Amsterdam is the city which is most popular with foreign tourists in the Netherlands. As a domestic tourist I’ve visited Amsterdam a few times in the past, but there is much worth seeing there which warrants more trips to our capital city. That’s why Stephanie and I decided to visit Amsterdam on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 January.
On the first day we took a train from Rotterdam to Amsterdam, arriving a little bit later than we had intended, around the start of the afternoon. We first visited the Van Gogh Museum. It’s strange that I hadn’t visited this earlier, considering the treasures of art exposed here. I adore Van Gogh’s work, I consider him the last great Dutch painter. I was so impressed and fascinated with the paintings that I felt overwhelmed, almost in a state of ecstasy. It is for good reason that the museum has some text which describes the Stendhal syndrome.
The Rijksmuseum was next. I had visited it before years ago, but this was the first time I visited the museum after its renovation. I consider the renovation a great improvement, though I don’t remember well how it looked during my last visit. Loved the paintings here too. When the museum closed in the afternoon, we went to Mana Mana for dinner, an Israeli restaurant which we can recommend. Not the best I’ve sampled from Israeli cuisine, but it has a good selection of vegan dishes. We then spent the night at a hotel far to the west of Amsterdam’s center, because that was much cheaper than within the center.
On Sunday we had more time. We walked from our hotel to the center, through the Vondelpark, to visit the Stedelijk Museum. I did not like this museum, it felt like the suprematist paintings of Kazimir Malevich there ripped me out of the swoon I had entered in the Van Gogh Museum. Next was the Tropenmuseum, which has expositions on various cultures in the tropics. Especially the building it is housed in is remarkable. We finished in the Allard Pierson Museum. I had visited this archeology museum a few years ago already, but Stephanie had never seen it yet. The temporary exposition on Sicily was still interesting for me, and I would like to visit again when the renovation of the museum is finished.
We had dinner in Indonesian restaurant Kantjil & de Tijger. The food here was average, but at least it had enough vegan options. It was after dinner when we saw the best attraction of this day, the Amsterdam Light Festival. This is a boat trip through the canals of Amsterdam, which were decorated with many light art installations. It was a beautiful conclusion to our trip. The boat trip ended close to the Central Station of Amsterdam, from where we took a train back to Rotterdam.
But there is much more to see in Amsterdam. Next year I want to visit again during spring or summer to see those things for which I didn’t have time to visit. I have visited The Amsterdam Museum, the National Maritime Museum and the Hermitage Amsterdam in the distant past, but would like to see them again. Attractions which I haven’t visited yet are the Hortus Botanicus, EYE Film Institute Netherlands, FOAM, Rembrandt House Museum, the Royal Palace, the New Church and the Old Church. At Muiden, at a short distance of Amsterdam, I want to see Muiden Castle.