Museum Willett-Holthuysen

A fun day in Amsterdam with a few friends. One of them is an occasional tour guide in a small museum in Amsterdam along one of the main canals. The museum, the Willett-Holthuysen house, is an interesting and grand house, typical of many big houses built along the main canals of Amsterdam in the Golden Age. The 19^th century occupants, Abraham Willett and his wife Louise Holthuysen, did not have children and were avid art collectors. They decorated the house in a sumptuous manner, and it is an example of the best of 19^th century taste. 

Paintings especially made for the walls of the hall and corridor

 

 The Main room for parties

 When Louise died in 1895, she left the house with the art collections to the City of Amsterdam to be kept as a museum. I did not know of its existence, but it is well worth a visit and quite interesting. Not everything in it is original, but the house is in the process of being restored to its former glory. 

 A dining room (seen through a glass partition), and chairs in the main reception room or ball room, upholstered in blue silk

A very special "white collar" meeting!

The stables used to be behind the garden at the back of the house, accessed via another street. They have long since gone, but the garden has been extended and now also covers the site where the stables used to be. It is quite a formal garden, but there is no guarantee that it looks like the 19^th century original.

 Two views of the gardens

Our guide was very entertaining and larded his talk with anecdotes about the house and its inhabitants.

The huge bed in the bed room

When we had seen everything and thanked our guide for a most interesting tour, we set off for lunch. It was a beautiful day, overcast but pleasantly warm. So we chose a restaurant and cafe on the corner of the river Amstel and one of the canals, with a view of the Munt Tower, and had lunch,....followed by drinks, ...and more drinks, ...and drinks with “bitterballen” a Dutch speciality, ...and more “bitterballen”. In spite of the many tourists flocking through Amsterdam, the terrace of the cafe was relatively quiet and we did not leave our nice spot till 8 o’clock, realising we had sat there for almost five full hours, enjoying each other’s company, the view, the boats on the river, the splendid weather and of course the food and drinks.

 The Tower of the "Zuiderkerk"

 Some of the less touristy canals

 

I walked back to the station, along some of the most picturesque and oldest canals in Amsterdam. Nearer the station I unfortunately had to walk through the red light district. I was shocked that the beauty of this wonderful city has been completely ruined by the many sex shops, coffee shops, fast food places and shops selling tourist rubbish. The sweet smell of pot was sickening and there were so many tourists that it was hard to walk. The Old Church, the Museum Ons Lieve Heer op Solder, all obscured by tourists. They were everywhere, sitting on the quays, legs dangling, eating chips, smoking. The only way nowadays to see the city in all its beauty is walking through it very early on a bright Sunday morning. Then, when it is quiet and the city is still asleep, it shows its unique charm.

Nieuwmarkt

From the train:Even fumes from factories or power stations are beautiful in the setting sun

Victoria Regia

The queen among the water lilies is undoubtedly the Victoria Regia, or Victoria Amazonica.  

The flower seems very small compared to the huge leaves

 

The Hortus in Leyden, its University Gardens, has cultivated this water lily as long as I can remember. Apparently every year it is propagated from seed. In winter this hothouse pond, which was especially built for this particular water lily, is empty. But midsummer the huge leaves have developed fully, leaves which can support a baby without breaking or sinking. And there are the flowers, usually one at a time. They are rare, and only bloom for two days. The first day they are a pure white, the second day they turn pink, and then sink. I had heard there was a flower and that the Hortus had a late night opening, so instead of a walk along the beach I decided to walk into Leyden. It was still very hot, and of course bricks and paving stones retain the heat for a long time. The beach is much cooler. But it was worth it. I was just in time. The flower had turned pink, but was also gradually turning brown and dying. Tomorrow there will be nothing because the flower will sink. But others are supposed to appear.

Very small pale blue lily (or lotus?) in a small pond in the same hot house

 Several types of hibiscus in the hot house

 It is amazing to see the huge leaves of this water lily. Apart from that, the hothouse also has other water lilies in smaller ponds, and some subtropical flowers and butterflies. The butterflies I tried to catch on camera. But in flight I could not capture them. They were too quick for me – and for the camera. When they rested they folded their wings and didn’t show their colourful patterns.

The bust of Von Siebold in the Japanese Memorial Garden

 Several views of the Von Siebold Garden

I t was good to be out of this hot house. There was some wind, and the worst of the heat had gone. The gardens are interesting. Von Siebold, a German medical doctor  who travelled to Japan and lived from 1823-1829 on Deshima, the Dutch trading post on the island or peninsula, sent many special Japanese plants and seeds to Leyden where he lived after being expelled from Japan. The Hortus still has quite a lot of the plants and trees which he sent or brought to Leyden. The Hortus also has a Japanese garden with a bust of Von Siebold, in his honour.

 Chinese herbal medicine garden

 larger than life

 Some more flowers being pollinated

 Walking back there was a nice cooling wind. Leyden, as usual, looked interesting. It was remarkably quiet, probably because of the absence of most students. The warm weather wasn’t very inviting for tourists either, who prefer other seasons for a city trip. In fact it gave Leyden a dreamy quality which was intriguing.

 

 Colourful bikes, but no students!

 Leyden

Beach

A long walk along the beach in the evening. Amazing how quiet the beach is on a balmy summer evening after a hot day. Seagulls, oystercatchers, and two noisy motorised kite flyers, if that is what they are called. They scared the birds away and were louder than the breaking surf. There were hardly any people around except near the entrance to the beach in Wassenaar. Just the stray walker, but that was it. The beach was mine, although the birds did not agree.

 

 

 

 Nice to be so tall for once

It was a remarkably clear evening, and from Wassenaar Scheveningen seemed just 15 minutes away. But it is over an hour of brisk walking. Europoort was also clearly visible. The sun stayed very bright till it set, the pale full moon appearing over the top of the dunes. It was a very refreshing walk indeed.

 

 

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