We both arrived on Friday, on two different planes, 30 min apart. And we managed to meet at the Airport train station, though it was not easy:). I’ve picked up our Holland passes and the train tickets. It’s only 20 mins to the Amsterdam central railway station from the airport, and as I’ve already said, the apartment is not more than 10 minutes walk.
We were given a code to open the front door, and when we got to the fifth floor, the key to our apartment was right there in a keyhole, waiting for us.
This time once again, I’ve used VisitACity App to plan our trip, and the app decided that it will be best to do the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum on the first day. I tried to play with an app and move the things around, but it would insist :), and I obliged.
I’ve been to both museums “in depth” during my previous visit to Amsterdam, so this time, my goal was mostly to show both of them to Boris.
But first, there was lunch. Retrospectively I think that lunch in the museum was a good idea, it was quality food at a reasonable price. The asparagus soup with mackerel sounded like something similar to the Finnish salmon soup, turned to be a pale variation of the latter, but still decent.
I’ve got some ginger tea with “Rembrandt selfie” macaroon.
We’ve followed my favorite path in the museum: early Medieval art first:
followed by Rembrandt and Small Dutch. I’ve been describing to Boris how last time I saw tons of people taking pictures in front of the “Night Watch.” It looks like these times are about to be over, for better or worse. The painting is about to be moved into a glass chamber for restoration work and research. This event will happen just in a couple of days, and later the museum visitors will be able to see how the project (called “Operation Night Watch”) is going.
Afterward, we enjoyed seeing our “old friends.” I can spend a lot of time, trying to figure out all the small details of the scenes, captured by the Small Dutch. Do you know what this lady is doing, BTW?
Real Saint Nicolas would bring not only presents for nice children but also coal for the naughty ones!
There are lots of sea scenes on the 17th and 18th centuries paintings. Boris is saying no ship can tilt that much and not sink – and I think he’s right:)
Note, that’s men’s fashion!
Although the Van Gogh Museum is a part of the Holland pass, I’ve decided to book the tickets separately, because there was no guarantee I could get the desired time if I book them after I get the physical passes. Besides, there were lots of opportunities to use the pass credits otherwise. I’ve booked the tickets for 4-15 PM, and this turned out to be almost perfect, especially because I forgot again, where is the entrance for ticketed visitors.
The worst part of this visit was that the museum was very crowded. It was challenging to get close to the paintings, and for both of us, we need to be pretty close to what we are looking at. We were also very tired by that time, especially I, since I’ve just spent 9 hours on the plane.
Still, it was incredibly interesting. However, this little display made me feel, as if I am a part of the exhibit 🙂
We’ve got back to our apartment, and I was so tired that I fall asleep sitting 🙂
Hettie's Reflections 