The adventures of Ron’s phone

We’re packing up to head home. Out of nowhere, I got an email from Delta that they located Ron’s phone after 29 days on the run. As far as we can tell, it’s flown around for awhile on a Delta Airbus A330. Who knows? Maybe it’s had an even better time than we have. It’s certainly been to Paris. Whatever crazy vacation the phone took, it didn’t have the travel planning skills that I do because it ended up in Atlanta and we – out of kindness and loyalty – had to shell out $25 for a Fed Ex cargo flight to Seattle. At least I always know how to get us back to the right airport.

Today we ran into a man in the Jewish Museum of Amsterdam. Ron struck up a conversation with him because the guy was decked out in purple Northwestern gear and so Ron HAD to tell him that he himself had gone to Penn State. I do not see the parallel between these two universities at all but the two of them immediately bonded like they were reunited siblings.

The point in telling you about this, though, is not so we can be jointly mystified by their behavior. The real salient detail is that Northwestern Man was touring Amsterdam by himself because he had left the US for a 5-week trip around Europe. He and his wife set out, arrived in Amsterdam, and on the very day they arrived, she fell and broke her hip. She needed surgery and now she’s recuperating in a Dutch hospital and they’re stuck here for now.

The story has certainly renewed my efforts to keep Ron from falling…down a stair, off a sidewalk curb, out of a store, into a fast-pedaling bike. Bicycle-filled Amsterdam definitely presents some transit challenges…24 hours and we’re on that Delta flight and I’m off duty! Look at this Amsterdam bike parking lot – no wonder I’m exhausted (pic not mine):

As part of our tour through the Jewish Museum, we got to enter the Portuguese Synagogue, from 1675. It’s one of the largest synagogues in the world. Until WWII, Amsterdam had a large Jewish population – 10% of the city was Jewish.

It has never been updated inside to current HVAC standards and so there is no heat, no electricity. It’s still an active synagogue and the services take place by the light of 1000 candles (pic not mine):

Here’s the interior by daylight. Those benches are original from 1675 and still used today. I tried one out – as comfy as you might imagine:)

Between our museum visits today, we had time to just stroll through Amsterdam and it’s gorgeous:

We came across Waterlooplein Market, which is a daily flea market. From 1893 to 1941, it was the site of the Jewish market – the Amsterdam city government forced all Jewish merchants to locate here.

Here’s the market in the 1940s:

Today Waterlooplein Market is full of clothing – most of it used. There’s a range of shopping presentation/marketing styles evident:

And then my favorite: the biggest collection of Dr. Martens I’ve ever seen. It was hard not to buy that hot pink pair of boots.

From the market, we went over to the Dutch Resistance Museum. I’ve definitely learned that there’s a wide range of storytelling styles in museums and I connect with them differently because of that. Tell me a huge, overarching historical summary and I inevitably get lost and can’t focus. Long histories of art on oil canvases? I’m looking for the snack bar or a bench. But tell me the specific stories of about 10 brave Dutch people who found ways to protest the Nazi atrocities and I’m riveted.

The Dutch Resistance Museum was a perfect follow-up to all the museums we toured in Germany. Germany left me feeling unsure of the strength of my ability to forgive and left me confused about the entire concept of the German nation accepting culpability. Amsterdam reminds me of the voice and the will of the world that hated the Nazis.

Here’s one cool shot from there. It’s a couple of items used to store fake ration cards – so that the resistance workers could get them delivered to people who needed them. One accordion with a false bottom and a corset with added storage:

And then this checker board with a hidden compartment:

In addition to having an excellent exhibit on resistance members, the museum has an entire second wing called the Junior Dutch Resistance museum. The sign said it was for children 9 – 14 – and I knew right then that it would be history on a level I could grasp.

Don’t skip it if you’re here. It’s one of the best exhibits I’ve ever seen. It takes the lives of 4 Dutch children – Nazi, Jewish and two more – and plays out the course of their lives during the war by using actual life size exhibits you get to enter. It’s like walking onto the set of a play. Here are the four children:

Here’s the entry area – where you get to choose which of the 4 homes you want to walk into. We walked into the home of the Jewish girl – Eva – living in a hiding place – and heard her stories about surviving the war. Here’s a link to a way better assessment of the Junior museum: https://amsterdamwonderland.com/the-verzetsmuseum-amsterdams-dutch-resistance-museum-junior/

We’re off to see our final sites of the trip – walking through the King’s Day crowds to get to the Anne Frank House. King’s Day is the Dutch national holiday celebrating the King’s birthday. We haven’t been out of the hotel yet, but we’re apparently going to find a million rowdy partiers, all decked out in orange. I’ll report back to you one more time.