After witnessing two mesmerizing art performance clocks, I had to see the following: The Grandfather Clock 📍Rijksmuseum On display between rooms 0.5 and 0.6; ground floor corridor connecting the Middle Ages halls and the Asian Pavilion. A giant 2-metre modern grandfather clock in real-time featuring a man ‘trapped’ behind the…
Haarlem Red Light District
The unsuspected Haarlem Red Light District towards the end of this street at Begijnhof. It is a small cluster of operations around Waalse Kerk Haarlem or Walloon Church Haarlem. Yes, a real church! The undistinguished pink building with red lanterns hanging outside is Het Poortje, a brothel in Haarlem’s Red…
Levend Paardenmuseum | The Living Horse Museum
For a century and a half, the elite of ‘Amsterdammers’ have been riding horses at this manège. The Hollandsche Manege is the oldest riding school in the Netherlands, dating back to 1744. It is located right in the center of Amsterdam, a stone’s throw from Leidseplein, adjacent to Vondelpark and…
The Murder of the De Witt Brothers
As I walked aimlessly through the halls of Haags Historisch Museum / The Hague Historical Museum, a loud painting caught my eye. “The Murder of the De Witt Brothers”, by Pieter Frits, 1672. Scene one on the left, De Witt brothers dressed in black and white being dragged out of…
Mozes en Aäronkerk
Every time I go shopping for bric-a-brac at Amsterdam’s oldest flea market on Waterlooplein / Waterloo Square, I would always look up and wonder about this imposing two identical 30-meter-high towers corner building called Mozes en Aäronkerk / Moses and Aaron Church. It is unmistakably one of the iconic buildings…
Kerk De Papegaai | The Parrot
Nestled between the shops on Kalverstraat, Amsterdam’s the busiest shopping street … A church with a neo-gothic facade is the HH. Petrus and Paulus Church, better known as “The Parrot” (Dutch: De Papegaai). A striking façade but most people walk right past it. According to the church website, there has…