Dam Square from above

Photos of Dam Square taken from the top of Madame Tussaud's

(Shops and train. Performers gather in the square while people watch and congregate.)


(The Queen's Palace is on the left and the New Church -Niewe Kerk is toward the right)

Dam Square

Jagger wanted to go for a walk in the snow last night. Everyone else was still a little jet-lagged, so he and I ventured over to Dam Square. Here are some shots - (including snow!)




(Jagger is the small guy standing in front of the memorial. He wasn't happy to hear the story about the time he was running around the memorial chasing his brothers when his pants suddenly dropped to his ankles!)

Feeding the pigeons

Justice loves to feed the pigeons and the best place to do it is in Dam Square, in front of the Queen's Palace.

Jeff is wearing the denim jacket, Justice (10 1/2) is in red, Journey (7 1/2) is wearing the navy coat, and Jagger (4), is in the light blue jacket.

The large stone building is the palace, and the building with the banners that say "Indonesia" is the Neiwe Kerk (The New Church has regular exhibits from museums all over the world).







Yes, that's a pigeon on his head! Justice tore off a small chunk of bread and used it to coax the pigeons onto his hand, then slowly moved it to the top of his head so the bird would follow the bread and rest atop his head.









Jagger was being very selective about which pigeon he would give the bread to. He quickly picked out his favorites and got frustrated when the "wrong" pigeon ate the bread!

Dam Square

I won't be taking any nice pictures of the queen's palace this trip. Every winter they build an ice-skating rink in Dam Square in front of the palace. It's kind of a neat idea - go ice skating in the winter in such a unique setting. It's especially nice since it has been quite a number of years since the canal water has been cold enough to freeze for skating.

The problem is not the ice skating rink itself, but the JUNK around it. They also put up a number of food booths (mostly baked goods and meat stands), some junky carnival rides, a suiker-spin (cotton candy) booth, some junk booths where people sell cheap jewelry and hats and scarfs, and even some port-a-potties. Basically, Dam Square looks like CRAP!

I've been reading the newspaper editorials and many people are complaining. Dam Square has always been for the people. It is a place for people to meet, play, and in the typical Dutch style, demonstrate against the latest perceived governmental injustice! It has been filled with junk for too long and the people want it to end! So while I think the ice skating rink is neat, this might be the last year for it. I don't understand why they can't do the rink and none of the other stuff!

Justice is frustrated because the pigeons no longer hang out there like they did before. He was really looking forward to feeding them and holding them....but I'm kind of glad he can't....we don't really need to be exposed to the bird flu, do we?

Birdboy

Remember when Jane and Michael Banks went to the bank with their father, who was a banker? They each had "toppins" to put in the bank, but Michael decided that he would rather spend his money to buy bread to feed the birds. The banker and his father and his father and his father (really just Dick Van Dyke in a series of hideous costumes)......tried to convince Michael to put his money in the bank, but he ran out of the bank and into the cobblestone plaza where the crazy old lady sat and fed the birds. A sappy song came on..."feed the birds toppins a bag...toppins...toppins....toppins a bag..."

Justice loves to feed the birds in Dam Square. We even got to meet a crazy bird lady the other day. She arrives at 2:30 everyday to feed the birds (after she has gathered old bread from the bakeries). She leaves at 3 and heads to the Amstel river to feed the seagulls and ducks.

I can't stand in Dam Square and watch Justice feed the birds without that darn song going through my head! If you don't know what movie I'm talking about then you must have had a severly disadvantaged childhood!