Sojourn #6: Amsterdam: The Renaissance vs. the 21st. Century; How Things Have Changed!

The last days of July 2016 found me in Amsterdam, Holland, a city I have visited several times and each time I am awed to be in a place where one experiences the fast forward movement of history’s 500 year kaleidoscope, 1600 - 2000.

 

Klaas and Erica Leegwater, my Amsterdam hosts in Hoofdorp, just a few miles from Amsterdam. Klaas is a communications manager for Dutch railways; Erica is an optometrist. They are active members of the Hoofdorp Mennonite Church. They have two adult children, Erica is a portrait artist and Klaas is an avid sailor with a 30’ sailing yacht.

 

In Holland, Mennonite churches are ‘Doopsgezinde’ (those who baptize upon confession of faith).

These two photos are a commentary on the sad state of affairs on Christianity in Europe. After nearly two millennia of conflict and corruption European Christendom is essentially DOA. Solid edifices that were once Christian churches are now serving as stores, recreation halls, and art galleries. These two photos are of a former Hoofsdorp Protestant church, now it is a gathering place for those needing the solace of alcoholic spirits and camaraderie.

On July 27th I crossed the Channel from Holland to Harwich, England aboard the world’s largest ferry. Here two of the ferry’s engineers keep watch over navigation propelled by 36,000 hp in the engine room.

My favorite place in Amsterdam is the Rijksmuseum. The collection contains more than 2,000 paintings from the Dutch Golden Age by notable painters such as Jacob van Ruisdael, Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen, de Hooch, Rembrandt, and Rembrandt's pupils. I took about 175 photos in the museum; I share a few of them here. The advantage of viewing the paintings in the museum is that each one is accompanied with a couple descriptive paragraphs about the work.