The Jordaan

We rested well in our tiny flat, and noted that forecast warned of heavy rains later in the day. Jim C recommended that we take advantage of the window before the storm, and we decided to head toward the Royal Palace.

The palace was initially the city hall about two hundred years ago. Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, took it as his palace, and it remained with royal families after. Today is is used for receiving dignitaries and other formal functions.

We noticed several rainbow flags in one of the neighborhoods. Although I came out as a gay man over 29 years, symbols of affirmation still matter.

We visited the Homomonument which at first glance at the name seems whimsical. That couldn't be farther from the truth.

According to the website"... the Homomonument symbolizes the long road to gay emancipation in the Netherlands and far beyond.

It consists of three triangles of Rosa Porinogranite that together form one large triangle. The three triangles represent the past, present and future. Here we commemorate everyone who was killed or persecuted (and still is) because of his or her sexual preference and/or identity. Here we celebrate the freedom to be who we are. Here we call for vigilance for the present and the future."

The triangles are significant because like Jews being forced to wear a yellow Star of David, gay men were forced to wear a pink triangle 🔺️

We noted the writing on one of the triangles and learned the following translation: "Towards Friendship Such an Indulgent Desire", a line of poetry by the homosexual, Jewish writer Jacob Israel de Haan (1881-1924).

As we walked past this monument, we found the nearby iAnn Frank House that we will visit later this week. We also noticed small gold inscriptions of the names of those individuals who were taken and died in concentration camps.

As we walked home, we noticed among the hundreds of bikes parked along the canals, and we're elaborately decorated with flowers. We learned that a local artist initially did this for his wife's bike as she has epilepsy and attendant memory troubles, and he wanted to make the bike distinctive so his wife could find it.

The artist, Warren Gregory, is initially from the United States. According to a news article, "Seeing the joy that his bikes were bringing to passersby, Warren started decorating more bikes and scattering them throughout the city of Amsterdam. He makes them in his Amsterdam houseboat, and then ventures out into the streets early in the morning to leave his gifts to the world before the city wakes up."

On the way home we picked up some groceries, local bread and varied flavored Dutch cheeses. Jim went grocery shops and I checked out two of hundreds of "coffee shops" to purchase aptly named cannabis infused "space cakes. I ate about half of a lemon space cake, and let's just say that made for a relaxing afternoon.

The rains came later in the day. We made a call home to Genevieve and Olive. It's fun to watch Olive jump into a conversation and interject her news. Her sentences and stories are noticeably longer, and we are proud witnesses to her growth.

We headed to a really spectacular restaurant around the corner, and we managed to avoid getting drenched. Jim enjoyed his risotto dish and I had lamb..Dessert was decadent. Jim had a waffle with topping that was resembled Bananas Foster. I had a slice of Dutch apple pie. It was so good.

We're off to the Van Gogh museum tomorrow.

Good night, all 💞

JimRead more