I decided Sunday was the day for museums in Amsterdam, so on July 15th, I headed out from my hotel on foot and walked the 25 minutes or so to the Van Gogh Museum. You have to have timed tickets for the Van Gogh Museum (and they only sell them online). I had a 9:00 a.m. ticket, which is when they opened. They didn't allow pictures inside, but they have a lot of art by Van Gogh (obviously), some art from his friends, and did a good job telling the story of his life, and of the events after his death that led to him becoming the famous artist we know today...
I bought this card at the Van Gogh museum shop (took the pic in the next museum). I liked this one a lot, but one of the things that was really neat about the museum is that they had a recording of what this painting and another looked like under a microscope. The swirls of paint that you can't see with the naked eye were amazing. This painting was actually painted on the beach, and as you looked at it under the microscope you could see grains of sand that had blown into the paint You couldn't see them on the actual painting, but they are there...
The next museum ticket I had was for the Rijksmuseum. The Rijks ticket wasn't a timed ticket, so I could go at any point during the day. In the park area adjacent to the Rijks, they had a little art fair going on, so I browsed the various artists displays and bought a watercolor of the Amsterdam canals.
The Rijks is huge. I don't generally spend hours and hours in museums. I know some would say I don't get my money's worth, but I like to get in and see the major things I should see, and move on.
In the Rijs museum, they make it easy to see the major works of art they are known for as they have a Gallery of Honor that houses them.
Rembrandt's The Night Watch
Vermeer's The Milkmaid
de Heem's Festoon of Fruits and Flowers
I really loved this one. Especially all the details.
I went and checked out the impressionist portion of the museum too. Monet is always a favorite.
The detail here is so different from the one above.
You can see nothing but color until you step back.
Once I was done at the Rijks museum, I decided to Uber up to the Anne Frank House. I had a 1:00 tour scheduled, but wanted to get there in time to have lunch before my tour.
Just down the canal from the Anne Frank House, there is a place I had read about called The Pancake Bakery...
You can get savory or sweet pancakes. I decided on a banana nutella pancake with a side of ham...
I then walked back to the Anne Frank House Museum. No pictures are allowed inside. Here is the outside of the "front house" that housed Otto Frank's business which sold spices and pectin for jelly making. The secret annex was located in the "back house" behind the business on what we Americans would call the 3rd and 4th floors (we number our floors different than Europeans).
The museum is very well done. I think it's a 100% must see if you are in Amsterdam, but be mindful tours book up and tickets are sold online only. Buy your ticket in advance.
There is an audio guide as you go through Otto's business and the lower levels of the back house, but once you pass the bookcase entrance into the Secret Annex there is no audio tour until you leave the secret annex. I had the Rick Steve's Pocket Amsterdam book, and I appreciated reading the few paragraphs he had written on each of the rooms in the Secret Annex.
This is the church right next to the Anne Frank House that provided them a touch of the outside world while in hiding. They could hear those church bells in the Secret Annex.
The Anne Frank House was my last museum ticket of the day. After I was done there, I used my Rick Steves book to complete the Jordaan Walk. Since I was right in the middle of it, I finished up the second half, and then backtracked to the first half of the walk back to Dam Square.
After making it back to Dam Square, I did Rick Steves Red Light District Walk (but I did stop at the point that he said "if you've had enough, you can end your tour here..."). Pictures are not appreciated or allowed there, so be mindful of that if you want to keep your camera!
I walked back to my hotel at that point. I had walked and walked that day, and I wanted to catch some of the men's final of Wimbledon. After that, I went back to the Foodhallen where I enjoyed another Pimm's...
and had a bizarre combo of Italian...
and Dim Sum! But it was all yummy!
That's it for Day 5. It was really my last full day in Amsterdam.
Stay tuned for Day 6 of my trip which took me to Brugges, Belgium!
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