Amsterdam Oud-West
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Adjacent to the centre lies the lively Westerpark neighbourhood, part of Amsterdam West. Home to the eponymous park, which combines expansive greenery with the Westergasfabriek's wealth of cultural goings on, this lively neighbourhood is home to a varied mix of independent shops, old-school street markets, shiny new restaurants and traditional brown cafés.
The year 1839 for the barge haulers of the Trekvaart Amsterdam-Haarlem was not a happy one. The Canal had been dug just over 200 years before - 1631-2 - to provide a quick way of transport for goods and people from Amsterdam north to Haarlem. It was 30 km long, around 20 metres wide and about 1.5 m deep. But then the modern age was ushered in... and by 1843 the water's workers had lost their jobs to modern industrialisation.
Holland's first railway was built between the two cities and in September of 1839 regular service began courtesy the British locomotives De Arend (=Eagle) and De Snelheid (=Speed). Today the canal is for leisure... In Amsterdam it runs along the Westerpark where once the Amsterdam gasworks stood. Today this is a yuppified area with eateries, theatre and the like.
But the park itself is a tranquil spot. Now in early Spring many of its trees are in flower such as this Norway Maple, Acer platanoides (see inset).
Amsterdam - Zaanstraat / Oostzaanstraat.
The Post Office.
"Het Schip" is a social housing complex built in 1921 and designed by architect Michel de Klerk. The world-renowned expressionist building is popularly known as The Ship because of the particular shape in which it has been constructed. It has since become an icon of the Amsterdam School architecture movement.
De Klerk did not design only the facades of The Ship and the houses, but also the interior of the post office, including the stained glass windows.
The care with which the post office was restored in 2018 enables us to admire de Klerk's only fully preserved interior design in all it's glory (hetschip.nl).
3 photo stitch.
Helemaal links in beeld de zendmast van Digitenne.
IJsbrand is an old fashioned dutch name that originally means"burning sword" - to modern dutch ears it sounds like " ice burns".