Weekend in Amsterdam

Well, what can you do in Amsterdam on the weekend and stick to the straight and narrow. You soon find out just because a business says it opens at a certain time, it may not. And just because it says it is open to the public, it may not be that day. My attempt to visit the Hermitage which is linked to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia, ended with me only taking pictures of the outside. Then on to the University of Amsterdam to look at a public exhibit--no one was there to open the door. It seems a warm spring morning after a beautiful Friday night brings out the casual attitude of all, except German and American tourists.

Well I still found much to do. I bought a great book on art and started reading it. Found great inexpensive food, opened my hotel window and took a nap. Hey I’m on vacation. Headed out at night and took a few acceptable pictures.

Sunday was more successful as far as getting to and actually going into open museums and such. The Science Center called NEMO was fun--a great way to begin the day. NEMO is very hands on and I suspect in constant need of fixing. As the children arrived it became very active and the adults stepped aside.

The Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder is a good Sunday event as it has many nice rooms, but the highlight is a hidden Catholic church. There was a period in Amsterdam history where it was difficult to practice as a Catholic, thus the hidden church.

Next stop was The Old Church, it is just that very old - built around 1250, and it still has concerts and display and services. The church is in the "red light" area – so a good time to go is on a Sunday early in the day - don't have to see the sex trade.

I must say I did go into the Sex Museum, and photos were allowed, but it actually is somewhat amusing. It has very old stuff (1890 – 1940) and a major collection of Playboy magazines. Oh well, Amsterdam is somewhat like this – Church going next to Sex shops, but people still seem respectful of one another.
For pictures from the weekend go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27258&l=d315a&id=617928368

May 19, 2008 Amsterdam - 1st time

We had our usual breakfast at the hotel—hardboiled egg on toast, granola cereal, oj for me and coffee, granola, toast for Allan.

We took the 15 minute train ride into Amsterdam and walked, walked, walked around the city. There is a lot of construction on major museums so we skipped the Rijks and Van Gogh today. Waiting lines to get in to limited rooms was 1 ½ hours we were told. So, we took a canal ride that was great—lasted about one hour going through the city canals and out into the harbor (slowed down by the Little Mermaid photo op).

Back on land we went to the Dutch Resistance Museum which was very interesting. This is an interactive museum and different exhibits made it clear what it was like to live in Holland during WW II. Just one of many interesting facts--people were starving near the end and many ate tulip bulbs to stay alive (the side effect was to turn the skin green). I would recommend this museum to anyone visiting Amsterdam.

After really good pizza at New York Pizza, we found the Anne Frank House and that tour also was very moving. Around the corner is a lovely statue of Anne in a small plaza.

We happened through the red light district (by mistake) on our way to have dinner and that was a bit outrageous with men inviting us to come in and see the live sex shows and photos of women everywhere in various poses and dress. There were a lot of shops with toys and sexy clothes. It was a bit early so the windows sat empty—no ladies of the night working yet. Somehow we resisted it all and kept on walking.

We had a nice dinner and then took the train back “home.” We got on the internet for the first time and read Ali and Cole’s blogs--saw great pictures of Cole and Dan becoming a Captain. That was so nice to see! For pictures from the day follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25878&l=6f12d&id=617928368