Museumplein

Hi folks

We started early again today in order to catch our high speed train to Amsterdam. No problems in a 3+ hour very smooth trip - 268km. The only odd things were the periodic warnings (in 3 languages!) from the train staff about pickpocket train riders!

We caught a tram to the Rijksmuseum, our reason for the trip. After a stop for lunch we presented ourselves at the appointed time - when you book a visit to this museum, you are given a a 15 minute entry window, and told if you miss the window you won’t be admitted!

So to the Rijksmuseum. This wonderful place hosts 22 Rembrandts and four Vermeers. We saw most if not all of these, plus a good number of the other 6,000 paintings the museum has!

We had planned to focus on Rembrandt - and we spent considerable time with him - but the range of subjects and sheer talent displayed in all the paintings we saw was overwhelming.
At the shop we bought postcards - and a 1000-piece jigsaw of Rembrandt’s Night Watch painting!

After a break at the cafe and the WC (free here, not the usual 2 Euros!) we turned to a couple of other topics of interest, Waterloo and a collection of ship models.

The Waterloo exhibition was a disappointment, with most of the exhibits bearing little or no relationship to the battle, but a strong interest in the Dutch connection.

By contrast, the dozens of ship models were superb. Galleys, galliasses, merchant ships and warships were all created in such detail that made you wonder how anyone could have had such skill - and that much patience!

Now came one of the highlights. Take a 2-metre long model of a Dutch warship. Both the warship and the model were built in the 1860s, but the model is split fore and aft so you can see all the decks.

Now get some modern wizard to create little holographic people doing their thing in each deck - absolutely brilliant. Watch Desiree’s video.

Back to the train station, and thence to Cologne. Another brilliant day!

But we’re ready for a rest day tomorrow - just as well, as all the shops are shut for Pentecost Monday!

Last word today from Des:

Song 19 May
A day trip to Amsterdam?

In our youth we were very demure
And our lives were obedient and pure
We worked at our studies and never got drunk
I lived with my folks, as did Neil, an ex-monk
While others flew off to enjoy their OE
We had beautiful babies and mortgages three
(Plus two others) which kept us both very busy
With the RNZN and my long PhD.
For our 40th at last we got Europe to see-
Covid nuked plans for anything more.

But now over seventy-five
We will celebrate being alive
We can do crazy things like a trip on a whim
To the great Rijksmuseum to see Rembrandt van Rijn
Despite aches and twinges and wrinkly skin
You’re never too old for a quest to begin
(Think of Bilbo! But hopefully not with a Ring)
We can all of us prosper and thrive!Read more