This is the fifth blog about our Viking Rhine River Cruise. Today's blog is about some of our experiences in Amsterdam- St. Nicholas Church, Gods the Dutch Used to worship and some famous, historic tunnel tiles.
SAINT NICHOLAS CHURCH - Nicholas is known as the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, and students in various cities and countries around Europe. Apparently, he's the same St. Nicholas that inspired "Santa Claus" and the biggest church in Amsterdam is named for him. St, Nicholas is also the patron saint of the city of Amsterdam.
The Basilica of Saint Nicholas is located in the Old Centre district of Amsterdam, Netherlands, very close to Amsterdam's main railway station. The basilica is the city's primary Roman Catholic church. It's located at Prins Hendrikkade 73, 1012 AD Amsterdam, Netherlands. the church opened in 1887 and was constructed in the Renaissance Revival architecture and Baroque Revival architecture.
We entered the church, and I found it dark with a heavy feeling, so we didn't stay long.
WHAT GODS DID DUTCH PEOPLE WORSHIP (Before Catholicism and Protestantism)? 
Gods such as Nehalennia, Hludana and Sandraudiga are of Celtic or Celto-Germanic,origin; the Germanic people had such gods as Wodan, Donar and Frigg/Freya from Scandinavia. Jupiter, Minerva and Venus were introduced by the Romans.
(Photo: Rob walking under a decorated alleyway roof.)
RELIGION ISN'T BIG IN THE NETHERLANDS - More than half (55 percent) of Dutch people aged 15 years and over are not religious. In 2020, 20 percent of the Dutch population belonged to the Catholic Church, 14 percent were Protestant, 5 percent Muslim and 5 percent belonged to another religious group.
CUYPERSPASSAGE - There's a tunnel near the railway station that goes under the railroad tracks and leads from the city to the docks of the River IJ. In that tunnel or "Cuyperspassage" are about 46,000 painted porcelain white tiles. They are painted with scenes of boats and fishermen. The tiles are an homage to the work of Dutch tile painter Cornelis Boumeester. In addition to the 46,000 tiles on the side and roof of the tunnel, there are said to be another 33,000 tiles on the floor. As you walk into the center of the tunnel, we noticed that a lof of the images have been worn away, and the tiles appear mostly white with very faint blue outlined images. The tiles feature the traditional blue and white color palette of Delftware ceramics, which have been a major industry in the Netherlands since the 17th century!
CROWDED STREETS - There are some streets in the city that were insanely busy. Once we accidentally found them we turned around and returned to the Viking River Cruise ship!
NEXT: The Windmills of Kinderdijk
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