The Adventures of The Tylers: Holland day 5

Thursday Vicky took off from work and the four of us headed toward Amsterdam. I had asked my mom for some information about where Oma grew up and she gave us some leads on the street where she was born/grew up and the church where she and Opa were married. Both were in North Amsterdam.

John and his parents had done quite a bit of research for us. Although we aren't positive which house was Oma's we definitely found the street (she might be able to identify the house from pictures). We also found the church where Oma and Opa were married. John saw a sign and went to knock on the door of the adjacent building. There was someone from the office staff there and they unlocked the church to let us in and take pictures.

This was by far the highlight of the trip for me! It was so amazing to walk down the aisle where Oma did. There was also someone practicing the organ so it really set the mood. It was so beautiful and an amazing connection to my family.

When we finished up there we went to Leis' cousin's house to visit for a while. He then took us the ferry from North Amsterdam over to the city. When we got into the city we walked through the Red Light District which we had not found the day before. It was such a strange juxtaposition between the industry there, the greater concentration of coffeeshops, and the beautiful church surrounded by it all.

In the same section of town we went to a museum called Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder, or Our Lord in the Attic. In the 17th century Catholicism was banned in the Netherlands and a man had the attic of three houses made into a secret church. The church has been preserved and is now a museum. It was really neat to see a combination of the church from so long ago and the remnants of the homes.

After the museum we headed to do a boat tour on the canals. It was such a wonderful way of seeing the city away from some of the crowds and noise. When we finished the tour we walked around a bit and had some drinks and snacks on a terrace in Rembrandtplein.

We spent the rest of the evening walking and just seeing the city before stopping at an Indonesian restaurant for dinner. Oma makes Indonesian food and it was interesting to have it at a restaurant instead. We walked around a bit more and made it back to the ferry. Leis' cousin picked us up from the ferry and we went back to his house again for a bit before heading back toward Enkhuizen. On the way we stopped by Vicky's parents' house where she had grown up to see it. All of the houses there are so beautiful and theirs was no different.