I just returned to Paris from a nice few days in lovely Amsterdam (or Hamster Jam as the 5 year old daughter of one of my colleagues declared it recently).
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| I somehow managed in first class on my way to Amsterdam. This was the first course. |
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| And this was the second course! So much for my pledge not to eat so much bread. |
I arrived to Central station and walked into the city as I had some time to kill before heading to my Airbnb. The area right around central station was a little gaudy... like the worst parts of Navy Pier or Vegas mixed with the vague smell of weed smoke in the streets and half drunk bachelor parties wandering along the sidewalks. I made my way out of the center, hoping that Amsterdam wouldn't be like this all the way through.
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| Cursory canal picture. |
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| This is apparently the best collection of original vintage chain candlesticks in town(!). Is there more than one? |
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| My first stop was the Botanic Gardens. A small but very green and very nice slice of the city. |
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| Greenhouses. |
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| My first friend in Amsterdam |
After my visit to the garden, I headed back into the center to explore a bit more. I learned very quickly that Amsterdam appears to have no rules. In addition to the legal weed and the prostitutes behind glass (which I did not photograph, thank you), the flow of traffic is insane. There are pedestrians and trams and cars and motorbikes not to mention flocks of bicyclists that make you feel like you're being overtaken by the Tour de France every time you look up. There are these unmarked intersections where it is completely unclear who is supposed to go when. Trams just appear to stop for pedestrians and cars and bikes and people cross with no rhyme or reason. It's crazy! And made me very nervous! My love for clear rules combined with my fear of fire drills as a child may put me somewhere on the autism spectrum. I would just like to think that I would thrive in a sparsely populated and well run police state. If anyone has suggestions that aren't Russia, I'm open to it.
Later in the afternoon, I fought my way through the crowds and made it to my Airbnb which was in a very nice neighborhood about a 40 minute walk from the center
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| A taste of my temporary home |
On Friday, I toured the Anne Frank House (no pictures allowed). It was a sad place to visit. There was one particularly touching photo of Otto Frank revisiting the secret annex in 1960. It must have been very strange for him to return. I didn't recall that he was the only one to survive.
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| Rijksmuseum |
After my tour, I wandered a bit more, visiting the Rijksmuseum but deciding to skip for the day as the wait was about 2 and a half hours and it was threatening rain.
I picked up some picnic food from a small gourmet grocery-- check out this cool mesh bag!
On Saturday morning before my train, I finally made it into the Rijksmuseum-- no wait this time! It was a great museum with a huge art collection. My only complaint was that it was filled to the brim with tourists (like myself) who favored standing expectantly in doorways as if no one would ever need to use that doorway again. They also seems to enjoy walking slowly and without purpose. I do not enjoy any of these things and found it exceedingly irritating. I managed to have a good time nonetheless (I'm a saint), and saw a few very nice Vermeer's (including the Milkmaid which will always remind me of Grandma Anne-- I think she had a print of it in the apartment on Fitch and maybe later at the Mather). There were also some good Rembrandts, Van Goghs, some more Dutch modern art as well as a large special collection of model boats, porcelain, jewelry and clothing.
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| A modern print I liked |
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| There was an interesting installation called "Art is Therapy" that basically supplied alternative captions to some of the pieces. Some were better than others-- it was a mix of being patronizing, smarmy and insightful and funny. |
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| This is a room from a traditional Dutch house that they moved into the museum. They had this weird light orb thing in the middle that would move light around the room at odd intervals. I guess it was to prevent the wood from fading or something but it sort of ruined the effect of the traditional room. |
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| One last shot of the canals before boarding my train! |
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| An afternoon snack. The ketchup tasted weird. Guess I should have gone for the traditional mayo. |
I picked up some picnic food from a small gourmet grocery-- check out this cool mesh bag!
On Saturday morning before my train, I finally made it into the Rijksmuseum-- no wait this time! It was a great museum with a huge art collection. My only complaint was that it was filled to the brim with tourists (like myself) who favored standing expectantly in doorways as if no one would ever need to use that doorway again. They also seems to enjoy walking slowly and without purpose. I do not enjoy any of these things and found it exceedingly irritating. I managed to have a good time nonetheless (I'm a saint), and saw a few very nice Vermeer's (including the Milkmaid which will always remind me of Grandma Anne-- I think she had a print of it in the apartment on Fitch and maybe later at the Mather). There were also some good Rembrandts, Van Goghs, some more Dutch modern art as well as a large special collection of model boats, porcelain, jewelry and clothing.