I’m getting dizzy, I feel like I’m going to pass out, somebody calls an ambulance, please Well, uh, Wilbur, what’s the number? The emergency number you need to dial to order an ambulance is 112 112 is the European emergency number for the police, the fire department and ambulances. The non-emergency number for the ambulance … Read more
Each year, on the second Saturday in October, an event takes place that we call the canal race (grachten race). A large number of about a hundred and fifty sloops race each other down Amsterdam’s famous canals. The track is about 25 kilometres long and starts and finishes at the Oosterdok, near the Scheepvaartmuseum (Maritime … Read more
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff was born in the Linnaeusstraat in Amsterdam on the 25th of April 1947. The baby was to become The Netherlands best football player ever. He was proclaimed Europe’s best soccer player of the 20th century. Johan grew up facing What was then the Ajax home ground De Meer (the lake). After his … Read more
In 1987 a statue was placed at the entrance of the Noorderkerk (northern church) called ‘Unity is the strongest chain’ by Sophie Hopkins. The sculpture is dedicated to those who left their lives during the uprising in the Jordaan district in 1934. The national government had decided to lower the amount paid out in unemployment benefits. … Read more
Felix Meritis then Felix Meritis is de name of a building that housed a society that had as its purpose the advancement of art, culture and science. The building stood at the Keizersgracht and was home to the society from 1777 until 1888. Felix Meritis now Felix Meritis is now a foundation and, since 1988, … Read more
If there’s trading, there is money, and if there’s money, there’s a bank. When trading money became just as important as trading goods, some trading houses changed their objective. Some specialized themselves in financing trade by way of providing loans; not only that, but they even invested currency in places far away, across the nation’s … Read more
Being Dutch reformed was the right thing to be in 17th century Amsterdam. Faith played an important role in society, and the Dutch reformed church was the leading religion in the Republic. Yes, you read right; we were a republic in those days. We were still at war with Catholic Spain, and the city had … Read more
How do they work? Well, the air is blown through an accordion; that’s how it produces sound, just like a mouth harmonica. The air comes from a bellow within the instrument; the player has to keep the bellow in motion continually; next, he pushes on one of the buttons on the button board, which allows … Read more