Val Ease Central Railroad by Jeffrey MacHan
The Eurospoor 2003 AdventureZ
Report #5: On the road to Eurospoor! October 14, 2003
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
- Tuesday began with a phone call to my wife to wish her a happy 25th
anniversary. We then rushed to use the remaining time on our 24-hour
day pass to hop on a tram to take in the Heineken museum tour. The
tour was very well done and we enjoyed seeing the Shire draft horses
in their stables (through the brewery windows unfortunately. We
weren't allowed to enter the stables to get up close).
We dropped our Heineken souvenir beer glasses off at our rooms and then headed
toward Centraal Station about 11 am. We bought train tickets to
Haarlem to visit the astonishing cathedral. We arrived in time for
lunch (deep fried herring strips and the local sweet pastry (puff
pancakes in icing sugar and whipped butter). I was developing quite
a liking for caffe verkeer (cafe latte). I couldn't pronounce it
properly so I eventually gave up and simply ordered a latte.
Everyone seemed to understand. Although still sunny the temperature
had dropped to the point where gloves came in "handy" while sitting
in the terrace of the cathedral square. The only blotch on the
horizon were the golden arches which seemed to have infiltrated every
tourist area we had visited.
The cathedral was astonishing. It cost 2 euros to entre via a small
alcove from which we emerging onto an awe-inspiring vaulted
cathedral. The vaulted ceiling was easily 100 feet above us. The
stained glass windows were sparkling in the afternoon sun which sent
shafts of multi-coloured rays down to the rows of pews below. The
cathedral was not emply. In fact there was even a volunteer working
on restoring small portions of stained glass. Terry and I spent a
few minutes watching the worker position the glass, cut the lead
channel and place the section together. While wandering around in a
leisurely clock-wise rotation, I noticed three magnificient ship
miniatures suspended from a portico. They depicted, with great
believability, heavily armed vessels of the Dutch East India Company.
Opposite the main alter could be admired a truly enormous and
particularly beautiful organ. The inscription on the plaque
indicated that Mozart, at the age of 5, played his own compositions
on this instrument. Too bad we were't able to attend one of the
regular concerts played on this organ. The ornate sculptures
surrounding the pipes were just as impressive as the size of the
pipes.
Looking to me feet, I noticed how worn the black basalt slabs were.
Then I noticed that the slabs were numbered and in some cases had
inscriptions that were still legible. How silly of me. I was
walking over family crypts inside the cathedral. It was humbling to
walk over crypt stones worn down by visitors' feet over the past 500
years.
On our way back towards the train station, Terry and Helen stopped to
visit another museum, this time one that held the very ecclectic and
astonished collection of a Dutch merchant. His interests covered
everything electrical and natural. I decided to pass on this visit
and spent the next hour and a half dozing on a bench in the sun a few
steps from the museum. Their visit complete, the Sutfins and I took
a meandering path back towards the city core and the station. We
crossed several small canals and noticed that a major canal provided
a pathway for larger pleasure craft and barges.
On our return to Amsterdam I led my travel companions to a highly
regarded Chinese restaurant on the margins of the red-light district
for dim sum and several sumptuous and savory dishes. Our table
seating offered a panoramic view of the transvestites and ladies of
the night as they made their way to their places of business through
large numbers of men, women and children! An incredible sight to see
to be sure.
The sunset was magnificent and all three of us took
pictures of the incredible structures along the canals and alleyways.
As my wife would say, the images would have made great jigsaw
puzzles. Of course, following our wonderful meal we took a quick
tour of the Red Light District. We were surprised to find several
red-neon framed windows along the main canals close to our more
upscale neighbourhood. The ladies who occupied the glass enclosures
were caucasian from what I could see and always tastefully attired in
lacy undergarments. Occasionaly a UV lamp would enhance the glow of
the lingerie to startling effect. I read somewhere that the farther
the ladies were from the downtown core, the less expensive their
nightly rent. It also appeared that these ladies were somewhat in
the twilight of their careers or immigrants starting out in the
business!
Despite the attempt by the city to paint a different picture, the
whole area was rather seedy although surprisingly clean. I don't
know why I expected otherwise. We often encountered city crews
sweeping, washing and vacuuming the streets early in the morning.
I spent the night dreaming of my wife ;-)
Coming up...Wednesday's adventureZ!
Stay tuned for Report #6 of the Great Eurospoor AdventureZ | Return to Eurospoor 2003 Home.
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