Spring Bike Ride Through the Dutch Countryside

Riding a bike in Amsterdam is one of the most amazing experiences. It is a must-do as a someone living here, but as a tourist as well it is something you really should put on your list. That being said, there are many more places to rent a bike and ride other than Centrum. Centrum can be infuriating to ride in because of all the cars, trams, and just people! It can be hard to actually see anything. So, today I am going to show you a bit of the country side that is just minutes from the city and is right behind our house! 

Last year I gave y'all a tour of my neighborhood, well, Amstel Park that I talk about in that tour...this is what lays just behind it. 

In yesterday's What I Ate Wednesday post, I promised you a look at our sight seeing tour, so here goes...

There are several ways to do this tour, the easiest though is to head up the path that runs parallel to the Ring-weg Zuid beside Amstel Park, you go over an over pass and can enjoy the views of the Amstel River from way up top. 

You then go down a large hill and make a left at the bottom passing a training facility for the police, the K9 Unit, and the Equestrian Unit. You then make your next right and will travel on some farmland, when you get to the end you make a left and will travel for a couple of miles...this is what you'll see...

Gazing out along the Amstel. There are so many people rowing and boating a long here.

There is a windmill on the path, I am not sure what this one is called, but it is beautiful.

Hello!

Next to the windmill is a graveyard.

Some more biking.

After much biking we came to the Melktap.

This place is pretty cool. Located on a dairy farm you can see the cows grazing, and often the farmer and his wife out working.

Pouring milk, pretending to be a milk maid.

I love how you can make hot chocolate.

A little play space for the kids.

You can sit outside and enjoy some milk.

Where the cows live!

Cycling back along the route that run parallel to the highway. Country on one side, highway on the other.

After cycling through the countryside, we decided to have lunch in Amstel Park. This is a view of the lake from the Asian Garden area.

This is a view from the Amsteldijk. This is heading back in to centrum.

A close up because as many times as I have passed by here I've never noticed this bridge. 

This is a beautiful area to explore, it really gives you and all around feel for what Europe is really like I think. I've been to several cities and they all have one thing in common-bustling city lying right next to gorgeous countryside. Definitely not something to miss!

Here is an overview of the map

Verzetsmuseum-The Dutch Resistance Museum

I have a friend here. Just about every week we get together and we go see a museum in Amsterdam or we take a walk around the city and see what sort of architecture we can find or just enjoy being in Europe-getting coffee, strolling the canals, etc. Having a buddy that enjoys these outings and being in Europe as much as I do has really made this experience ten times more memorable.

A few weeks back, since we were both political science majors who are learning all sorts of new things about WWII we decided to go to the Verzetsmusuem, The Dutch Resistance Museum. If you are ever spending any length of time in Amsterdam you should put it on your "must see" list, I'd say anything over 3 days, this should go on your list. There is even a section dedicated to explaining WWII to children. It is extremely well done, and for me, connected the dots of all the facts I had learned here and there making WWII a complete picture finally.

When you check in you can use a museumkaart or you can buy a ticket, audio tours are free, but we didn't use ours as we read much faster than the person spoke on the audio tour and all that was said was printed on the walls to read. We also found the audio tour to be quite overwhelming.

After you check in you go upstairs to watch an introductory movie, after the movie you can begin looking around the museum. The first exhibit you enter was my favorite, it gives you a full over view of WWII which really explains just how this was a true World War. It goes into decent detail of each country's involvement and what it was like for people living there at the time. How good, honest people had to do not-so-honest things just to survive. It also makes the connection of how Japan was involved, how Indonesia came to have it's independence , and what happened to the Dutch government after Germany invaded.

The next part of the exhibit goes on to explain everyone's different religious views and how they used this to get through German invasion. It also describes what community was like during this time and what pressure people in the government were feeling. Everyday they were faced with horrible decisions, but did their best to keep their position even if they had to make horrible decisions just so they wouldn't be replaced with Nazi sympathizers.

I have always been horrified by the events of WWII and after living here I am even more horrified by everything that happened as it was so much worse than I was taught. I am glad to have the knowledge I do and want to share that with as many people as possible.

Here are a few photos I managed to take while we were in the museum, I didn't take too many as it seemed a bit weird to be taking photos about such horrible events.

These are different ration booklets and information on rationing.

Propaganda posters 

The V=Victory

"The Germans, with an overwhelming amount of propoganda material, try to influence the Dutch population. Cinema newsreels, pamphlets, brochures and colour posters are intended to drum into everyone's head teh unstoppable victory of National Socialism. Dormant aversion to the Jews is stirred up and the fear of communism is fed."

"Allied aeroplanes drop pamphlets that challenge German propaganda. The letter V becomes a symbol for Victory. In the summer of 1941, the Germans adopt the V in their own campaign: 'V=Victory, because Germany is victorious on all fronts.' In a counter move, the Dutch vandalize the posters. The V becomes W, for Wilhelmina, or V for Verliest (loses) or Verzuipt (drowns)."

{for those that don't know the W in Dutch has a "vway" sound to it if that makes sense. You place your top teeth on your bottom lip and the sound that comes out as far as I understand it like a "vwuh" sound if you were to make it phonetic}

For the Dutch since they had declared neutrality to be invaded and involved was a big deal, I think the biggest issue with this was they didn't know when it was going to end. No one did, so as a country that wanted to be neutral in this whole ordeal how do you go about keeping peace in your country with your government in hiding? The Dutch, much in Dutch fashion, seemed to mostly keep their heads down but doing little things here and there to not necessarily make life a living hell for themselves but figured out small things to do to say, this is wrong. This shouldn't be happening.

This is "Protected by Line 9", this is nearish my husbands work. Apparently there was a nursery, from what I remember this is where Jewish children were dropped as the awaited deportation as it had been turned into an annex of the Hollandsche Schouwburg, which is where adult Jews (16+) awaited deportation. Now, am married couple, Semmy and Joop Woortman, would visit this nursery which was protected by Line 9 and they would go in, grab a child, the owner would wait by the door and let them know when they tram 9 was coming, they would run beside the tram and jump on, and take the children they carried out to safety. They had to do this as the nursery being an annex was across from the Hollandsche Schouwburg which was guarded by Nazi troops. Once tjhe Woortman's were on the tram most passengers would begin laughing as they knew exactly what they were up to, but in typical Dutch fashion didn't say anything.

It was little ways like this the Dutch stood up to the German's and tried to help even if it meant later on they actually wound up in hiding themselves.

This part really tugged at my heartstrings, these were letters that were written by deportees, when they were on the train just as it was leaving the station they would throw them out the window in hopes their loved ones left behind would get them. 

A photo of printing presses used at the time.

The final part of the museum tells a bit about the aftermath of WWII. I loved all the flags on display of the countries involved. 

This little bit really shows Dutch {Amsterdam specifically} culture, a soldier on a bike with two ladies, celebrating the end of occupation. The information on the sideboard tells of all the coupling and babies that were born after this time, almost like a repopulation of sorts!

I saved this one for last, a statue of Hitler's head that was knocked down at the end of the war. I can only imagine how the people that were there felt during this time and I am sure my imagination doesn't do their feelings justice. All we can do is make sure we are educated and make sure we don't allow such abominable horrors to happen again.

Currently, Vol. 2

Well, this weekend sure was a busy one! The hubby left on a business trip and the kiddo had a showcase for cheerleading plus my Scottish friend had a get together for Burn's Night. So much fun to be had, it passed all too quickly! But, here's a run down, plus my currently.

Saturday I took the kiddo down town and we found a floating bike rack...because, ya know, it is Amsterdam and when you have underutilized floating space you turn it in to stuff...

After some shopping we grabbed some pasta and I'm such a little old lady with my Ginger Ale, but I have to stop drinking carbonated beverages they really hurt my stomach.

Then I headed to my friend's house for burns night...it was so fun and the Haggis was delicious! ...seriously, I actually really enjoyed it.

Sunday after the kiddo's cheer competition we had to go buy a printer so stopped at this Asian restaurant. The Ajax had either just played or were getting ready to play and the place was PACKED! So packed you could hardly even get in the restaurant, but that was the bar part the part to eat at was nearly empty! ha!

Check out the rest of the party over at Choose Happy

Thinking about...the hubby. He is out of town on a business trip then he is going to visit our parents over the weekend before he comes home. He get to be there for Super Bowl, so fun! 

Wishing for....some bbq sauce, a box of kraft dinner, and a fit bit and possibly a copy of the Thug Kitchen Cookbook  *hint, hint, wink, wink*, but he really didn't have much room left in his bags, so his safe return will do just fine!

Thankful for....all the one-on-one time I'm getting with this girl. Over the last few days we made some t-shirts together. She sat with me while I embroidered this Nirvana Quote for her and we worked together to churn out 5 other shirts for her. This is quality time and I feel like I am teaching her something valuable about homesteading like embroidering/sewing, ironing, and creativity by creating your own clothes.

The shirts we've made are all her idea...I just helped execute! To see more of the shirts we created come on over to Instagram.

Craving....coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. And sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. I am trying to cut down to just my morning coffee and I am trying to cut down on the amount of sugar I use in it. I am a coffee and sugar addict and my lower abs are not happy with that. As reference check my photo from burns night...my upper and middle abs are there, my obliques are looking awesome but that fabulous genetically inherited pot belly needs to go. So, sugar is the first thing to go. Next week...upping the veggies hardcore, but one step at a time.

This was the humorous picture I sent to the husband when I told him I needed coffee and he said get some! So I did! 

Watching...Mad Men. I was talking about it with a friend who visited a couple weeks ago and he said it was a great series. I thought since I went to high school with a guy who is in it I should give it a watch...Netflix has all the seasons. I am totally addicted and can not get enough! I'd be interested to know how much the series actually reflects life in the '60s because some of that stuff is shocking! 

Laughing about....this horse and carriage I saw riding down the bike path today! My pictures suck because it was moving at a pretty decent rate and iPhone + quick moving horses + balancing on my bike = we are lucky I even got pictures and lived to tell about it! ha! I will say though either I am the only one who noticed the horse and carriage on the bike path or I'm the only one who found it amusing because everyone else was passing this sucker and paying it no nevermind....Oh Amsterdam. How I love you and your people.

Amsterdam Light Festival 2014-2015

While the family was on winter break we did one super fun activity which was visit The Amsterdam Light Festival. The light festival has been going on since mid-December and will end around the 18th of January. 

These light installations were done by various artists using various materials and each has their own story behind it, we found it quite fascinating.

178 Bottles, 1 Message

Saskia Hoogendoorn and Lieuwe Martijn Wijnands

This one had a great message, with all the turmoil in the world today I think the message behind this fixture is a good one.

Amsterdam has present 178 different nationalities according to our tour guide. This figure uses 178 different bottles, it apparently was inspired by former city councillor, Floor Wibaut, who said, "There's only one land: earth. There is only one nation: humankind. There's only one faith: love."

This installation changed colors and apparently if you had an app you could use it to make your home country's flag appear on the heart.

Light Bridge

Tjep

This is one I saw for weeks before it was turned on and even before I actually knew about the light festival! 

This one is a nod to Amsterdam's bridges. There is the big river, Amstel, which you are looking at in the below photo, plus various canals around the city, so Amsterdam has a lot of bridges, the Light Bridge gives us a beautiful variation of a bridge to look at. This supposedly would react to movement from the water and street but everyone I talked to that saw it never felt it had any reactions other than it's normal color change.

Love the reflection on the water.

The Gatekeepers
Irma de Vries

This was one statue of The Gate Keepers. It was located in front of the Hermitage Amsterdam, which currently has a showcase of paintings of Gatekeepers from the 17th and 18th Centuries.

Streetlights

Art Students

Private Sponsorship

This one was added late and I didn't think to take a picture of the artists. But, it is sort of a history of the city represented by streetlights, which of course, needed to be the famous "red lights". There are old fashioned lights to the lights we see today. This wasn't originally part of the tour, but the art students wanted so badly to have the installation on the tour the worked to get private sponsorship, it is the only sponsored installation.

Re(bi)cycle Dome
Vasili Popov

This was constructed using 300 bicycle rims from unused bicycles. In order to make it light up you had to pump an old water pump!

I feel like this is actually a great representation of Amsterdam, with the city having about double the number of bikes as it has residents, biking is where it is at in Amsterdam!

Sneaky Serpents

Tropism; Robin Noorda, Menno Schrap, Paul Godschalk, Margot van de Stolpe

This was a really unique installation. The red serpents reacted to noise so if you yelled they would shoot off and be gone!

Constell.ation
LIKEarchitects

These were made out of plastic tubes, they honestly reminded me of the stuff you would connect to your dryer for venting it. It was a really neat piece.

Waste Lights

Waste World

Urban Waste Collective

This would have been a great exhibit-if it worked. The globe is made of cans, and has thousands of LED lights in it. Then, to power the lights they used old batteries that were recycled to power the globe.

Batteries that, no matter how many they were just didn't seem to power the globe :(

Flawlss

Gonzalo Bascuñan and Perrine Vichet

These changed colors and the changing colors represented the four seasons. It was beautiful!

Landschapslumen
Beeldjutters

This hologram on this tree was really unique. I wish I had thought to get a video, but it turned into a dancing lady-tree, then ended like this before starting over. According to our tour guide apparently the woman who owned this building and tree back in WWII was quite famous and she managed to save this tree having it be the only tree on the block that was not cut down to provide warmth for the homes on the block.

This one is a little creepy, but was probably my favorite display. This had been a hospital for the Jewish people and "helping" them with family planning during WWII. Basically, it had served as an abortion clinic where many Jewish women or women in mixed marriages (non-Jewish and Jewish) were many times forced to have abortions. 

These hands represent the poor children who never made it out of there.

Sad, but a time in the world's history that must be remember so such a horrible incident is NOT repeated.

As you can tell the hands are "moving" and more appear and disappear as the tape running moves on in it's loop.

I was absolutely fascinated by this display and had to be dragged away from it. I really want to learn more about this hospital.

On the Wings of Freedom
Aether and Hemera

This was another interactive display. Apparently if you had a smartphone you could change the color and pattern of the lights. This was really supposed to represent the change associated with city life and the inspiration that can come from your everyday activities in a fast-paced environment.

Object O
Paul van Laak and Arnout Meijer Studio

This is supposed to represent the sun and moon, warmth and cold.

I love how the birds in the background start off as blue....

Then turn to pink....

...and I think this is my most favorite picture I took the entire walk. She was getting so artsy with her photos.

Camp-Fire

Wilhelmusvlug

Campfires are long seen as a historical place to gather 'round and tell stories and connect with others, this artist is calling for that again, calling it Campfire 2.0, meet up at this place, put down the phone and talk to others. The book goes on to say you could see the city as one large campfire if you just look around and talk to and connect with others.

I will say as time has gone on for me in the Netherlands, I do agree with that...more and more people just strike up conversations with me on a daily basis and even though I do not know much Dutch it does give me a chance to practice and once I get to the point I cannot speak Dutch anymore I say so and usually they know English so we can continue. I think disconnecting every now and then and connecting with the world around you is extremely important!

...then after she got artsy she got a little bit idiotic. haha! Photo bombing us, printing now so we have the silliness immortalized!

The next few will make ya feel a bit funny...

Alley of Light

Serge Schoemaker Architects and DigiLuce

This was comprised of about 2,000 LED lights!

There was a small walkway for you to put yourself in the center of such a display:

All LED's...I LOVED this display!

NOW

De Theatermachine-Floriaan Ganzevoort

This was an interactive exhibit allowing you to change where the word "NOW" was projected-a school, a church, and city hall). If you continued to press these buttons the word now grew bigger and bigger and would eventually explode.

The idea behind this was to represent visitors choosing what they want and get them thinking about what they stand for...which, after world events these last few weeks is a fitting meaning. 

So, that ends the walking tour we paid for. However, there were several more displays all over the city. This one was my favorite, it is right outside of Centraal Station, The House of Cards.

House of Cards

OGE Creative Group

Made up of 125 light boxes representing playing cards. According to our guide book the House of Cards has several levels. On one side it looks like a modern church, and the other a classical structure of building blocks.

I found the house of cards to be pretty amazing. I think overall this was my favorite piece of artwork. Of course I just love card houses, I was always trying to build them as a kid...never was successful...I even used to get my Dad, the architect in on the action...surprisingly his knowledge only went so far in building a house of cards. Apparently it is nothing like building in real life. haha

Well, that concludes my love of the Amsterdam Light Festival 2014-2015...can't wait for next year! 

Does your city have a light festival? What is it like?