What You See When You Look Up

Bloemgracht, The Jordaan District, Amsterdam

Amsterdam (the city that grew up around the dike of the Amstel River) is reported to have about 900,000 people in it.  It is also estimated to have about 800,000 bicycles as well.  Which means that, if you're walking throughout this city, you'd be very wise to keep your eyes to the right and to the left of you: cars, bicycles, trams, motorcycles, vespas, quadracycles (more on this tomorrow), vehicles that look like an afterthought from the set of Star Wars –  they all move around this city at a dizzying pace.

But if you have the courage to look up, if only for a moment, you'll see some curious things gazing down on you. Whales, references to the Bible, Latin inscriptions – they are all here just begging for you to notice them.

However, in order to do this, you need to look up – which means taking your life in your hands when wheels are flying all around you.

In the Jordaan section of Amsterdam, where we are staying, the majority of the homes are hundreds of years old.  And the vast majority of these are crowned with gables as unique as the buildings are ancient.  At the top of one, I saw a huge, half-story statement: "AMOR VINCIT!" it proclaimed – "Love Conquers!"  

At yet another home, perched on a street corner, was a Biblical reference looking down on us, something that would've totally been missed had I not stopped and taken in my surroundings.  There, emblazoned in Dutch, was a huge tile labelled "Noah's Ark;" above the craft sat a huge dove, holding an olive branch.  I wondered: Who decided to interrupt the brickwork of this building to make such a proclamation?  Why this Bible reference?  Did it have anything to do with flooding (and the fact that where we were standing was below sea level?)

Every building tells a story.  You just have to slow down and listen to what they're saying.

And watch out for the bicycles.