Back home from Amsterdam

Apologies for the lack of posting over the last few days, but I was on a city break in Amsterdam with my wife, as a wee 50th birthday present for her. It was only the second holiday that we have had abroad together in 21 years without kids or visits to families, so genealogy was not the priority! 

Having said that though, we still managed to pack in some great historic sites! Having watched the recent Matt Lucas episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, we had hoped to visit the Anne Frank House, which I had previously visited about 28 years ago on a university field trip, only to discover that there were no tickets available for another three weeks, it being completely sold out. We therefore decided to do a walking tour instead of the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam, to learn about the Franks, the whole Jewish community, and the German occupation of the city in the Second World War. Our guide Manuel was superb, and brought to life the true horror of what the city endured, in particular those targeted by the Nazis, as we walked for two hours past monuments and landmarks relevant to the story. I actually think we probably learned more from the tour than we might have done at the house, it was all so vivid. We learned about the occupation, the horrific treatment of the Jewish population, the resistance of the city, the Dutch famine of 1944-45, the Dam Square shootings after the city's liberation, and so much more. 

We also visited the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, but another wee gem was the Begijnhofkapel, a hidden Catholic church constructed within two houses after the Protestants took control of the city in the 17th century - and located directly opposite its former home, the 'English Reformed Church', which is oddly named in that it is actually part of the Church of Scotland today!

Finally, a few pics of some other highlights!

Dank je wel, Amsterdam, from a fellow EU citizen - we'll be back!

And now it's straight back to the genealogy world once again...!

Chris 

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.