Knowing that I’m going to stay in Amsterdam until June and that I got a 7 in International Economics, I left Amsterdam for the weekend (10-11 Nov). Two Slovenians and me had planned to do a weekend trip, and two Italians joined it; our targets: to visit the north of the Netherlands and Hamburg (Germany), our wishes: to have a great time.

We left Amsterdam on Saturday morning by car (we had rented one for two days). The first stop was the Afsluitdijk, the 30km. dike that “closes” the IJsselmeer allowing the Dutch to keep dry their “low lands”. It was a quick stop since it was very windy!!!

After driving along the Afsluitdijk, so once we’re in Fryslân/Freisland, we visited a pair of places. First, we took a look at Harlingen, a fishermen’s village; I don’t think it has anything remarkable (especially if you aren’t taking a ferry to the nearby West Frisian Islands) although we bought some cheese pieces that turned out to be very good!.

In Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, our second stop, we rambled for a while and we had a “cheese lunch“: we had several sandwiches each one of them made of a different type of cheese (garlick cheese, spicy cheese, …) we had bought before. Personally, neither there my expectations were fulfilled, may be because I was expecting the north to be very different from what I had already seen (…I don’t know why I expected such a thing). Anyway, the trip was being nice because people was being nice.

The next town we visited was Groningen. There the day-light hours ended up while we had a drink at the most popular bar of the town (I had a hot chocolate that put me in the mood to drive 300km up to Hamburg). However, when trying to get out of Groningen we got lost, so it took us a while to take the proper way to Germany (in fact, it was so because there’s no sign pointing out Duitsland !!). We also had problems with the directions in Germany because there were road repairs.

But eventually, we got to Hamburg and, after asking for it several times and driving around the city for a while, to the hostel in St Pauli neighbourhood. Although we’re tired, we went to have a beer at a near bar; that night I enjoyed the tastiest beer I’ve ever had: a 0.5l. tap Franziskaner.

However, the next day we weren’t able to get up early, so we missed the popular environment that it’s said to be found every Sunday morning in the Fischmarkt. We only had time to enjoy the last songs of the weekly concert that takes place indoors; it was very nice and cosy, enough to be willing to come back to Hamburg and get up very early in order to enjoy the event!!.

After a walk along the surroundings of it, we went to the city center. There we admired the Rathaus of the Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg, an stunning building that gives evidence of the richness that the city had (and still has) thanks to its harbour.

We also climbed up (in an elevator) to the top of St Nikolai-Kirche, in ruins since the Bombing of Hamburg in 1943, in order to enjoy the views, but at the same time we got conscience of the tragedy.

We’re also touched, in another sense though, by the weather: fortunately it wasn’t rainy, but it was f***ing cold!!! ( 5ºC ).

I have to say that Hamburg left me an odd feeling, I mean, it would be difficult to say why it worths a visit…

It isn’t a city with astonishing buildings and monuments (although a quick dip in its history gives you reasons enough to come), but there’s something in its environment that gives it personality, and I guess it’s something related with what we experienced in the Fischmarkt…

And there is not much more to be told… the way back to Amsterdam was smoothly and quick despite the rain and the darkness…

We had had a nice time together… It was a nice road trip.

Road trip: the North of the Netherlands & Hamburg (slightly above 1.000km in 2 days)

Compártelo

El day trip del dissabte 20 a Rotterdam i Delft havia de marcar el començament del cramming period, però clar, no començaràs a estudiar en diumenge… especialment quan t’han organitzat una tarda ” històrico-cultural”: visita al Verzetsmuseum (Museu de la Resistència Neerlandesa) i passejada guiada pel barri.

La veritat és que va servir per assabentar-se del que va succeir per aquestes contrades (i d’altres més llunyanes) durant la IIª Guerra Mundial…

Tot i que el Regne dels Països Baixos es va declarar neutral al començament, el 10 de maig de 1940 l’exèrcit Nazi va envair els Països Baixos i en pocs dies (bombardeig de Rotterdam inclòs) van acabar amb la dèbil resistència. Així que mentre el govern i la reina Wilhelmina s’exiliaven a Londres (Churcill va dir que la reina era l’únic home de debó del govern neerlandès), els neerlandesos entraven a formar part del Tercer Reich (quelcom que només devia celebrar la minoria dels neerlandesos que pertanyien al Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging, fundat el 1931).

Així que els nazis van començar amb les seves “mesures”:

A l’octubre de 1940 van “demanar” a tots els funcionaris que declaressin a quina raça pertanyien… en altres paraules, volien tenir clar quins eren els “germans aris neerlandesos” i qui (i quants) eren jueus.

Al gener de 1941, van fer un mapa d’Amsterdam en el qual indicaven on vivien els jueus , ja que a la capital vivien 80.000 dels 140.000 jueus que vivien als Països Baixos.

Cada punt negre són 10 jueus

Així que els/les neerlandesos/es es van haver d’enfrontar amb el dilema: col·laborar o no amb els alemanys… (quelcom que ha remogut la “consciència nacional” des de 1945).

El 25 de febrer de 1941, despès de les primeres detencions massives de jueus, va tenir lloc l’única vaga general en defensa de la minoria jueva feta per població no-jueva dins del territori del Tercer Reich.

Mentrestant, a la resta del Regne dels Països Baixos, és a dir, a les colònies, es van viure dues situacions diferents:

Surinam, les Antilles Neerlandeses i Aruba van restar com els únics territoris “lliures” del Regne dels Països Baixos.

En canvi, a les Índies Orientals Neerlandeses l’exèrcit colonial va ser derrotat pels japonesos (14/3/1942), posant així fi a 300 anys de colonialisme neerlandès en el qual contra més blanca es tenia la pell de més alta classe social s’era; era el torn de l’Imperi japonès.

Així que mentre que a la metròpoli els nazis començaven a deportar als jueus als camps de concentració per no ser de raça ària… els japonesos “allotjaven” en uns altres camps a tots/es aquells/es que no tenien suficient sang indonesia: els neerlandesos blancs.

Evidentment, el destí dels uns i dels altres va ser molt diferent… dels 140.000 jueus residents als Països Baixos només havien sobreviscut 30.000 el 1945.

Hollandse Schouwburg

Finalment, els Països Baixos van ser oficialment alliberats pels aliats el març de 1945, tot i que el sud ja ho havia estat abans de l’hivern.

En el cas concret de la ciutat d’Amsterdam, els alliberadors van ser majoritàriament soldats canadencs, molts dels quals es veu que van deixar descendència…

Pel que fa a les Índies Orientals Neerlandeses, no va ser fins el desembre de 1949 que la República d’Indonèsia no va veure reconeguda la seva independència.

Compártelo

On Saturday 20th, my roommate, our Brazilian neighbour and me visited Rotterdam and Delft (the first was my roommate’s suggestion and the latter mine, so we went to both because they’re close to each other).

So, we left from Amsterdam (”dam on the Amstel”) and, after an hour-train trip, we’re in Rotterdam ( “dam on the Rotte”), the second-most-crowded city of the Netherlands, the second-largest harbour in the World and the unfortunately bombed city by the Nazis on 14th May 1940.

Since the day was sunny (but too chilly!) the first we did, once we had grabbed a tourist-map, was walk up to Euromast (185m), take the lift up to the 150m height terrace and enjoy the views while taking many photos.

But the best had still to come: the rotatory glass-lift that raises for 30m more from the terrace!!. A nice way to enjoy the views!. I would say that’s the second best thing I found in Rotterdam.

After walking to the center and eating we found what I (modestly) think is the best one there: een Kubuswoning (the Cube Houses).

They’re amazing!! I don’t know how living there is like but the outside is really nice.

Moreover, when we walked around them we discovered that there’s a kind of pedestrian street that goes “under” them. Then, we realized that there many more cubes than simply those seen from the main street. For a moment it seems that you’re in the middle of a huge “cubic-shaped mushrooms’ forest“.

By the way, why are they so less known?? I mean, I don’t think the city has much worth to see that these amazing houses and the views from Euromast…

Anyway, we left Rotterdam in the begginning of the afternoon in order to spend a couple of day-light hours in Delft.

I wanted to go there because I remember that in the History of Art’s class book there was a painting called “Gezicht op Delft“ (View of Delft) painted by Vermeer.

The old town is nice to visit, specially its Grote Markt, almost as beautiful as Haarlem’s one.

Once it was dark we had a (delicious!) hot chocolate in a cosy bar. There ended our day trip, nice enough to forget for a while about what is coming: exams’ period.

Compártelo

Last week, the Italians I spent “la Nuit Blanche’07″ with and me devoted our Thursday to a nice bike trip.

It took us all the morning to get to Haarlem since we left Sarphatistraat later than we expected (around 11am) and we took photos to the landscape (a lake, the cows, the bike lane, …) and to us while we’re biking.

Once we got to Haarlem, we walked around for a while, had lunch and admired the beauty of the Grote Markt.

In the afternoon, we decided to get to the nearby sea coast… If only it hadn’t been so difficult!! But it was worth it…

But, since it took us such a long time to finally reach the beach, in an hour it got dark…

….however, it allowed us to enjoy a beautiful sunset.

Eventually, after biking through the darkness up to Haarlem, we came back to Amsterdam by train.

Compártelo