http://www.amsterdam.info/museums/museumkaart/
My recent trip started by meeting up with my mom and our longtime friend June, who are taking a cruise down the Rhine, starting in Amsterdam, ending in Basel Switzerland. I was lucky enough to get to tour Keukenhoff Gardens in full bloom with them!
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| Keukenhof, the worlds largest tulip gardens. Lisse, Netherlands. |
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| June and Sheryl, tearing up Keukenhof! |
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| Keukenhof, the worlds largest tulip gardens. Lisse, Netherlands. |
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| Fields of tulips, near Amsterdam. |
Erik arrived the afternoon of my second day and we celebrated with an Indonesian Rice Table, "Rijsttafel," a huge feast of the best food from Indonesia. This time we ate at The Indonesian Kitchen, which was a much more cozy setting than Kartkia, where we first tried Rijsttafel. The place was full of Dutch people, friends and neighbors enjoying an elegant, delicious meal. We were lucky to get to chat with some very nice guys and the really lovely staff.
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| Rijsttafel from Indonesian Kitchen, Amsterdam |
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| Rijsttafel from Indonesian Kitchen, Amsterdam |
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| Rijsttafel from Indonesian Kitchen, Amsterdam |
Back to the Museums of Holland.. The Dutch are amazing for utilizing their wealth to build a civilization such as they have today. Great buildings, holding great museums, and a sustaining culture of the arts... I think everyone should visit the Netherlands someday to catch a glimpse of how these intelligent people live! To be open to everyone, and to do business with everyone, is a good strategy. This is what Dubai is doing currently and I hope will become the Amsterdam of the Middle East, to maintain a sustainable society based on tolerance and good trading practices.
We began our museum tour in Amsterdam with the Amsterdam Museum, which exhibits a history of the city as well as artwork. This was my second visit and it's always awesome.
Then Rembrant's House, which is more than Rembrants home and great master works... There are contemporary interpretations of his work and legacy, as well as exhibits showing how the medical drawings and anatomy research was done. Very cool!!!
Honestly, what happens on all travel adventures with my husband, we go on a history death march and he took me to so many places, I cannot remember them all... I know we visited a few more places in Amsterdam, but since it was a few days ago and it was Amsterdam, I cannot remember!
We attempted to visit the Hortus Botanical Gardens, but it was 5 minutes to closing, so we were not allowed in. Next time, inshallah.
We travelled outside of Amsterdam for the first time-- and visited The Hague for a couple of days!
The M.C. Escher museum was first on The Hague agenda and did not disappoint. This great mind created so many optical illusion woodprints, drawings and paintings, it was truly astounding. M.C. Escher was not included in the Museumkaart, but it was well worth the €9.
I had no idea what we would see in The Hague, there was a dizzying amount of priceless artwork, which was just so overwhelming... In addition to the beauty of the city, we were just rolling around this town in pure bliss.. It was quite cold for me, 15C/50F.. I felt frozen, but I would easily do it again...
I've always been happy to just wander the streets of old European cities, there is great architecture, canals and people watching to behold in Amsterdam. The morning of our departure to The Hague by train, we asked the server in the restaurant if The Hague is as beautiful as Amsterdam.. She said no, The Hague is not exceptionally beautiful... Since The Hague is gorgeous and constantly sparkling with the light reflected off the canals, we decided that the Dutch take beauty for granted, since they have so much of it around them... I guess you don't realize that The Hague is pretty until you have visited the rust belt cities of the U.S....
We began our first full day in The Hague at the Mauritshuis and I really didn't know what I was in for. This collection blew me away and reminded me of the Donna Tart novel The Goldfinch... If you have read this book, you know what I mean. Beautiful paintings that make you start to feel greedy and want to own them.... I saw many works of Vermeer... The Girl with the Pearl Earring and so many stunning works of art.
The Hague Municipal Museum sounds stodgy but is definitely not.. This is a great city, full of world treasures and they are exhibited here accordingly. This is another place included in the Museumkaart deal, the Gemeente Museum of The Hague is not to be missed. These museums are all very close to each other, that is how we managed to go to 6 museums in the Hague in one day.
The Literature Museum had an awesome portrait exhibit of many of the great Dutch writers, we also received a free book with all the portraits and short biography of each author. The book is in Dutch, but it is beautiful and I'm happy to have it. There is also a children's book museum-- it looked and sounded like a lot of fun, but was alas, full of children. Kinderboekenmuseum, what a great name.
Last but not least, the Mesdag Collection. Husband and wife, both exceptional artists themselves and lifelong collectors, buying over 1200 pieces of art over their lifetimes... The collections they have exhibited in two separate museums in The Hague are astounding. One more thing to mention is The Panorama on view at the top of a house with wonderful lighting. I had never seen such a thing-- it truly looked as if you are looking out the windows of an upper floor and seeing a 360 view of a panoramic beach, sea, and nature landscape.
That's only about the official museums of two cities in the Netherlands... There are also many other private galleries and on-going exhibits. The view from the ferris wheel in Dam Square was something else and I was mesmerized by this small carnival... Then there is the food... I could go on and on about Holland, I will probably continue to visit regularly for the rest of my life.
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