Netherlands – wilbil

I Amsterdam

William Armstrong — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 02:19:28 +0000

Outside of the Rijksmuseum is the famous “I Amsterdam” sign. I wanted to take dad’s photo in front of it, but there were a lot of people. I asked dad to go up there, and he stood next to this pretty girl inside the d letter. Okay. Sadly, I didn’t take more photos as we were meeting soon for the next part of the trip, and I had no money and had to call the bank to see why my card wasn’t working.

Kneelers

William Armstrong — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 01:16:38 +0000

Here is something new I had not seen before. Shortly after we got off the plane and into Haarlem, we went to mass. The kneelers at St. Joseph’s were always in the down position. Hanging up in front of the kneelers were these dense mats that acted as a cushion. It was kinda cool.

Here I thought the mass I picked was an English-speaking mass. Uh, no. I got my times turned around. Sadly, I am used to web sites with the local church times posted. We came into mass part way through, and it was entirely in Dutch. Okay, here we go Dad. I felt like a peasant in olden days who could not understand Latin — left to study the artwork and architecture. I noticed the smell first. It was old and wet… quite musty. I was curious if this was a first of many to come.

De Papegaai

William Armstrong — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 00:57:54 +0000

Here are some of the photos from St. Peter and St. Paul’s church that had the bird motif. I learned the locals refer to it as “De Papegaai” (The Parrot). The Catholic Church was originally hidden behind a house that belonged to a bird trader when Catholicism wasn’t legal.