Mom's Trip, October 2018 Part One

Mom came to visit for the first time since we moved to Newcastle last January.  It is quite a change from Stratford, but she seemed to like it.  We spent most of our time at home (me working), but we did get a few days in the Netherlands. Mom had never been there, and I was only in Amsterdam for about 12 hours one time ten years before.

But first, we went to Beamish Living History Museum, an open air museum that tries to recreate 19th and early twentieth century life in the north east.  There are different areas, like the 1940s farm, a high street form the early-mid 19th century, and a late victorian row of houses.

Mom in front of a terraced farm cottage.  Inside it was fitted out like a 1940s cottage.  Mom said she just wanted a little cottage like this...then we told her that in England its costs more than her house back home.

Tom, me, and some horses at Beamish.

We live near a ferry port, so Mom and I decided to take a ferry to Amsterdam.  It takes about 14 hours and leaves about 6pm, getting into Amsterdam about 7 or 8am. It was a bit of a disappointment, mostly because the food (£19 each, I think), was gross, and almost none of vegetarian.  But anyway, we got to Amsterdam and took the train to Delft, a little more than an hour south of the city.

The main square

Mom, me, a canal, and some flowers. Delft.

Delft is known for its blue and white ceramics called Delftware, which the city started to become known for in the late 17th century.  Instead of importing expensive pottery from China, the artists in Delft began to copy it. Over time they stopped copying and began making their own designs.  Ironically, most of the Delftware you buy in the Netherlands now is from China.

An artist painting a horse.

The studio of one of the potters.

And now, because it is me, on to the Nieuwe Kerk, or New Church. The church was built in the 14th century, and became the burial place for the House of Orange-Nassau in 1584. In that year William of Orange, enemy of the occupying Hapsburgs and the founder of the Dutch free state in 1581, was assassinated in Delft.  Normally, members of his family would be buried in Breda, but that was occupied by the French at the time, so he was buried in Delft. As the father of the country this made the church a symbol of freedom from Hapsburg and Spanish occupation. Because of this his descendants, including the Dutch royal family, are now buried in the massive vaults beneath the church (a notable exception is William III of England, his great-grandson, who was buried in Westminster Abbey).

The New Church, looking into the east end.  The monument to William of Orange is in the centre.

Looking west down the nave.

The front of the monument.

Effigy of William of Orange.

The stone slab marking the entrance to the burial vaults.  The rings in the corners allow the slab to be lifted when members of the family need to be buried. 

Mom and I being adorable.

The Nieuwe Kerk, western façade.

The city also has an old church, Oude Kerk. The current church reflects a 13th century basilica style, but the earliest church on the spot was from about the mid-11th century.  The New Church (only a 5 minute walk away) drew more tourists and royal patronage, and thus prestige, and the building suffered neglect before being renovated in the 20th century.

Looking west into the nave from the crossing.

Mason's marks on the crossing floor. These were used by masons as a quality control device; if a stone was defective, you could tell which mason made it.  It's unusual to have them on show (they were usually put in a place that would hide them once in position).  These must have been found and placed here specifically to show the marks.

The nave, looking east.

We spent the rest of the day in Delft, so here is a picture of the cheese shop:

This is an outlet of a massive gouda maker.  It's good cheese, but they will add seemingly anything to it, including lavender.

We had dinner in the Amsterdam train station. The restaurant was like a 1920s time slip.  The food was good (though basically only a single option for me).  We were, however, watched over by a parrot. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to tell if it was alive or stuffed.

The parrot: dead or alive?

We spent three nights in the Netherlands, and spent the nights in Haarlem, which is only 20 minutes from Amsterdam.  It was a really nice little city.  The weather was great, and mom loved the cafes.  

A catholic cathedral across from our AirBnB.  I couldn't get inside, sadly.  

Flower seller on the Grote Markt.

Jopenkerk. Jopen is a local brewery, and this converted church is their main restaurant and tasting room.

In the middle of the grote markt is the 15th century great church (grote kerk). The original wooden church was built in 1307, and burned down later that century.  It was re-built and became a cathedral in 1559.

Grote Kerk, form the south east corner.

Shops built in to the walls of the church. 

Ostriches were a common piece of animal iconography from the late medieval period onward.  They are often shown with a horse shoe in their beaks. As medieval and early modern people heard of ostriches (with VERY few every having actually seen one) they could not decide what the reason for the long neck was.  It was theorised that the long neck was because they ate iron, and the neck helped them digest it.  That is why images of ostriches are frequently shown with horse shoes in their beaks.

The medieval quire screen.  This is a very unusual pre-Reformation survivor, especially in a country as iconoclastic as the Netherlands.  The screen use to separate the clergy (performing mass in the east end) from the congregation (in the nave).

This little monk chewing the scenery was the final panel on the right (south) side of the screen.

But he had a friend on the other side, as well.

Outside the church, from the north west. You can see more shops built in to the walls.

The Netherlands was a strange place during and after the Reformation.  Although the country adopted Protestantism eagerly, they were surprisingly tolerant. The reasons for this seem to be based in the position of the country as a merchant society, where trade was the foundation of the nation's strength and power. Because of this there appeared to be an attitude if 'what is good for business is good for the Church'. So as long as your religion did not interfere with business, you could be tolerated. This meant that surprising practices were tolerated, as long as they did not impede business. This is why shops share the walls with the church.  To some this would seem bizarre: a sacred space being used for business; but to the merchant minded-Dutch it was simple logic: we have space by the church and we need more shops. This was actually very common across Europe until the 19th century, when such practices became frowned upon, but not in the Netherlands.  This idea of the market as king also explains the (relatively) relaxed attitude to Catholicism, Catholic practices, and Catholic priests that persisted in the country up until Catholicism no longer being illegal in the 19th century.