The Omaha
JANUARY 2025
Event Report: High Noon Stag at Lost Rail Golf Club IWFS Rhine Cruise: Amsterdam’s Jordaan District Upcoming Events.
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IWFS Rhine Cruise: Amsterdam’s Jordaan District
One of our excursion choices was to walk the Jordaan District. On the way, our guide pointed out aspects of the houses that lined the canals. Amsterdam is built on a bog. They use large, long wood poles for the foundation, to reach the firmer sand bed below. As long as they are covered in water, the wood won’t rot, and they remain solid. Tall, narrow and deep, the houses compete for notice. They are narrow because the width of the facade was taxed, so narrow was cheaper than wide for taxation. They usually have an arm, hook and pulley arrangement in the gable to lift furniture through the large windows, much easier than negotiating narrow stairs.
Some houses lean a bit forward (or to the side) after the first story, to gain the eye’s attention. But more likely, the pole foundation wasn’t long enough, and the building is settling unevenly. There are more bicycles than you thought possible because there is no parking for automobiles. Workers come daily by bicycle, and by law, they are given preference over pedestrians or autos. Our Uber driver told us a bicyclist ran into his cab, and he had to pay for the bike repair and the cab repair himself. Seems bike riders can do no wrong in the eyes of the law. Pedestrians beware! Cheers! Tom Murnan
Strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody - Samuel Pepys Best of the Cockle Bur compiled & edited by Harry B. Otis, 3rd President 1973-1974