Culture Vultures in Amsterdam

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Day 0: Friday, November 26, 2004
Its just beginning to drizzle when the taxi reaches Heathrow airport. This is not good news for me. I have this terrible fear of flying and dark clouds, rains and wind only mean that the flight will be more than just bumpy. The lady at the bmi check-in desk assures me that the flight is only 45 minutes long and than it will be over before I know it.

Some what convinced (though not totally) I board the flight. Take - off is normal and just as I begin to sip my glass of white wine, the plane jumps. Its turbulence and turbulence so bad that the pilot has to order the crew to belt up. This is not good and in the five minutes that the tossing around happens, I am in a state of utter panic. And then almost suddenly, out of the thick black clouds, the flat, brightly lit land of Amsterdam appears.

Schipol airport is the best out of the ones I have seen. It’s swanky, clean and efficient. I get a bus to the hotel within minutes of getting out of the airport and before I know it, I am with my husband - who has just taken the train from Eindhoven,

The HEM hotel in Amsterdam is comfortable. We got a good deal (without breakfast) for two nights’ standard double room for under £50 - for both nights - in total. This was through www.lastminute.com - a site we have used again to book our hotel in Rome where we are headed next Wednesday. The site for HEM itself is www.hemhotels.nl. The room is cosy and the bathroom is clean and pleasing. Sudeep and I are both tired, so a quick dinner at the hotel restaurant and we call it a day. A lot needs to be accomplished over the next day and a half.

Day 1: Saturday, November 27, 2004
I wake up to my husband’s thundering voice - he is on his Axim calling my folks. A quick chat with family and we tear ourselves out of bed. It is sunny - the sun is out - but it is only around 10:30 that we are able to get going. The tram stop is only 5 minutes walk from the hotel. Trams in Amsterdam are very convenient. If you are a weekend tourist, buy the 24 hour pass - for under 6 euros - the stops are all over the place and the trams are very comfortable and a blessing in the cold. We take the tram to Centraal Station- the main rail station at Amsterdam. We plan to take the Museum Boot - a boat that takes you through the beautiful canals of the city - and major stops include Rembrandt House, the VanGogh Museum and Rijks Museum.

Before we do that though, we need to do some eating. The closest place is the Park Hotel restaurant, just across the bridge from Centraal. Sudeep has a hot chocolate and 3 fried eggs with bacon while I go for the traditional (?) farmer’s omelette (with vegetables and ham) and a cuppa good ol’ chai.

The Museum Boot is a tad expensive - 15 euros a head but it is well run - you can get a boat from Centraal at every hour - up until 5PM. It is freezing outside by now. Sudeep and I have a 20 minute wait for the boat and we decide to hop into the nearby café for a drink (a beer for him, Smirnoff for me).

The boat driver is a jolly fellow and a warm welcome and a very well heated boat await us.
The boat ride is fun. Amsterdam has 16 more canals than Venice and use of canal buses is for more than just tourism. The boat takes us through the beautiful ‘gabled’ houses that line the waterways as well as some stunning houseboats - the interiors of which could give a complex to any one on Hyde Park or Manhattan.

The museum boat connects to over 20 museums and art houses in Amsterdam (which has over 42 museums) but with the paucity of time, we decide to be selective. The first stop for us is Rembrandt House, which is just round the corner from where the boat drops you off.

Rembrandt House
It takes us around 2 hours at Rembrandt house. The place is actually Rembrandt’s house where he lived and painted for 20 years before bankruptcy forced him out. The place has been refurbished but in a manner that reflects the way Rembrandt would have lived. So you have similar window grills, chairs in the lobby, the maid’s bed in the kitchen…

The building houses not only some of Rembrandts most well known works but also of his understudies as well as painter’s he admired (and who’s work he collected and traded in). There were two misconceptions about Rembrandt that I held - (A) he did primarily self -portraits and (B) he was only an oil painter/ canvas painter. What I discovered was that self-portraits are/ were a common method of practicing one’s skill as an artist. And Rembrandt was a superb etcher. In order to make money (it was his profession after all!) he etched on plates of metal (in reverse) and then used an interesting method to print copies. We witnessed an interesting demonstration of this process at Rembrandt house. Rembrandt was also a collector - of art and artefacts from all over the world. And this was probably one of the factors (other than the fact that he couldn’t really afford his house) that resulted in his bankruptcy.

The house is over 3 stories. The first section of the house takes us into his kitchen, seating area, bedroom. Each room has been recreated with a lot of patience and care as well as attention to detail. The second story takes us to the area where ‘the Master’ kept his collection of artefacts and object d’art as well as the studio where he painted and his assistants created the paint (another interesting demonstration on how different colours were obtained from across the world - and tooth enamel was used to create white).

Some modern day painter in Netherlands (and hugely popular I assume) who paints women is holding his exhibition on the last floor. This takes us less than five minutes and we are out. The only disappointing factor at Rembrandt house is the memorabilia section. Could have done with the same thought and attention that went into the Van Gogh museum shop. However it was two hours well spent and once we got out into the freezing streets we were ready to get back into the warm boat quickly - which we did.

Rijks Museum
The next stop for us was the Rijks Museum - one of the city museums that houses works by all famous Dutch artists (Van Gogh and Rembrandt included) as well as a offers a great insight into Dutch history - the imperial powers, the naval strength, Delft porcelain work, doll houses in the 17th century, grotesque form of sliver workmanship. The audio tour proved invaluable and the museum shop was better but a tad expensive. Besides, we knew what we were looking for and it wasn’t there. My favourite part of the museum is a little corner on the ground floor that has two original doll-houses from the 17th century. They are the piece de resistance of the museum and I admire the way they have been preserved. The museum also houses Rembrandt’s famous ‘Night watch’.

The Rijks museum, the Van Gogh museum and the famous Concertgebouw are located in the museumplein and each area is within 5 to 10 walking distance from the other. However, by the time we got out of the Rijks it was too late to get into the Van Gogh museum so we walked across the park area to the Concertgebouw - only to discover that tickets that night for the Rotterdam philharmonic are sold out. However, a ticket to the concert can cost around 30 euros. Having found no tickets we walk across to the Bodega Keyzer (an Amsterdam landmark since 1903) - a chic quiet joint that serves amazing fish and bacon toast starters. (The place is on the expensive side). That and a couple of beers and we are ready to hit ‘Studio Sushi Bar’ near Dam Square. The square is the equivalent of London’s Leicester Square, with tourists, touts and traffickers all over the place.

Walking up and down the area, we are unable to place Studio Sushi Bar but do manage to find ‘Studio Bar’. Here we meet Eric who runs the place who tells us that they threw the sushi a while back and now its only drinks. Eric is fun to talk to (as is his partner) and excited that his place has actually been recommended on a tourist guide book - sensing our disappointment he offers us a glass of sake each - on the house. It does well to warm us up. Eric also recommends a ‘typical Dutch restaurant’ - on the main road right next to the Magna Plaza called The Port. I hate to disappoint Eric but the place was almost average - the only thing good was the ambience. Service was lacking as was the food - quantity and taste.

After dinner it is back to Dam Square where a souvenir store is still open. I find what I am looking for - a Christmas decoration to take home. A little angel in Delft. And yes, a tiny porcelain windmill. My suggestion is that for these types of takeaways, avoid the museum stores and look instead in the market place. Its much cheaper.

Day 2: Sunday, November 28, 2004
Sunday is unfortunately not as sunny as Saturday, but we are raring to go as we have a 7:40 flight in the evening. That does not leave us with too much time. Bags packed, we check-out and head straight for Centraal. At Centraal we deposit our bags in a safe (costs between 3 and 5 euros for a day) and head straight to the Museumplien - the Van Gogh museum.

The Van Gogh Museum
Being a Sunday, the queues are long but it doesn’t take time to get in. Here as well, we go in for an audio tour. Keep at least 4 hours for the Van Gogh museum. The first floor itself takes us 90 minutes. The first floor houses works by artists Van Gogh admired and was inspired by. A special mention for Golgotha by Jean-Léon Gérôme - remarkable work on the crucifixion of Christ.

The second floor has most of Van Gogh’s works including letters to this brother Theo who supported Vincent Van Gogh financially and emotionally, as well as sketches by Paul Gauguin. Van Gogh’s collection is presented as per the different phases of his life - The Netherlands, Paris, Arles, Saint Remy and Auvers-sur-Oise. ‘The Sunflowers’ is there as are many other remarkable works - including one of his bedroom. The third floor is the research area and was quite a revelation - a skeleton, pair of boots - not really painting subjects but wonderfully done - well he was a genius! Do not miss the museum shop - do pick up a couple of Van Gogh prints - between 5 and 15 euros. We picked up two.

The Cobra Café
The culture vultures are hungry after 4 hours in the museum; we head straight across the park to the Cobra Café - apparently an extremely popular place in Amsterdam - inspired by the Cobra art movement of the 70s. The food we have eaten here is probably the best we have had in Amsterdam - and service is brilliant. Do give this place a visit - it is well worth the effort and its value for money. Do try out the Indonesian chicken kebabs and the chocolate trufle.

Hortus Botanicus
This is the last item on the agenda before we make a dash for the airport. The hortus botanicus is, well, a botanical garden with some very fascinating green houses - rare collections from South Africa and Arabia, as well as the first coffee plant that was smuggled out of Ethiopia into Europe. 30 to 45 minutes should suffice for this area - if you have the time however, and if weather permits - do talk a stroll along the canal by the garden.

The flight home
As the flight takes off for back home, I preen out to look at the night lights below. Its been a weekend of learning, education, insight and fun. Amsterdam is flat only in topography. Culturally it is a rich society that has much to offer to any visitor.

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