Van Gogh Museum & Anne Frank Huis

The Seven Bridges Hotel has only 8 rooms and I stayed in the Garden Room on the bottom floor. The hotel provides free Wi-Fi access (which I have found to be very common in Europe) and breakfast is served at a pre-determined time every morning. Pierre, one of the owners, delivered my breakfast (which included a homemade croissant, a selection of breads, cheese, deli meat, freshly-squeezed OJ, tea, a banana and yogurt) at 9am each morning. I usually only eat a bowl of Special K cereal for breakfast, so it was definitely too much food, so early in the morning. The room was comfortable, but the bathroom was tiny. Luckily, I closed the windows as soon as I arrived, otherwise the mosquitoes would have eaten me alive. The hotel is located on the Eastern Canal Ring area just south of the popular Rembrandtplein. It was in a perfect location and because of Amsterdam’s compact size, I was able to walk everywhere I wanted to go.
My plan for the day was to visit the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank Huis. After studying the map more closely, I noticed that the Heineken Experience (tour and tasting at the brewery) was near my hotel on the way to VondelPark. It was still relatively early in the morning when I arrived at the Heineken Brewery and because I am not a beer drinker, I decided to forego the tour/tasting. I wanted to check out the souvenir shop but it wasn’t open yet, so I left to find VondelPark. VondelPark sits on 20 acres of land with running/biking/walking paths, gardens, and ponds. It wasn’t overly crowded or extensively landscaped, but it offers tourists and locals alike a place to relax and unwind. I definitely plan to return and hopefully go for a run around the park while I am here.
I made my way to the Museumplein where the Rijksmuseum (containing the Dutch National Art Collection showcasing Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch”) and the Van Gogh Museum are located. I bought a ticket and audio guide for the Van Gogh Museum and spent a couple of hours there. It was interesting to see his works of art throughout the various stages of his life and to learn that he was quite fascinated with Japanese art. The funny thing is that had I not bought the audio guide, I wouldn’t have really examined each painting for the story behind it. I believe that everyone interprets art differently, so it was interesting to hear how the art historians described the formal interpretations of the major pieces in his vast collection. To be completely honest, I am too lazy (and probably disinterested in some cases) to evaluate every work of art in a museum to try to figure out what the artist was thinking when he or she created their masterpiece.
It was nearing lunch, which for me these days is anytime between 2 and 3 in the afternoon. I found a little café across the way from the Anne Frank Huis and ordered the Cream of Zucchini soup, which hit the spot on what ended up being a cold and rainy day. I debated as to whether I wanted to wait in the rather long line to get into the Anne Frank Huis, since the rain and clouds were not going anywhere. The line went by fairly quickly and thankfully, I didn’t get too wet. I remember reading Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl when I was probably around 13 years old, the age that she was when she wrote about her life in confinement hiding from the Nazis. It was surreal being in that house and hearing the firsthand accounts (via video) by surviving family and friends who lived to tell their stories. For as young as she was when she immortalized her life on paper, Anne Frank was able to capture the hearts of millions of people from around the world and her story continues to do so with future generations.
After the Anne Frank museum tour, I strolled along the streets of the Jordaan Quarter and found a Thai restaurant. Robin told me that Amsterdam has many good Thai, Chinese, and Indonesian restaurants. Although I wanted to partake in a traditional Indonesian “rijsttafel” meal (consisting of approximately 20 small dishes), I knew that I wouldn’t be able to finish it all by myself. So I chose Thai and I was pleasantly surprised with the Pad Thai. The Tom Yum soup (Chicken Lemongrass soup) was actually a little too spicy, but all in all in was a decent meal. It made me crave the food at Mekong Restaurant in Honolulu though. I found my way back to the Seven Bridges Hotel by first going through the Red Light District. Since it was still early, I stopped off at the bar next to my hotel, had a couple of glasses of wine, and told Robin about all of the places I went to that day. He recommended that I go to the Rijksmuseum to see Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch” firsthand. Although from his explanation of the painting, it sounded well worth the money to go and see it, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to spend another few hours examining art again. I decided that I would play it by ear tomorrow, and base my decision on what the forecast had in store.

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