Organ Concerts and walking in the park!

Last night, after Andrew got home from work we decided to ride our bicycles downtown to go to the organ concert at the Grote Kerk (St. Bavokerk) in Haarlem Centrum. What a nice, quick way to get downtown!  We had never been inside the church...so it was quite a nice way to introduce ourselves to it!  Unfortunately I only had my phone with me, so the pictures I took don't do it justice, but you get the idea. The church was built over the 14th and 15th centuries....the organ was built between 1735 and 1738. The organ was played by both Handel and Mozart! Here is a video I found on youtube with someone playing the organ.....it is said to be one of the largest organs in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrPTuErumAY

Here is some information, if you care to look at it, about the Grote Kerk in Haarlem:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grote_Kerk,_Haarlem

The ceiling in the church:

The organ!

The bottom portion of the organ:

The organist sits between the small section of the organ and the large section:

Inside, the Grote Kerk is paved with gravestones, so you have to watch your step... Here is an example of one:

This is the "small" organ in the church:

The church from outside:

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This morning the AWCA (American Women's Club of Amsterdam) women from Haarlem had a walk scheduled for 0900hrs. Since it wasn't raining, I decided to join them!  Little did I know....they really walk....briskly!!!  It was great fun, and good exercise!  We probably walked about 5 miles.  To get there, I went on the website www.9292.nl  where you just put the location you're starting from and the location you want to go to and it tells you the best way to get there, by train, bus and/or walking! Wonnnnderful!  So, I caught the bus around the corner, took it to the Waterleiding stop and got off. I walked about a block and reached my destination: The Oase Restaurant in Vogelenzang. On our walk,  the "girls" took me by some bunkers.

The Oase Restaurant:

The dunes:

The bunkers...you can actually go inside this one.....it's very small:

Before going home, I went shopping at the outdoor market with Meg and Terri in Heemstede. Meg dropped me off close to home on her way to pick up her daughter from school...that was nice!

When I got home.......I did my huiswerk (homework!) for my Dutch class! My my....it is notttt getting any easier!  Thank goodness most people speak English here!

As I was making dinner Socrates came downstairs looking for his food....Sammy and he are finally able to be in the same room together!

Rijksmuseum and Vondelpark

We went to Amsterdam today. We decided to go to the Rijksmuseum and then took a nice walk through Vondelpark.

 

Doll houses!

Delft Blue:

Stairwell to the 2nd floor of the museum:

Some of the art:

Rembrandt:

Rembrandt self portrait at the age of 22:

Jan van Huysum:

My favorite, Johannes Vermeer:

Rembrandt's Night Watch:

As we are leaving the museum.....

I look up and see these beautiful flowers in a 3rd floor apartment window:

We took a walk through Vondelpark:

A stork's nest!

We saw this sign as we were about to get on the tram to head back to Amsterdam Centraal Station:

When we got home.....I took a picture of flowers in our Delft Blue vase near the front door: