Day 15 - Easter Bliss

Day 15 – Sunday, Apr 5 – Easter

Our plan was to attend Easter Mass at the Basilica of St. Nicholas, which was a short water-taxi ride away. [BTW: it was sunny but cool and VERY windy; the weather said 30 mph with gusts to 40mph. So, what else is new?] It was Steve’s job to scope this all out, and it is a good thing he double-checked on Saturday. A couple of weeks ago, the website said Mass was at 11:00; on Saturday when he checked, it said the Easter Mass schedule was different and Mass was at 10:30. So, we planned to get there no later than 10:00 because we suspected there would be a crowd. Our timing was exquisite as we arrived a little before 10:00, and we took a couple of pictures outside before going in at 10:00. 

It’s a good thing we did proceed in at that moment because the church was full – all the pews in the large Basilica were taken and we moved to one of the side naves where chairs had been placed, and we got some of the last available chairs. Of course, the church was stunningly beautiful. We learned that Catholicism was illegal until 1853 in The Netherlands, and soon after that law was lifted the Basilica was erected. So, by European standards, it is not that old. There were people standing in the back of church, but at one point not long after we entered, the doors were closed and no one else could enter or even fit in the church. Fire codes, ya know!

The Mass was filled with all the pomp and circumstances and reverence and celebration that one might expect for such a significant Holy Day. At its conclusion, we spent a few minutes gawking at the artwork and the glorious altar. The church has a large dome as well. I will let the pictures do the talking: The alter; the pipe organ over the front door; the rose window in the side apse; the rose window in the western transept; the dome (looking from the floor straight up); a side alter to Mary.

    

The boys went outside while the girls were in the gift shop buying religious stuff from the Basilica. The wind was whipping, creating quite a chill. Apparently, the very nice old ladies working the gift shop were not very efficient, so the boys had to go back inside to stay warm. That’s fine; more time for standing in awe of this majestic building and contemplate the higher realms.

After we wrapped up at the Basilica, we decided to try for Easter brunch at the famous and very luxurious Anantara Krasnapolsky Hotel on Dam square. It was a short walk by our vacation standards – about a mile. Of course, it was fully booked but a very nice concierge found another restaurant that had openings and an Easter brunch menu. So, we walked a few hundred yards to the V Hotel and The Lobby restaurant. Well, the Easter brunch was a prix fixe menu that was a bit scant for the elevated status of the day. Nonetheless, we found something reasonable to eat for each of us even if less than we envisioned for our grand Easter brunch.

Don and Laureen wandered back to the hotel (still fighting colds) while the rest of us meandered the VERY crowded streets of Amsterdam. The wind was dying down, and the sun was bright and clear, so the temperatures were much more tolerable. We decided on a 1-hour canal ride in a glass ceiling boat (yes, this is a boat) with a guided tour. It was a leisurely way to “stroll” the city while getting insights from our guide. We went down the most expensive canal in Amsterdam as evidenced by Mick Jagger’s $20 million dollar home, one in which he never stays. When he comes to Amsterdam, he stays in a very fancy hotel instead. Now that’s disposable income. Other houses are old and not quite like Mick’s … yes those houses are leaning in that picture. We saw lots of leaning houses along the canal. I guess that part of the “charm” of living on the canal in Amsterdam – e.g., walking uphill to go to the bathroom. After our canal ride that ended near the central train station, it was a short water taxi ride back to the hotel.

For the evening, we decided on an Italian dinner, and our travel guide Kurt found a good one on Open Table that could take seven of us at 6:30pm. It turns out, it was very near O’Donnell’s Pub where we had been the night before. Let me just say that our servers – a 25-year-old man and a similarly aged woman – were absolutely delightful! [Note: She was from Haarlem – recall the Jacob von Ruisdael painting in the Rijks?] They were cute and gregarious and attentive and engaging. The food was also excellent, authentic Italian fare (we confirmed this with our local Italian, Laureen), and the wine pairing decided by Kurt, Mark and the young waiter was superb. And once again, we got neighborhood pricing; we were pleasantly surprised by the low cost for such fine dining.

BTW: We took the M52 each way! We are fast learners.

It was back home to pack and prepare for our train ride to Liege, Belgium the next morning.