It would have been easy to sleep in late with the nice Hyatt bedding and window that opened into the courtyard’s dim light but I had purchased 11:00 AM passes for the Rijksmuseum. Rembrandt Harmenszoon Rijn, known mononymously as Rembrandt is the most prominent of the artists from the Dutch Golden Age. Born in 1606, he lived sixty-three years and produced hundreds of etchings, drawings and paintings. He became known for his mastery of light and darkness. “The Dutch Masters” as the Dutch artists of the period, in Northern Europe rivaled the Italian Renaissance artists during this period of enlightenment. This was the only museum if felt we need to visit in case we didn’t return to Amsterdam.
The Museum is an only half mile walk from our hotel. It was breezy and chilly early in the day so I e made sure to add layers of clothing to stay warm, We found Bagelboy across the street from the Museum, it was so good that we walked back the next morning for breakfast. The Rijksmuseum established in 1798 is a spectacular building, the National Museum of The Netherlands. The Netherlands and Holland are interchangeable terms for the same country, the people are Dutch. We entered at the appointed time scanned our passes and made our way to the Dutch Masters floor of the building. I located the museums App. which contained an easy to use walking tour that provided interesting descriptions of the art work by simply entereing the number beside many of the works to receive a detailed description and history of the work. We both found this to be very useful with the added bonus of direct delivery to our hearing aids. We enjoyed seeing the works of Hals, Vermeer and other contemporaries of Rembrandt including a female artist or two.
Several of the pieces are very large, having been produced for display, featuring prominent officials and military officers of the period, in government halls and buildings. One of the largest and the most well known works is entitled “The Night Watch”. It was displayed in its own dimly lit, environmentally controlled room behind bulletproof glass. The works of the Dutch painters are fascinating and there was an interesting display of detailed “Doll Houses” life like reproductions that cost as much to make at the time as the actual homes. We then had a surprisingly good lunch in the tall, sunlit grand hall. We shared a plate of Merguez Rundvleesworstje with thin beef sausages, vegetables, couscous and a yoghurt dressing. It was delicious. After lunch we sought out an impressionist wing with a few Van Gogh’s and other artists but before long we decided to call it a day and head back outside to the rear area where he had earlier wandered through an art fair that was held every Sunday during the season. There is a Van Gogh Museum not far away but we didn’t feel the need for two museum visits during our two days in Amsterdam.
Restaurant Black is in an old building with both inside and canal side seating across the narrow roadway. It was a short walk from our hotel. We had dinner at a counter at the front window so we could watch the world pass by. We ordered two dishes to split, Janet ordered a Cornish game hen. I wanted to see what a hamburger was like in Paris but had declined then decided to order one here. I should have changed my order when she said they, per regulations, could only serve a med-well burger. The wooden platters were nicely garnished with tiny piles of cracked pepper, coarse salt, roasted garlic and tiny onions. The fries were very good but I suspected the platter it came on would be tastier than the burger that I ordered. Afterward we headed to the hotel and were pleasantly surprised to be able to watch all but the first ten minutes of the World Cup final game between Spain and Argentina in the comfort of our room.
