WE GOGH, GOGH, GOGH

 Trip Date: June 19-20, 2019

[Click on any pic to enlarge]

We managed to get some sleep last night, but it's always a challenge at the end of 30+ hours of being up, long flight, unfamiliar bed, and late night trolleys.  Breakfast at the flat, then a walk through a light-but-steady rain to the Van Gogh Museum, about a half hour slow stroll.  We all got wet, but dried out pretty quickly once inside.  This is a hot ticket, with timed entry by reservation only, so I had booked it online before leaving home.  Had a nice tour, and we agreed we liked his later works best, but it was all good.  This poster in the lobby was the only place we were allowed a photo, so selfie it is!

After the museum we walked some more and ended up at a Pizza restaurant for lunch.  Fortunately, the rain had stopped so we could eat al fresco.  Since John and the girls had left coatless, we hunted up a clothing store and John bought a very nice jacket.  Alas, we couldn't find anything suitable for the girls.  We returned to the flat for a rest before taking off for our 4:00 afternoon canal boat cruise.  Before leaving home, I had researched options for these cruises and found literally hundreds of them.  I wanted to avoid the long, glass-topped mega boats with dozens of passengers, and I found great reviews for a small, owner-operated one that had tons of enthusiastic reviews. They were right!  Rederij Paping is the operator, and Googling that will bring up his site and reviews on Trip Advisor.  (I tried to insert a link, but Blogger keeps screwing it up.)  That's our boat motoring off.

Our pilot was Bob, 60-something, who's been doing these tours for 20 years after ditching a career in tech in the Boston area.  He and his family live on a canal boat, and he is a real history buff.  We got a top-notch commentary as we cruised about.  A nice thing about a smaller boat is that we got to go in narrower passageways that the big guys miss.  Plus, being able to dialogue with your operator was a plus.

After the cruise (a little over 90 minutes), we had time to stroll a bit before dinner and stumbled upon a Dutch icon, the Tulip Museum.  I thought the ones outside were the prettiest.  Then it was time to look for a dinner place and we ended up at La Florita, eating outside at a linen-clad table.  Tongue appetizer (yum!), lamb tagliatelle for Loni and a turbot for me, with gelatto for dessert.

After a cereal breakfast the next morning, we went out walking again.  Amsterdam is a maze of streets and canals, and we made good use of Google maps' pedestrian views as we meandered.

We steered towards the De Hallen shopping area to window shop in its old warehouses/train station setting.  Best of all, we found a Dutch pancakes emporium which was something I had been lusting for.  Yes!  Loni and I split two dishes, one a savory ham & cheese, the other a sweet apple, almond, calvados and whipped cream wonder.  Call it a late breakfast.  Yeah.  Afterwards, more walking around until it was time for a beer break.

Refreshed, we continued exploring. 

One of the most extraordinary places in the center of Amsterdam can be found behind a door on Spuiplein. It leads to the Begijnhof (Beguinage), a medieval inner courtyard where the women of the Catholic sisterhood lived.  The place is amazingly serene in the middle of the bustle and crowds of Amsterdam. The Beguinage was established somewhere in the 14th century to house the Begijnen. These women lived like nuns but were more independent and had more freedom. The Catholic faith was banned in the 16th century, and the Begijnhof was the only Catholic institution that continued to exist because the houses were the private property of the women. The last Beguine died in 1972.  Loni is in front of the Englese Kerk (English Church) dating from the 1400's.

 

We'd had enough walking for the day, and retreated to the flat for some laundry and flop time.  Meghan and John went out to celebrate her recent promotion, so we took the girls out to Pastis, just a short walk away.  Again, great food beautifully served.  We are eating well in Amsterdam.  Back to the flat, bedtime stories for the girls, and to bed.  I discovered that I'd left one of my three super-travel shirts (wash and drip dry) at home.  Augh!  Can't get by for a month with just two, so more shopping in the offing.

Don't know whether this is just a very old abandonment or some sort of street art, but it seems symbolic of bike-crazy Holland: