Nearby our apartment at Banstraat 1 was an open sandy vacant lot. Neighboring children would gather almost every afternoon to play “voetball” (soccer) in a little pickup game. It was reminiscent of when we used to play football on the street in Berkeley when I was growing up. However, the kids made a lot of noise, so in some ways it was annoying when I wanted to practice violin in the afternoons. Nevertheless, they had a good time and we never said anything to them. Recently I looked at a satellite view of Amsterdam and zoomed in on Banstraat. There is now a large building on the site of that vacant lot.
While we lived in Amsterdam, we took advantage of several opportunities to collect souvenirs. Some of the special purchases included a liqueur set with inlaid mother-of-pearl made in the 1800’s, framed antique maps of Amsterdam as it was in 1613 and musical scores to enhance my interest in conducting. Since I was paid in guilders, the devaluing of the dollar which occurred in the Spring did not affect our purchases and we managed to acquire some nice things. Unfortunately, when we shipped several boxes home at the end of our stay, many of the musical scores and some other collectibles including photographs were stolen in transit. The pieces which arrived safely are all the more treasures today.
Another major purchase was a violin. I had a good violin, but was looking to upgrade. I inquired about dealers who would be willing to sell to foreigners. Mr. Josef Vedral in den Haag (The Hague) had just such a shop with a good collection of instruments and so we took the train from Amsterdam to den Haag to see what he had. At that time there was a lot of trust in the musical community and he would let me try the instruments in his shop, then take one back to Amsterdam to try it out with the orchestra and in the concert halls, including the Concertgebouw. No deposit was required, just my word. Having learned Dutch was a major advantage in this negotiation and we agreed that I would come back the next week to either buy the instrument or try another one. All in all we made about six trips to den Haag. Mr Vedral’s store was really like a house with furniture like dining room hutches along the walls. He lined up the violins on their sides so that about ten violins would fit on the table at a time with not much space between them. I would carefully take one violin, play it for a while and then compare it with the next. Since there wasn’t much room between them, I’d have to carefully put it back on its side in the slot it came from. You are probably anticipating what actually happened. As I put one violin back, I bumped its neighbor and they all went crashing from their sides to their bellies…bump, bump, bump, bump, bump like falling dominoes. Of course it made a terrible noise, and Mr Vedral who was in the next room came in to see what damage I might have caused. Fortunately there was no damage, as they didn’t have far to fall. Nevertheless, it was an embarassing moment. Apparently, Mr. Vedral forgave me for the incident because he subsequently sold me a violin which I like very much to this day.
To pay for things, we had to do business with the Dutch banks. It was different than we did banking in the United States. Rather than writing a check to a person which they take to their bank and deposit, you make the deposit directly into their account. In Holland, we opened an account at the Gemente Giro. However, check writing priveleges were not allowed. You had to either use cash or instruct your bank to deposit into someone else’s account directly. Of course that had the same effect, but it was just a little different system. R agreed that I could use the savings we had planned to live on, since my orchestra salary was providing the income for our European stay.
To access our savings, we went to the bank (Giro) and asked for the cash. Dutch money was very pretty. So before we took it to Mr. Vedral, to exchange for the violin, we took a picture of it. Naturally, I was very careful about my surroundings when we took the train ride to den Haag, just as I am careful today not to leave the violin sitting around unattended.
By this time, we had purchased our little Volkswage “Rusty”, so we decided to go to England for our Spring Break of a week. We visited the natural spots…Westminister Abbey and Hall, Buckingham Palace,
Kew Gardens, St., Pauls and a performance at the Dominion Theatre of Tom Sawyer,.
We also visited Stonehenge to the North. We realize now how special that was to be able to walk among the stones. It is my understanding that now, you can only view them from a distance.
In June, we took our little car, Rusty and headed East to Aachen, Germany. There we had an experience which was exquisite. It was Corpus Christi holiday and in Charlemagne’s octagonal cathedral, a boys choir was performing with their clear voices from the balcony. The sound reverberated beautifully. I recall that we were the only ones in the church at the time and had this special musical treat all to ourselves.
July 2 was the final performance of the orchestra. We planned to take Rusty on a European camping tour. Behind the back seat was a deep storage area. For security I fitted a board over the top so someone looking in wouldn’t know there was “stuff” underneath as we parked the car in various spots around Europe. Highlights of our summer trip were Berlin, (still divided by Checkpoint Charlie), Heidelberg, Neuschwanstein, Switzerland, Austria and Italy (Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice). Having Dutch license plates helped us blend in with other European vacationers, which we thought was pretty cool.
One highlight from our summer trip happened in Padua, Italy. The story starts six years earlier. When I was a Berkeley High School student, my family hosted an exchange student as part of the American Field Service program. My one year “brother” was Andy Kyeyune from Uganda. Berkeley High also hosted two other students that year—one from Australia and one from Italy. During the year there were events where the host families would get together to share stories, go to the beach, etc. So we got to know them pretty well. The student from Italy, Bernadino “Dino” Vincensotti, is the subject of our adventure. After visiting Venice, we drove to Padua. So I said to R, “Let’s try to call Dino”. So we found a phone book and to my delight there was only one Vincensotti listed. I dialed. Dino answered. While he was delighted to hear from me and learn that we were in his home town, our timing was not so good, as he had a train reservation that very afternoon to go on vacation. He said if we could find the train station, we could meet him there. We did find the station. Not only did Dino meet us at the station, but he had already made arrangements with his parents to host us overnight. We were delighted.
There was only one problem, Dino’s parents spoke no English and we spoke no Italian. Dino’s brother, who spoke good English, came over in the evening and we had a wonderful home cooked meal and conversation over local red wine. They kindly put us up overnight, commenting over and over how much of a “bambina” R was. They couldn’t believe that we were married so young, which led to some consternation, as they didn’t know if we could share the same room overnight. With lots of sign language and pointing to our wedding bands, they finally concluded that would be all right. Mr. Vincensotti finished the large bottle of local red wine for breakfast. Overall, it was a special time to be hosted by a local family.
After we concluded summer trip and before we returned to the United States, R and I returned briefly to Amsterdam. In addition to packing and shipping our acquisitions and belongings, we stopped by the orchestra as they were having their first rehearsal of the season in a new rehearsal space. Anton Kersjes in a moment of either kindness or weakness (I’m not sure which) asked me if I’d like to conduct the orchestra in rehearsal. They were starting work on Ravel’s Daphnis & Chloé. It was a chance of a lifetime to have at my disposal a full symphony orchestra to conduct. It was (perhaps) my big break! The only problem was that I didn’t know the score. So I responded, “Graag, mar ik ken die partitur niet!” (Thanks, but I don’t know the score). That perhaps was also one of the wisest decisions I have made in my life, as that score is very tricky. Moral: If you don’t know what you’re doing, it is probably better to pass an opportunity than to make a fool of yourself.
A new member of the orchestra showed interest in buying our car, so we negotiated a price (what we paid for it). The buyer was from behind the Iron Curtain having defected with his violin and earning a seat in the Amsterdam Philharmonic. Since he was new and didn’t have much money, I agreed to a deposit, with subsequent payments to be made monthly in installments. Being anxious to sell the car I agreed. All we ever got was the deposit. Nevertheless, it ended up being a good deal, since we got the use of the car for the better part of six months…far better than if we had to rent a car.
This writing concludes my series on Amsterdam, although there are many other experiences which resulted from our being a young married couple in Europe. Over the years I have encountered other young people who have the urge to travel. Every time I hear of such plans, I encourage them. It is great to see the world when you’re young and have the energy and excitement to experience other cultures. I only wish everyone could be so fortunate. Our world would be a better place if we could all learn another language and share in cultures other than our own.
©Frank Bliss 2008 All rights reserved June, 2008
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