Stuck in Suriname

Stuck in Suriname

Writing this part has been going well…until I realized I needed to address the slavery issue in Surinam in 1700. Stuck big time!  It was not a good situation and I really didn't want to go into it.  But I cannot ignore it since Maria Sybilla...

No Wells in Amsterdam?

Were there really no wells in Amsterdam in the late 1600s?  While researching material for my book about Maria Sybilla Merian I realized that not once had I come across any reference to wells.  Nothing was mentioned in the books I read.  I had not...

Researching Amsterdam

I have taken Maria Sybilla Merian and her family from Frankfurt, Germany, where she was born to Nürnberg, back to Frankfurt, on to Castle Waltha in Friesland, northern Holland and now to Amsterdam.This part feels different to me because I have not yet been to...
Inside the Old Walls of Nürnberg

Inside the Old Walls of Nürnberg

The first photo shows the cobblestone street––notice the width of the street––and a modern wall that is boundary of someone's house/yard today. The second photo gives a better look at the outer wall.  The tower has the door which is an entrance to the upper...
Washing Your Hands?

Washing Your Hands?

Shown here is one style of what we would call an old washstand.  These were used in Germany in the 1600’s for washing your fingers before eating.  Yes, I did say fingers instead of hands. You didn’t wash both hands, instead you washed only the first two...