We arrived in Amsterdam around 6 pm, took the train into Central Station, and decided to walk to our hotel which was only suppose to take 10-15 minutes. But the wheels on my suitcase came undone so I was dragging my suitcase the entire way. We didn't know where the 5 Star B&B was, thinking it was a hotel. We asked the restaurant next door to where the address said and they told of us where to go. It was a room in a man's apartment. I was furious at first. There was only one double bed. I said that I had requested two beds. He then showed me a smaller adjacent room with a twin bed. Ellen said it would be ok so I took the small room and she the larger and we had a big bathroom outside of our doors. We did have a good view of the Rhine.
Rembrandt painting
That night we went next door and had some Indonesia food which was very good and a glass of wine.
Oct. 12 - John fixed us breakfast in his quarters the next morning at 8. Soft boiled egg, yogurt, breads, lunch meat and cheese slices, tomatoes, orange juice and fruit. We walked to Central Station and bought a 48 hour tram ticket. It was pretty easy to learn and trams ran continuously. We took Tram 2 to Rijksmuseum. This is the Dutch National Museum which is four floors that leads visitors on an exciting chronological journey through art and history of the Netherlands. The museum's collection has over one million objects, about 8000 of which are displayed. Including in this collection are works by famous people such Vermeer and Rembrandt. We walked all the floors and it took us about 2 hours. Here are a few pictures of the displays in the museum:
Entrance to the museum
A beautiful piece of furniture
Models of ships
Library
Once outside, we had to take a picture of the famous 'Amsterdam' sign.
We had a quick hotdog from a outdoor cafe and then went to see the Van Gogh museum, located very close to the Rijksmuseum. We stood in one line only to find out it was for those with tickets. We went over to the other line to buy tickets but it said sold out. The lady at the ticket booth said only online and pointed to the website and password. So we got our tickets and went in. This was a very good museum because it dealt only with Van Gogh, his family, his life, his work, and the other artists he influenced.
Famous painting - The potato eaters
We almost missed the Sunflowers painting but finally found it. Sorry, no picture.
After a brief rest at our room we returned at night for dinner and a tour of the Red Light district.
We ate fondue and salad at this restaurant
Then we walked down the narrow streets of the Red Light district
Everywhere we saw red lit windows there were beautiful, skimpy clad women standing in the window. We saw 3 men takers. When the men entered, the windows were closed.
Oct. 13
Had another nice breakfast at John's. We think that he sleeps on his couch when he rents the rooms downstairs. At $170 per night he does pretty good. He gave me some glue to fix the wheels on my suit case but it did not help. Time to buy a new suitcase.
We took the tram to Rembrandt square and took pictures of the lifesize figures of 'Night Watch' ( Rembrandt's famous painting) in the square.
We went to the Rembrandt House museum where he lived, worked, sold his art, and taught. He was one of the most famous Dutch painters who lived in the 1600's. The house has been reconstructed so that it was as it was when Rembrandt lived there. We enjoyed this museum because it focused on one artist.
Rembrandt's bed
Replica of easel where he painted
Upstairs where he taught
The outside of his house. Rembrandt originally bought this house for 13,000 guilders in 1639 and resided there until he went bankrupt in 1656. The price of the house was the cause of his bankruptcy
We walked thru a street market and saw a lot of interesting things to buy.
Amsterdam is full of canals.
Of course I had to buy a new suitcase so we went to a large store, 'Primark'. There I found an inexpensive suitcase and we took it to our room. After a short rest at our room, we took the tram to Dam Square and had a nice lunch at an outdoor cafe.
We walked to the Anne Frank House museum. I had made reservations online or we would not have been able to go in. This was a very moving and well done museum. The Anne Frank house is where Anne was hiding along with 7 other people for 2 years during World War II. The museum holds some personal items that belonged to Anne and her family. No pictures were allowed in the house.
A bust of Anne Frank in the square.
We stopped for the traditional pancake dinner. We split a spinach, cheese, bacon, tomatoes pancake and then a caramel pancake for dessert. Yummy!
Here are some night shots of Central station.
And bicycles everywhere!
Oct. 14
Slept very good and had another nice breakfast with John. He said he would drop us off at the port of embarkation at 11. We dropped our bags at the boat and then walked back to Dam Square to see the Royal Palace. Paid $10 euros and this included an audio guide. We walked thru the Citizens Hall -
Balcony looking out at Dam Square
Many dignitaries say in these bedrooms which at one time were office buildings when the palace was first built as a town hall.
After the palace tour we walked back to the boat where we will stay for 14 days. Our room is A320 Panomara suite. Here are some pictures of the boat and room.
Tonight we had a briefing and safety talk, then a wonderful dinner. Now we are reading and ready to call it a day in front of a fireplace?
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