Reflections Of Amsterdam - Heavy Duty

Reflections Of Amsterdam - Heavy Duty, originally uploaded by AmsterS@m - The Wicked Reflectah.

'De Waag' and a biker, reflected in a puddle in Amsterdam. Shot with my Panasonic DMC-FZ8. I've fiddled a bit with contrast and saturation but no tricks, no Photoshop :)

This picture is dedicted to Shahrazad26 for liking my wicked reflections of famous buildings, so just for you, here's one of our oldest and prettiest buildings, the 'Waag' on the Nieuwmarkt in the best city in the world :))

For those of you who don't know the 'Waag', here's some historical information, enjoy :)

"The Amsterdam Waag is a remnant of the former city walls in Amsterdam. Constructed in 1488, it was originally one of the city gates, the Sint Anthoniespoort. When the city wall disappeared, the Nieuwmarkt (new market) was created around it and the weighing scales for the market were placed in the former gate. Today the building houses the Waag Society, an ICT research foundation working in the social and cultural domain, and there is a café/restaurant on the ground floor.

The building carries the oldest plaque in Amsterdam, which reads On 28 April 1488 the first stone of this gate was laid.

The city walls that the Sint Anthoniespoort was part of were built in the years 1481-1494. These walls have now completely disappeared and the only remnants are this gate, the lower part of another gate, the Regulierspoort (now the Munttoren) and one defence tower, the Schreierstoren. When in the late 16th century the city expanded the wall was torn down and the gate lost its function. The defensive canal and palissade around the gate was turned into a market square. In the process the ground level was raised, so the building is no longer quite as high as it used to be. For the new weighing function the original front and rear gate were connected with a roof..."

So, there you have it :)