Dec 30, Amsterdam: This is it. The end of the road. Last day of the adventure. In Amsterdam on a Monday. And there are three places I wanted to see -- the Rembrandt house, the Rijkmuseum (state museum of the Netherlands), and the Van Gogh museum. I had seen all three five years ago on Take Back the Holidays 2009 but they are all cool places. In previous cities, the museums all opened at 10, so that's when I left. Here, they all opened at 9. Whoops, that was a dumb assumption by me.
This was a cold morning. Maybe the second coldest day yet. Cold, windy, and rain was on the way. I didn’t take a ton of pictures because that would involve taking off my gloves. I walked along the canals to the furthest of the three places I wanted to go -- the Rembrandt house. And it was pretty dead out for a Monday morning. I went thru the house in about an hour. It's not too big but you see where he greeted people, where he showed them art, the kitchen, his art studio, and the art studio of his apprentices. But none of his paintings. But still cool to see the stuff in his house and how it was laid out. They know what was in there and how it was all laid out because he did paintings of scenes in his house and he went bankrupt late in life and a full inventory was done of his four story house.
As I was leaving, I noticed the house was busier than when I got there. More people waiting in line, more people at the coat check. File this away. I got back to the streets, wandering the streets along the canals, dodging what had turned into a surging group of people in the city. I headed north to the Rijkmuseum. As did the rest of Amsterdam. I walked thru the tunnel in the building and saw the front of the lines, one on both sides of the road. I bet there were almost 1,000 people in both lines. No way I am standing in those lines. That’s a huge waste of my time since I am here for only 24 hours. I should have come down here to the museum first thing in the morning. Here’s a picture of the Rijkmuseum with the Iamsterdam sign behind it. Hard to see the lines but they come back towards the sign from the museum and then split to the left and to the right.
Right behind this museum is the Van Gogh museum. Which had a line of probably 500 waiting to get in. So that was a no go. So I walked up to the Anne Frank house. Another 300 people in line. Insane. This place gets packed for New Year's Eve and I didn’t even consider that in planning my day or buying tickets early. Now I needed to find stuff to do other than hit the big tourist attractions.
So I wandered back along the canals to the town square where city hall is located. Here’s a picture of my canal walk and then a panoramic shot of the town square and city hall.
Since I couldn’t go in city hall, I decided to hit some churches -- the old church and the new church. Which had really expensive entrance fees so I did not go in, just looked at them from the outside. Lots of wandering. By this time, it was 230 and I was getting hungry. Couldn't find anything I wanted so I went back to the train station for a couple of slices of pizza and a coke. Went back to my room to eat and relax for a few. Stayed there for almost an hour. It was cold and windy outside and I had probably walked for over 30 miles in my 7 previous days. So close to 4, I walked out the door back to the city.
My plan was to hit the van Gogh museum close to 5 with the assumption that the lines would have died down. I took the long way there along a route I had never been on. So many different buildings and canals and things to see. Like everyone's bikes and umbrellas. I've said it before but everyone's bike looks like it was first ridden pre war. And everyone's umbrella is inside out. It's pretty funny. Here’s a couple shots of my walk towards the museum.
Anywho, I made it down to the Van Gogh museum at 5 and there was no one in line. I'm brilliant! Paid, went in, and ran around the museum in 45 mins w the audio guide. Lots of good paintings and some good info on the audio guide. Here’s a picture of a new painting of his they just discovered like two years ago. I think it’s called Sunset at Montmarte
I finished the tour and walked out at closing at 6. Next up was to find a place to have a beer.
Now finding a place for one person to have a beer in Europe isn't easy. I want to find a barstool where I can sit, not stand around or sit at a table solo. But most bars aren't set up like this. There are bars but there are no stools there. People will just stand near the bar. Or everyone is at a table w a group. I wandered the streets for a while, peeking in windows to see if there was anywhere to sit. I finally found the go to -- an Irish pub. They are just like bars in America.
In I went and sat at the bar. Ordered a Jenepin. Or something like that. A Belgian lager, I think. Texted people, checked Facebook, Twitter, email. Then ordered a beer that I saw some others down the bar having. It's an IPA brewed by some local guy. Homemade label. Bottled 10 days earlier. And it was tasty! Here it is. Thanks, James!
Didn't talk to anyone other than the bartenders. Couples on both sides of me, facing the opposite direction. So alone I sat.
Finished my two beers and went back to the train station for dinner. If you can't tell, 90% of my meals were purchased at the train station. They just make it easy to get meals and go. Had pasta and it was good. Went back to my room, ate it, and packed. And then that was it. Vacation over. I was asleep by 1130. The end. Thank you, Europe! You did me right over these last 8 days.
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