Amsterdam - Part 2

The early morning windmill tour didn't happen. I mean I'm pretty sure it did, but it didn't happen for me. I don't even remember the alarm going off... I just remember waking up hours after the tour had left. Sure it was disappointing, but if I had gone on the tour I'm not sure I would have been able to see everything that we managed to fit into our day.First we grabbed some breakfast at a restaurant that we'd walked past several times. It was a small little place, but it was very cozy. I seem to remember my hot chocolate being very good. We started with the Van Gogh Museum, which is pretty cool as far as museums go. You can't bring in any bags or liquids, but they have a baggage check area. They also have a web cam that you can use to record videos and send them to family and friends. Kat and I recorded a video that we sent to our parents, but I think I made it home before it arrived in my parent's inboxes.

Anyway, the museum is set up in a chronological order. The first room you enter is about Van Gogh's early career. All of his works are arranged in a manner that you can easily follow, and as you progress from room to room, you move forward in time. The museum is clearly designed to help you understand how events in Van Gogh's life affected his work, as well as how his style evolved as he grew older. It was very informative, and well done. Photography inside the museum is strictly prohibited, which is a policy that I'm guessing was put into affect after a few pieces of art were stolen. I didn't sneak any photos inside, but I did get a short video clip of Van Gogh's Sunflowers. It's not the greatest, but it's still better than nothing.

We eventually saw the entire museum and went to the all important gift shop. I'd seen people walking around with Van Gogh Museum bags and print rolls since we'd arrived, and I wanted one of my own. I bought a print of one of my favorite works by Van Gogh, The sea at Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. I love the colors of the ocean, and his bold signature in red.

Next was the I amsterdam sign... where I was determined to spell out my name. I needed help creating an "F" and Adrienne obliged.

After several pictures, I had enough to shots to spell out my name. With some quick editing, here is the result!Third on the day was the Rijks Museum, which I'd mentioned in my previous post. In celebration of Rembrandt's 400th birthday, the museum gathered the largest collection of Rembrandt's paintings ever to be in one location, and they rearranged many rooms of the museum for the exhibition. I'm not a big Rembrandt fan, but I did like the way they displayed and explained one of his most famous works, The Night Watch. After waiting in line and finally seeing the painting, we headed for the doors and walked to the Anne Frank House.

Walking was a bad idea, and it took much longer than anticipated. For the rest of our day, see Amsterdam - Part 2 Continued.