Today, I spent the day at the W3C Advisory Committee meeting, which, of course, is the reason I’m still in Amsterdam and was able to play tourist all weekend. I did escape for a brief lunchtime walk — it was difficult to go back, since the weather had finally improved (it was dry if not exactly warm).

But the highlight of today’s meeting was the dinner at the Grand Hotel. The Grand Hotel is clearly at a very different level than the Marriott or the Barbizon Palace; the only reason it’s a five-star hotel is that they don’t ever give out more than five stars.

The dinner was held in the Council Chamber (unfortunately, the room was too dimly lit to get a picture which does it justice). I don’t know what council sat at the council table, but without microphones, I don’t know how people at one end heard the other. Late in the evening, Jean-François Abramatic (W3C Chair, seated in the “Legi Gregi” chair (and no, I don’t know who Legi Gregi was)) introduced the
explanation of metadata by Tim Berners-Lee and Ian Jacobs, which was an appropriate conclusion to the evening.

The dinner ran to five courses, with a vegetarian option as well. Dinner ran late, even by Amsterdam standards; I got back to the hotel around 11:30pm — some folks were planning to go out for more partying, but I’d had enough and went to bed to be ready for the second day of the meeting.

(I wonder what kind of meetings get held in the Marriage Chamber?)

Amsterdam pages: [15 May] | [17 May] | [18 May] | [19 May] | [20 May] | [21 May] | [22 May] | [23 May] | [25 May]

I spent most of Sunday exploring Jewish Amsterdam. Somehow, a Jewish community did survive the Shoah, and there are a number of Jewish cultural sites. But, of course, it is quite different from before the Shoah.

I started at the Joods Historisch Museum, which is in the “heart of the former Jewish quarter of Amsterdam”, housed in “what used to be four Ashkenazi synagogues”. (Quoted phrases are from the museum’s brochure; their website is worth visiting even if you can visit the museum in person.)

The Museum doesn’t focus on the Shoah — it doesn’t ignore it (that would be impossible), but its main goal is to show the religion, culture, and history of Jews in the Netherlands, past and present. And it does a good job; I spent well over an hour in the museum. I happened to be there while a group of Jewish students from London were being given a tour, and they were certainly paying attention the whole time. But there isn’t much emphasis on the future at the museum.

The Portuguese Synagogue, across the street, on the other hand, is a going proposition. They, too, barely survived the Shoah, but they are determined to continue as an active congregation (preserving Sephardic traditions, as contrasted with the Ashkenazi practices that most modern American and European Jews are familiar with). Their website is also worth a visit.

Pictures coming later….watch this space!

Amsterdam pages: [15 May] | [17 May] | [18 May] | [19 May] | [20 May] | [21 May] | [22 May] | [23 May] | [25 May]