Day 7 – Tuesday, April 10 – Amsterdam
On Tuesday morning we got an early start to the day. We said goodbye to Eric as he left for work, and Jeremy and I left the apartment and walked along the canals to Museumplein, the main square in the middle of the museums. We started our day at the Rijksmuseum, the Dutch National Museum. Even though the museum is under renovation, they have moved the master works into one wing of the museum that visitors are allowed to visit. We displayed our museum cards (thanks B&E for those!) and started our tour of the museum. Unlike in the museums we visited in Paris, this one had a clear path that we were meant to follow. We saw some beautiful and famous works, including Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, The Jewish Bride, and Vermeer’s The Milkmaid. There was also a display of gigantic doll houses, which I of course enjoyed.
From the Rijksmuseum we made our way down the block to the Van Gogh Museum. Again, so glad to have our museum cards that let us skip the line. The Van Gogh museum is the most visited museum in the Netherlands, and houses 200 painting, 400 drawings, and 700 letters all by Van Gogh. The museum is a narrative of his life, taking the visitor chronologically through his life and work. On the bottom floor were other artists who had influenced him, and at the top were artists who had been influenced by him. We saw the famous Potato Eaters, Sunflowers, Yellow House, Self-Portrait, and the Bedroom, just to name a few. One part of the exhibit showed how Van Gogh used his canvases over and over again, with methods of revealing what had originally been painted underneath. I thought that was very cool.
We met up with Becky as we left the museum, and spent a few minutes visiting the main square of the museumplein, which houses the much-photographed “i am-sterdam” sculpture. From there we walked to De Pijp and through the Albert Cuypmarkt, which is sort of like a combination of the Machane Yehuda shuk and Kobey’s swap meet. I was very happy to find a giant pickle for just 1€, and had a little pre-lunch snack. Becky picked a cute little restaurant for lunch, and we were back on our way. Since Jeremy can always eat, we stopped at a toastie stand after lunch so Jeremy could taste this Dutch specialty (think grilled cheese but without the butter on the bread). From the market we walked along the canal to Leidseplein, one of the main Amsterdam shopping streets. From there we walked up through Kalverstraat and stopped at a famous French fry stand to try the fries. They were, indeed, delicious, topped with a unique, tangy sauce. From there we walked along Spui to Begijnhof, one of the oldest inner courtyards in Amsterdam, housing the English Reform Church. One of the oldest buildings in Amsterdam (dates back to the 1300s), the pilgrims who eventually made their way to the New World came from this community.
Our next stop was the Amsterdam Museum, which was a really interesting mix of various items relating to the history of Amsterdam from the middle ages to the present. The museum is very modern and uses technology in a really interesting and effective way. When we entered the museum we were each given audio guides, and when we got to each video we just touched them to a little metal plate and they started playing in the right language. Very cool. From the museum we made our way to Dam Square, built on the dam that stops the flow of the Amstel river (Amstel-dam → Amsterdam, get it?). In the plaza are the New Church and the Palace, although we did not go inside either. Our next stop was a walk through the infamous red light district, then we made our way to the Oude Kerk (Old Church). After being in London and Paris I was definitely expecting a much more grand and ornate interior, but the building was still beautiful. It was interesting to see how the entire floor of the church was gravestones. After a brief stop at the national monument (a WWII monument in Dam Square), we jumped on the tram and headed back to Becky and Eric’s apartment.
Once Eric got home from work we made our way to dinner at a really great Indonesian restaurant. Becky and I both had the vegetarian rice table, and each and every dish it included was delicious. Eric and Jeremy both had rice tables that included meat, and the empty dishes left on the table makes me think theirs were delicious as well. There really is no such thing as “Dutch” food, but Indonesian is the closest thing to a national food they have.
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