Amsterdam with the Fam

My mom and sister came for a two week visit. The day after they arrived, we headed to Amsterdam. Thankfully, my sister kept a journal during our trip so I am merely plagiarizing her notes here.

We got on the road a little after 10 and the sun was out in full force. The highways in Germany have variable speed limits, and in certain spots lack of limits. Jim took liberty to get us to Amsterdam in record time. I was too nervous to look at the speedometer most of the way, but did see it reach 220km/h at one point.

We had a little trouble finding the B&B (if u can call it that--it was an apartment with two guest rooms). After securing parking we took off on the tram to museumplein, a large green space with museums flanking it on all sides. Our first stop was the Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands treasure house of old masters. Much of the museum was under construction but the main collection was concentrated in a few galleries that remained open. We followed the Rick Steves tour and saw an amazing collection of Dutch masters. Jim commented that there wasn't a painting in the museum that showed a right blue sky. Some things (like the weather) haven't changed in a hundred years.

After the museum we headed west to the Jordaan neighborhood to try an Indonesian restaurant recommended by our host at the B&B. It was delish. After dinner Mom and I headed to the Anne Frank house while Alison and Jim chilled at a bar. The house/museum was terrific and really resonated with me as I just recently finished reading the diary and the details were fresh. By the time we left the weather had taken a turn and it was pouring. Fortunately Alison has an amazing sense of direction and found the tram stop we needed in no time. Amazingly we slept until 8 am and awoke to a hard rain. Jim decided not to head back to Germany right away and to join us for the morning. Heading back to museumplein, our first stop was the Van Gogh museum. Fortunately the B&B provided us with museum passes so we got to skip the long lines and only had to pay for the audio tour. The current special exhibit was intiltled, Colors of the Night and dove into Van Gogh's fasination with darkness and the night sky. The collection culminated with Starry Night, not usually housed at this museum. Much of the audio tour described in his own words, through correspondence with his brother Theo (his supporter), his thoughts about his illness and work. One of my favorite works, The Wheatfields with Crows, was the last painting he finished--a work of restless energy. I decided to buy a mug with its likeness to remember the sad and tragic record of intense beauty he left behind.

Jim took off back to Bonn and the three of us went to check out Rick's recommended pancake shop. We got 2 savory and one sweet of the crepe-like treats. The cheese and apple was my favorite. From there we walked throuhg the much quieter Jordaan neighborhood. Just two blocks off the main canals and things got quiet and calm. Again the rain came and interrupted our walking tour momentatiry. When it cleared somewhat we left the Jordaan and headed to the red light district. Late Sunday afternoon things were sleepy except for all the tourists.

We were all starving after our walking tour of the Red Light District so we headed back to the Jordaan neighborhood for some vegetarian food. Beth and Alison had gone to this same restaurant (De Bolhoed) when they were in Amsterdam the last time. Unfortunately, the waitstaff moved at a glacial pace so after waiting 15 long minutes we decided to find another restaurant before we got carnivourous and started eating some of the guests at the next table.

We went to another one of Rick's recommendations, Toscana Italian Restaurant, and they had exactly what we needed - cheap, fast Italian fare with friendly service.

The next day we had initially planned to go to Keukenhof to see the tullips but our hostess let us know that most of the tullips were already cut down. She said that some of her guests last weekend were really disappointed when they went. So we decided to scrap the tullips and check out Haarlem which was only a 20 minute train ride from Amsterdam.

Haarlem is like a mini Amsterdam with canals and a large square. We toured the Grote Kerk (a 15th century Protestant Church) which has one of the largest pipe organs. There are 5,000 pipes and some of which are up to 20 ft. tall. Both Handel and Mozart came to play this impressive organ.

We decided to get some lunch and some protection from the bitter wind. We ended up at the V&S department store which has a cafeteria styled restaurant called La Place up on the 5th floor. The view from the restaurant was great.

Back in Amsterdam, we took a canal boat tour to give our feet a rest. The boat ride was really peaceful. So peaceful in fact that Alison had a hard time staying awake. It had been windy and chilly all day so the sun beating down on us through the windows felt especially good. Although the moving boat probably didn't help either as Alison seems to fall asleep on trains or any moving vehicle. We only need to be moving for about 15 minutes before she has her head back and her mouth open, snoring away.

We had dinner that night at a middle eastern restaurant / bar that was recommended by Rick and was close to the Vondelpark area. It wasn't spectacular but was filling and reasonably cheap.

I will have to update the blog to include the rest of the visit when I return from Tuscany. Jim and I are heading there tomorrow morning. I can't wait for 80 degree weather and sunshine! The ravioli and gelatto won't be too bad either.