A Church, A Synagogue, A Museum, and A Cemetery

On my wanderings around Enschede I have come across some very interesting sights. My favorites to photograph are the narrow streets with buildings looming directly over them. It's just too different from Canyon where we grew up! So, rather than bore you with the 354 pictures (ok, really not that many, but I do have lots of "street shots") of buildings standing closely together, I thought I would share some of the other sights around Enschede.

There are many beautiful churches around town. I posted a picture of one in an earlier post. This one, unlike the previous one, is still in use. It is just so large and magnificent! My camera was dying so I didn't get a chance to walk across the street to get the whole church, but here are the cast iron and wooden doors, standing up looking at the steeple from the front steps, and the sign.

I was lucky to stumble across this synagogue when I got lost the other day. Supposedly you can take tours of it, but I didn't see a sign saying that and Jay is much braver than I am about asking questions! So for now, I have pictures of the outside. Maybe this summer we'll go back and get a tour of the inside.

In Amsterdam there is a world-famous museum called Rijksmuseum. I haven't had the chance to see Amsterdam yet, but there is a local branch of the museum called Rijksmuseum Twenthe (Twenthe is like the state here). It was so affordable, only 7 euros, and has lots of art. They rotate pieces with the main museum in Amsterdam. I was a little disappointed they didn't have any works of Vermeer, but that gives me even more reason to make it to the main museum this summer. Some of it was very interesting like Bibles from the 1200s... some of it just not my thing...solid red canvases? Guess I should have taken an art appreciation course somewhere along the way!

I am fascinated with old cemeteries. Jay gets a kick out of it because anytime we run across one, I want to take pictures! I just think there's so much history there. I blame it on time I spent at the LaGrone Monument Company as a child, but whatever the reason, I think they are beautiful and reveal a lot about an area. I could probably do a whole post about this cemetery. It was amazing! From what I could decipher from the sign, it was in ruins until about 10 years ago when a local group decided to save it. It's very small, tucked away near the center of town.

I walked over to take a picture of this because I thought it had settled unevenly, but apparently they put the marker in at this angle. I wonder why?

Today is my last full day here. In the morning, we will board the train back to Amsterdam. I fly out in the afternoon and get back to Casper late late Saturday night. My trip has been wonderful, and I'm excited about everything I will see this summer!

Tot ziens!