various meats and flavors. Anne treated us to Van Stapele chocolate cookies (rally good), and Waldo mini cakes (also good). We also had Surinamese broodje (word for Dutch sandwiches) at Tjin’s Toko. Finally, we wrapped up at Café Slijtery Oosterling, a 150 year old bar that make their own Jenever. I bought a bottle from the great grandson of the founder! We later had a Surinamese dinner at Warung Spang Makandra in de Pijp.