Amsterdam!
As our train from Paris sped through Brussels, I thought of my dear friend Judith who lived in a Catholic orphanage there in the 1940s. As we approached Amsterdam, huge greenhouses and fat cattle promised fresh vegetables and delicious cheeses. The welcome cards that Lilli had preordered made it easy to find our way to an Air BandB that looked out on this lovely canal. Masonry from a previous edition of the house guided us to a full kitchen and a refreshing bottle of rosé. A nearby store provided the fresh fruit and milk the countryside had promised.
Lilli and Violet took off for a bike tour the next morning. Among thousands of bikes, they were among the few wearing helmets! As in Paris, Ukrainian flags fluttered from many buildings; this painted bike with sunflowers urged standing for Ukraine.
Having loved a certain Dutch artist since my teen years, I headed straight for the Van Gogh Museum, a seven-minute walk away. It turned out to be a gripping experience that inspired this post.
That afternoon all four of us enjoyed exploring the Rijksmuseum, the home of the Dutch Masters and 800 years of Dutch history. This album of 65 photos provides samples of what we saw. Lilli and I were delighted to find The Night School by Gerrit Dou, painted in the early 1660s. Gerrit Dou was an artist I had not heard of until I read about him in The Tsarina’s Lost Treasure: Catherine the Great, a Golden Age Masterpiece, and a Legendary Shipwreck by Gerald Easter and Mara Vorhees. Lilli and Mara belong to the same book group in Cambridge MA. My Delray Beach book group enjoyed discussing the book last December. Here are all four Smiths on the Museum Bridge that crossed the canal between our lodging and the Museum Plain.
After walking many miles on Tuesday, we took a 75-minute boat ride out to the harbor and back the next morning. It was relaxing and visually rewarding. We learned why so many old houses have large hooks at the top. Staircases were so narrow that it was more practical to lift heavy furniture into upstairs windows (Friends of ours once lifted a sofa into our Georgetown townhouse using scaffolding, not hooks). We also learned that the canal water stays relatively fresh by being replaced every week. Here are photos from our boat ride.
After lunch at our B and B, Lilli and Violet visited the Overlook and the Eye Museum, resulting in this fun photo. I headed back to the Museum district where I encountered a helpful guide at the Stedelijk Museum, who showed me how to use a portable audio guide. Two exhibits at this modern art museum especially interested me. Abstract Parables (see photo album here) inspired my post on Sedje Frank Hémon., And this provocative one made me think about the food we eat and the materials we use in our daily lives.
For more information about this challenging exhibit, please see this photo album. From the Stedellijk, I had a special view of the park.
Outside the Stedelijk is a sculpture named Sight Point by Richard Serra, one of my favorite artists. Through the top I saw a heavenly triangle; through the side, a view of the Royal Concertgebouw, which I had hoped to visit. Alas, this is as close as I got–the orchestra, in which my friend Alexander Kerr was once concertmaster, was taking a well-deserved break during July.
That evening we had an early dinner and visited the hiding place of the Frank family 1942-44. Steve and I had seen it in August 1967 on our way home from Istanbul, but it was a first for Lilli and Violet. To keep the considerable crowds moving, no photos were allowed. After watching the movie My Best Friend, Anne Frank the night before, we were glad to see videos of the author, Anne’s friend Hannah Goslar, and of Anne’s father, Otto, talking about their memories. I thought of my best friend Judith Morris constantly; Lilli and I shared memories of her with Violet. At our next stop, Berlin, we will visit the Jewish Museum.
Our last day in Amsterdam was really fun–the NEMO Science Museum with its wonderful outdoor space above the harbor. You can see 25 fun photos here–don’t miss Lilli and Violet’s demonstration of tongue curls! After writing a post about two women named Frank, I took Violet to see more of the Rijksmuseum Garden, while Steve and Lilli visited the Heineken Brewery.
Our final dinner in this beautiful city was at Buffet von Odette, which, in addition to serving delicious food, displays works by neighborhood artists, such as this one by Peggy Kuijper.
Such a friendly, welcoming city! Not as crowded as Paris would have been on Bastille Day and full of wonderful treats. Amsterdam! My friend Nick Hagoort, who is Dutch, sings this line from a song by Johnny Jordan, a Dutch singer.: Geef me meer Amsterdam; het is mooier dan Paris. (Give me more Amsterdam; it is prettier than Paris.)
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