AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND

Flat Hawkster has spent the last week in Amsterdam, Holland (also known as The Netherlands).  Amsterdam is a very unique city in the world because all of its buildings are constructed on stilts or piles.  They have had to do this because much of the city is below sea level.  These piles are driven deep into the water until they find solid ground just like they would have done for the docks in Ladner or the White Rock Pier.   The city is similar to Vancouver in that the land was created by a river.  We were built by the Fraser River but for Amsterdam it was the Amstel river.   In the 1600’s they dammed the Amstel river to create a canal system in Amsterdam which allowed people to travel easily through the city by boat.   This was pretty handy because there were no trains or cars for people at that time.

This map shows the ring of canals that make up Amsterdam and Flat Hawkster
can be seen below posing in front of one.  Notice the houseboats that can be
seen behind them.  How many do you think there are in the city?  Answer below.

There are over 2000 houseboats in Amsterdam. Here is

some film footage of Flat Hawkster riding a pedal boat in the canal.

Even though he looks relaxed, his legs are pedalling really hard.

During his time in Amsterdam, Flat Hawkster was able to learn more about the tragic story of Anne Frank and her family.  She was a Jewish teenager forced to hide from Adolph Hitler’s German Nazis who were sending Jews to their death in concentration camps during World War II.  Anne was forced to hide in a secret annex (room) with her family for over two years.  During her time in the annex, she kept a diary with the intention of having it shared with the world and it has become a very personal account of this horrible time in history.  This room overlooked one of Amsterdam’s canals and has now become a museum to honour her memory and the estimated 6 million Jews who died  in what is now referred to as the Holocaust.

Flat Hawkster is pointing to the building where Anne Frank was in hiding
for 2 years.  Below you can see her and the apartment in the only known
video of her taken before she went into hiding.  She can be seen in the upper
left of the screen leaning out of the window.

The people of Amsterdam rely heavily on bicycles to move around their city.  This can be kind of scary at times as the bikes seem to be coming from every direction.  Flat Hawkster almost got “flattened” a few times by bikes speeding past.   It was interesting to notice that people in Amsterdam do not have to wear bike helmets and that is because there are bike lanes built beside every sidewalk and they provide safe passage for cyclists.  Flat Hawkster decided to rent a bike of his own and head out to the countryside for some fresh air although the cows he found did not smell quite so “fresh”.

This picture shows just how many bicycles can be found around the city.  In
the picture below, Flat Hawkster didn't have to wear a helmet but he had
to be kept safe somehow.  Unfortunately, he did have a bit of a headache afterwards.

Flat Hawkster tried some more "cow whisperting but no luck in Holland either.
In the picture below you can see a very old windmill (400 yrs) that was originally
built to crush volcanic glass to make paint for some of the local painters. One
of them may have been Rembrandt.