Only about 5 hours north of us is the beautiful city of Amsterdam. Again the reputation was not quite accurate. Sure, marijuana and the red light district exist there, but there were a lot of really great things to see, and we could easily forget about the four or five blocks where women are posing in the windows, and the drugs were not obvious, sauf for the occasional scent.We arrived in the evening, and stopped to ask for directions several times (see the blog entry about the names on the maps). No matter who we asked, they spoke English easily and clearly. The town is built around 4 major canals and has battled for space with a rather unique solution. Very few cars, and thousands of bicycles. No, really hundreds of bicycles parked at every open space.
The lure for me was the Van Gogh Museum, and the unfulfilled promise of a couple of Caravaggios at the Rijksmuseum, the Amsterdam national museum of art. Pat just wanted to see another new city, so he was happy to go. The weather was very cold, and grey, but mostly dry. The photos didn't turn out good because of the light, but the town is very beautiful and the architecture is different from France, and a lot more like we have seen at home.
We took a 3 hour bike tour with a bubbly dutch woman and three other tourist groups from South Africa, Australia and about an hour south of Amsterdam. As about 14 folks on bright yellow bikes, we tooled around the city, seeing the only park in the city, and many of the outdoor art features. We followed that with a canal boat ride that gave a good overview of the history, and a beautiful view of the city as the lights came up.
The food was amazingly good and diverse. The closest meal we had to Dutch food was probably the split pea soup I had, made with chunks of kielbasa like sausage and smoked ham. We also had a creamed yogurt dessert at de Lewt that was called Hangop and was served with a roasted pear. We had Christmas eve dinner at tiny Italian place with only 8 tables. The owner was the chef and his girlfriend the server and host. The six courses were all hand made and fresh and while a bit different (sweetbreads) and strong flavors, we really enjoyed it. Our Christmas dinner was at an Iranian restaurant, a first for us. The ground lamb kabobs, saffron rice and a smoky eggplant spread was really excellent, but our favorite was the side dish of yogurt mixed with roasted garlic. It was fantastic!
There weren't a lot of Christmas decorations, and apparently the town hugely celebrates St. Nikklaus in early December, and secondly Christmas, but the big front windows of the lovely homes along the canals had beautiful Christmas trees and lights and decorative wreaths hanging on front doors. The house boats were decked out with strings of lights and the occasional Christmas trees on the decks. The Rijksmuseum was literally a shell of its usual self because much of it is under construction, but the Rembrandts and Vermeers were proudly displayed, as was the hull of a 16th century British war ship that was captured by the Dutch. There was an exhibit of Karel de Jardin, whose best painting in that collection was arguably his self-portrait that the audioguide said he used as a kind of business card.
I can't say enough about the Van Gogh museum, and now that we have been to his birthplace, his death place and to Arles and St. Remy de Provence, I can say his paintings are really amazing and can't be done justice by looking at photos and post cards. I would put seeing his works on my Must Do ASAP list.
We finished our stay with a stimulating visit to the Anne Frank House. They have created a very nice educational exhibit, sometimes very moving, and always provoking thought and conversation. The exit offers a chance to contemplate our current actions for and against human rights, like, "Should police officers be allowed to wear something that indicates their religious preference when they are in uniform?" Or "Does freedom of speech allow for rap music that describes murder and torture of homosexuals?"
