Amsterdam : 2013

I took a trip to Amsterdam with Lamb and Becca. It was during "Spring Break" and was a great trip! I was the "lead"on this portion of the trip (following the trip to Normandy) but I didn't have the most complete plan. However, it really turned out well in the end.

The first thing we did was buy the I amsterdam city card. You can get discounts on museums, public transportation and a free boat tour. We opted for the 72 hour transit pass and it worked out perfectly. We stayed in the Manor Hotel - Hampshire Eden. It wasn't immediately downtown, but it was an easy trip on the tram. 

the I amsterdam city card and the room at the Manor

This is the front of the Amsterdam Centraal railway station. It is decorated with the banners for the Queen's birthday - the main reason we visited Amsterdam this time of year. Queen's Day was the annual celebration of her birthday. This year (2013) was different as the Queen was abdicated and the new king, Willem-Alexander, was inaugurated. It works out well that the king's birthday is close to the queen's - still near the end of April. Below is the crowd at the inauguration. This is just the preliminary crowd. It gets huge that night. 

During the ceremony and sundown, there's kind of a strange lull - very relaxed and easy going. The streets aren't overly crowded and most of the restaurants don't serve food. You can get drinks in the bars / restaurants, but almost everyone is selling food on the streets. 

Above is where we stopped to get some food. They were having a deal of beers, tequila and oysters. The royal color of the Netherlands is orange (hence the shirt, scarf and hat). The picture on the right was a commentary on the fact that you couldn't eat in a bar (even though we had a great time).

Speaking of food, we found an awesome tapas place right by the hotel - Pata Negra! I think we ate there three times! It was fantastic food, close to the hotel and a cool atmosphere. If you can get to a Pata Negra, definitely go! Above is the plate we ordered every time - amongst others..

We visited the Hermitage Amsterdam. My expectations were high as this is a branch of the Hermitage in St Petersburg. It was good, but just keep in mind it is significantly smaller than the Hermitage. However, with the iamsterdam card, it was free and there was zero waiting, zero lines! As the ticket shows, Peter the Great was the traveling exhibition.

The rules for the Drunken Synod were on display; which I thought were pretty amusing. And there was another Sleeping Hermaphroditus. I say another, because I keep seeing them. The Louvre has one and I think I've seen one at the Petite Palais, too.Just keeps popping up.

Another perk of the I amsterdam card was a free canal tour. You could use two companies, we used Canal. It was a good trip and a cool way to see the city (or at least parts of it). Here are some pictures from the boat.

Left: I thought the EYE Film Institute (low, white building left of tower) is a cool building - would have liked to see it at night. And on the right, the NeMo (National Center for Science and Technology). I looked like a giant ship bow on the horizon. Below is a nice tower I kinda made into a promo shot for Amsterdam.

And then there was the Van Gogh museum... I knew the Rijksmuseum had just reopened, but lost track of the fact that the Van Gogh was also reopened. In fact, it was it's second day! The Rijksmuseum had been open about two weeks. Point being, both museums had lines for blocks. The lines were so bad, they stopped honoring special passes. It was a mess. TV stations were even there it was so crowed. That aside, once in, the museum was great and had a good collection. Below are just some of the things I liked.

On the left, Head of a skeleton with a burning cigarette, 1886, oil on canvas, and on the right, my ticket, which being prepaid, did help us a little (slightly shorter line).

(L) van Gogh (1853-90), Standing female nude, seen from the side, pencil on paper

(R) Claude Monet (1840-1926), Bulb fields and windmills near Rijnsburg, 1886

(L) Vincent van Gogh, Digger, 1882, lithograph

(R) van Gogh, The raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt), 1890

(L) Wheatfield under thunderclouds, 1890, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Oil on Canvas

(R) Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), Portrait of Vincent van Gogh, 1887

And of course, there was van Gogh's Self-portrait with straw hat. I didn't know he made as many as he did. I would definitely recommend the museum and I'm sure the lines won't be as long in the future. And if you can get to Amsterdam - it's a must see city!