Thurs 26 Apr 2018. King's Eve in Amsterdam

Thurs 26 Apr 2018. King's Eve in Amsterdam

GirlRob had Dutch pancakes for breakfast, which turned out to be fried batter over bacon and cheese (better on the eyes than the heart!) BoyRob asked for poached eggs: “the mother doesn’t do - you have happy face, OK?” which turned out to be fried eggs sunny side up. The mother obviously does frying!

Walked to magnificent building that is the Rijksmuseum, "...home to the country's largest public art history research library—and a seriously vertiginous spiral staircase...". Whichever way you looked, the Great Hall was seriously impressive - upwards to frescoed ceilings, sideways to murals and stained glass, and downwards to mosaics and patterned tiles.

Spent three or four hours wandering between floors admiring not only the old Dutch Masters, but also painters from the Hague School, Art Nouveau, and the Impressionists to name some of the featured exhibits.  GirlRob found it most enjoyable to be allowed to photograph at will. 

Rembrandt was the grandest of the Old Masters, with several rooms dedicated to his works, including from a young age.

The Syndics

Titus reminded us of our niece Dimi....

Night Watch

Very civilised art education program!

Vermeer:

The Milk Maid

Rubins:

Incredulity of Thomas - triptych

van Dijk:                                                                                        Asselijn:                               

The Threatened Swan

Steen:

The Merry Family

Gabriel:

Monet:                                                                                 Whistler: 

Corniche near Monaco

Arrangement in Yellow and Gray

The self-portrait by Van Gogh was a much smaller painting than GirlRob had expected. Contrastingly, the huge painting of Waterloo overtook its room.

Toulouse la Trec:                                                                          Ensor:

Intrigue

Even with BoyRob navigating to those artists we wanted to see, we still missed de Goya - luckily we've "seen" him in earlier trips to Europe.

There were also exhibitions featuring Delftware (amazing flower pyramid), ships models, and The Dutch Overseas. 

 

Like most museums, you could spend days wandering the floors and rooms. By mid-afternoon Wanderoos called it quits and had a late lunch of sausage and pickle on shiny-crusted bread in their café.

Rested we walked through Museum Square in the brisk wind.

Van Gogh Museum

Walked a few more blocks to enter pretty Vondelpark, where we wandered among the ducks, flowers, statues, lakes and trees – even spotting a pair of green parrots.

Took a last round trip canal cruise, getting clearer photos once roof was opened. Recognised many of the landmarks this time around! Passed iconic narrow canal houses, Jewish Quarter/Waterlooplein Flea Market, Skinny Bridge. Heard about the Golden Age of architecture, saw Science Centre Nemo, not tempted to disembark at the lookout with its swing on top going out over the edge. 

The canals opened into Bay of Ij (“eye”) where the commentary told us there was fresh water on top, and heavier salty water underneath, with the different species in each. 












Amsterdam has a huge problem with bicycles and their parking. The common joke is: water in canal is 3 metres deep: one third water, one third mud, one third bicycles!!

Walked to Indonesian Restaurant for dinner; GirlRob chose delicious Nasi Kuning, yellow rice cooked in coconut and turmeric with tender beef and egg, whilst BoyRob had the snapper cooked in banana leaf. We are going to have to take this eating holiday in hand soon. Walked downtown for coffee and to mix with partygoers before walking back to hotel for a well-earned rest. The “House of Orange” city was celebrating Kings Eve: orange hats, jackets, helium balloons, and children wearing dainty feather wings.