Europe 2007 – 6/22/07 – Amsterdam. Click here for pictures.
We woke up this morning around 8am to begin another day of fun. Fresh croissants were awaiting us as we walked out of Frederick’s. We headed to central station to buy our IAmsterdam card so we could see a full day of museums. After leaving central station we walked over to the best viewpoint to see the city. We took a few pictures.
Shawn wanted to stop by the Stedelijk Museum (Modern Art) since it was free with the card. Wow, what a freaky museum. We decided the artists must have some sort of mental illness. We did not stay long.
Our next stop was the hidden Catholic Church – Our Lord in the Attic. The cathedral was located on the 3rd floor with two balcony levels. The pulpit was hidden and came out from a pillar. There were lots of beautiful paintings and gold monstrance/chalices.
It started raining again – this time very hard. So we ran to our next museum – the Willet-Holthuysen Mansion. This house was beautiful; it is sitting on a lovely canal and has a large garden (which is a sign of wealth). We toured the dining area, ballroom, sitting area, garden room, and a bedroom. This house also displayed a large collection of Venetian glass.
The rain had stopped when we left the Willet house so we went to the Café in de Waag for a nice lunch. Shawn had a hamburger with fries while I had a mozzarella and pesto sandwich.
In a quick decision, we decided to go to the Molen van Sloten windmill located outside of Amsterdam. It is one of the only working windmills left. The tram ride took about thirty minutes; it was the last stop on the line. From there we had to ask directions and walk ten minutes through a lovely town. The atmosphere is so different once you get outside of the city – lush green grass and plenty of space.
We arrived at the windmill and were given a personal tour of how the windmill works. This windmill is used to pump water out of the swamp area and back to the ocean. The majority of the Netherlands is below sea level so windmills were used to reduce the water level inland. There are other uses for windmills as well, but the Molen van Sloten solely pumps water.
It was not working when we arrived because the water level was adequate. We were taken to see the screw which pumps the water to the next canal. Then we went up to see the blades. Finally we went to the cap and saw how the miller controls the windmill. This place was awesome.
We walked back through the small town and got a picture of the town church. Then we walked to our tram. It ride took us back into Amsterdam. We got off at Hobbemastraat and boarded a boat for a 75 minute canal cruise. This boat took us through all the many canals. We went down the Gentleman’s canal which is the more expensive neighborhood. We went past the Willet museum since it was on the canal. The boat went all the way to the main harbor, where we saw the NEMO and the modern art museum. It then headed back into smaller canals. We went past the Anne Frank house and finally returned to our original starting location.
After our boat ride we walked into the Rijksmuseum. Here we saw several nice pieces of art. Our favorite was a picture of winter in the Netherlands. The Dutch people are skating, but when you look closely at the picture you can see two men “mooning.” There are also several famous works including those of Rembrandt. The last room contained the famous “Night Watch.”
We finished up at the Rijksmuseum only to find it raining again. After much debate, we decided to run to the Van Gogh museum (only one block away). The Van Gogh museum was very nice. We saw the famous Sunflower paintings, several self-portraits, and the last paining he did before he died. We also saw a painting regarding a friend that came to visit. The two had an argument and Van Gogh waved a gun at him. Later when the friend left, Van Gogh cut his ear off. The museum was very well stocked with Van Gogh art, but it did not have “Starry, Starry Night.”
After the museum, it was too late to take another boat ride so we headed to dinner. We went to a restaurant called Madre Maria. Shawn had “all you can eat” ribs while I had steak and potatoes. It was pretty good. The restaurant was Argentinean which is a popular cuisine in Amsterdam. After dinner we walked back to Hotel Frederic’s. It was a long, but delightful day.