Hidden church

Some thoughts. It is sometimes  very hard to cross roads. Not only do you have to remember  that cars come from the opposite direction,  but also bicycles. Bicycles seem to have right of way over everyone else except when they are in a cycle lane at a majority intersection with lights for the cyclists.. Cyclists sometimes stop at pedestrian crossings, sometimes don't. Trams go very quickly especially round corners.It is sometimes hard when changing trams to get  on a tram going the right direction! People have been very helpful and quick to volunteer help.

Some history.  In 1568 Amsterdam joined William of Orange in a peaceful revolution known as the Alteration against the Catholic Spanish Hapsbergs.  Amsterdam became the Protestant  capital of infant Dutch Republic. Catholics ( nor Jews , nor anything non Protestant) were not allowed to worship in public. But they were allowed to worship in private homes.

Today we visited a preserved and restored example of one of these. It was very interesting.  The family   lived on the lower floors and upstairs the inside of 2 levels had been taken out to provide a church  with 2 levels of  seating above. Local Catholics worshipped there from 1663 to 1887.

Back a bit,  at breakfast we passed on the coffee from the machine ( i was never quite sure if what i was drinking was coffee or something else)  and went to a coffee shop recommended by my coffee friend. It was in a space next to a canal but sheltered from the passing throngs and surrounded on 2 sides by the high walls of a church and an attached old building. The only seating was outside, very pleasant and the coffee was excellent. Then after visiting the church in the house which was nearby, we went back for another drink  ( i had a tulip flavoured lemonade drink) and a piece of the very nice Dutch apple cake that everyone seems to sell to tourists. 

After a rest we walked to a place called Begijnhof which is an enclosed group of houses founded in 1346 for members of a lay Caholic sisterhood, the Beguins, the last of whom died in1971. It was a peaceful enclave in a very busy city. We had lunch in a laneway Cafe on our way back to our hotel but our room had not been cleaned and I had managed to muddle the brain of the safe so we adjourned  to another recommended cafe around the corner for another excellent  coffee while our room was sorted.