Dutch treat

Even heavy rain couldn’t stop me from having a blast in Amsterdam. I mentioned in a previous post how it was storming during the weekend I spent in this Dutch capital, but I checked the weather report prior to my trip and so I was prepared both physically (jacket and folding umbrella in tow) and psychologically (I knew what to expect so I was definitely not going to be upset if the weather didn’t cooperate).

Before I got there, I had only four points of interest – the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh museum, the Anne Frank house, and going on a Canal Tour. But after going to the tourist information center upon arrival at the airport, I found out that it would be much better for me to get the 48-hour I Amsterdam card, which would give me free entrance to almost all museums there (save for the Anne Frank house) as well as free rides on public transportation and even a couple of canal tours. If I couldn’t spend time outdoors, then I would milk this card for all it was worth by visiting as many museums as I could.


I arrived on Friday mid-afternoon and decided to study my I Amsterdam Card Guidebook to see which places I had free entrance to, which of them I would like to visit, what their opening times were, and where they were located. I then mapped out my sightseeing plan. Since there wasn’t a lot of time left on that Friday, I opted to see three places: the Houseboatmuseum (which was just down the block from my hotel), and both the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum, which on Fridays remain open until 10pm.

There are about 2,500 houseboats in Amsterdam. The Houseboat Museum gives you a bit of an idea of how it is to live in one of these houseboats. It was actually quite cozy inside, but I have to say that I don’t think I could live here – every time another boat passed by, it rocked the houseboat a tad bit, but enough to make me slightly seasick (or, well, canal-sick).


I then headed towards the Rijksmuseum. I strongly recommend a visit here when you are in Amsterdam. The Rijksmuseum houses mostly paintings, although it also has some historical artifacts and sculptures as well. What made my trip here very memorable was the free concert I managed to catch inside. At around 6pm, I heard an immaculate soprano voice singing operatic solos while accompanied by a piano. I head over to the adjacent hall where the music was coming from and I learn that there was a concert there at 730pm (actually, there was one every Friday night of June), and museum goers could watch it for free. It would last about an hour, so that meant I wouldn’t have time to visit the Van Gogh museum that night, but I decided that the concert would be worth seeing and I could just head to the Van Gogh museum the next day. It was a great concert (I felt so cultured afterwards LOL). I also have to say that the acoustics inside that museum hall were magnificent.

The next day was one of the longest touring days I’ve ever had. I got up fairly early, around 8, had a hefty breakfast, then I ran through the following itinerary:

• De Nieuwe Kerk, which is the second oldest church in Amsterdam, dating back to 1414
• De Oude Kerk, which is Amsterdam’s oldest monument dating back to 1250. You can’t really tell from the outside, but this church has a very high ceiling. You are also warned when you come in to take care when walking around because the floor is a bit uneven. Additional interesting piece of info – behind this church is the red light district. Talk about your ironies.

• Ons' Lieve Heer Op Solder, or Our Lord in the Attic. If I remember what I read about the museum correctly, in the olden days when Protestantism was the predominant religion in Holland, Catholic churches were “prohibited” from being built. However, the Protestants were a bit more tolerant and thus allowed Catholics to build churches as long as the façade did not clearly indicate that it was indeed a Catholic church. As such, this Chapel in the Attic actually has a gable house exterior.
• Foam Photography Museum (FOtografiemuseum AMsterdam). During my visit, the galleries displayed photo exhibits from four different photographers: Lise Sarfati, French street artist JR, Jacques Henri Lartigue, and Rob Van Der Nol.

• Museum Willet-Holthuysen. This beautiful house, located on the bank of the Herengracht canal, used to belong to Mrs. Willet-Holthuysen, whose last will was to turn her home into a museum so as to keep the family name alive.
• The Van Gogh Museum, which contains hundreds of paintings, drawings, and even letters of Vincent Van Gogh. There were also works from other artists. It was during this visit that I realized I am not one of those people who appreciate Van Gogh’s art style. I do like some of his earlier works, but for the most part, his art doesn’t really reach out to me in the way it does with most other people.
• Rederij Noord-Zuid Canal Tour. By now, most museums were closed. But the two canal tours were still open so it made sense to get on these canal tours at the end of the day since all you had to do was sit on the boat and see the sights.
  
  
• Holland International Canal Tour. My I Amsterdam card gave me a free pass to both canal tours so I decided to take both. Holland International operates until 10pm during the summer so I took this last.

I got back to my hotel at around 1030pm before I realized that I hadn’t seen the Red Light District yet. I asked the night-shift receptionist (a really tall, friendly, and pretty Dutch woman) how to get there (30 minute walk), and if it was safe to walk there (it was). I decided not to take any photos since I wasn’t sure if I would get in trouble if I did. But it was certainly an, er, unique experience walking around in this area. I finally get back to my hotel at half-past midnight, cleaned up and fell fast asleep.

I was planning to visit two more places on Sunday morning before I had to head back to the airport at around 12 noon. But after doing tourist-y stuff from 10am until past midnight the day before, I was so tired that I decided to sleep in a bit more on Sunday morning and just visit Anne Frank Huis (or the Anne Frank House). I read in my book that you need to make your way here right when it opens at 9am to avoid the long queues. I didn’t make it by 9 – I got there about maybe 45 minutes later – and true enough, the queue was already around the corner. It took me about half an hour to actually get inside. But when I did, it was worth it.

So after two churches, seven museums, and two canal tours, I bid farewell to Holland, bringing with me lots of wonderful memories. At least now I can say that I have been to Amsterdam, and not just the airport (through which I have had to make dozens of connecting flights in the past). Would be nice to pay a visit again in the future. Hopefully with better weather. :)