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I arrived at Schipol Airport a few minutes early. I guess the pilot put his foot on the gas and got us there ahead of schedule. I had three seats to myself on the flight - unprecedented. I could stretch out and I slept for three to four hours. I took the train into Amsterdam, and then a tram to my hostel. No problems. The hostel is basic, like many others with lots of people in each room, and like most other hostels, full of young people. Breakfast is included, cereal, bread, sliced meat and cheese. But as I remember from my first trip, no one drinks tea here so black tea is hard to find. There is lots of herbal flavoured tea, but I need a jolt of cafeine in the morning, not a whiff of lemon grass and camomile.
In the evening of my first day I went to the Rijksmuseum to see the paintings of the Dutch masters. I mostly remember names and I recognize paintings except I can't always match painting and painter, unless it's Rembrandt. For example, can you tell me a Vermeer from a Ayercamp from a Bruegels. And of course, in this museum
The Night Watch
The famous painting is also a set of statues in Rembrandt Square is "The Night Watch". It's a remarkable painting, lot's of action but that left hand that seems to stretch out right out of the painting. Truely skillfull. I am staying near Rembrandt Square. There is a bronze sculpture of the Night Watch, this is a bronze 3D representation of this painting, and that hand really does stretch out.
I was of course tired the first day. But because of jet lag sleep was annoyingly elusive. I usually wake up really early when travelling east, but this time I woke at mid-night and laid awake until about 4am. Then I got three hours sleep.
I took an early morning boat cruise. This took us through many canals from the south all the way around to the docks and back again. The start is near my hostel, conveniently located near everything. Later in the day I took a guided walk, as told by Rick Steves in his guidebook, through the Jordaan district, some lovely canals, trees, house boats, bicycles and sidewalk cafes. This was a nice stroll through the beautiful district of Amsterdam. The sky was blue, the temperature mild.
Then I headed of to the Van Gogh Museum,
say "Van Hok" This was very crowded, although I must say the line up to get in went quickly enough. There are some fabulous and deservedly famous paintings here: the Potato Eaters, Sunflowers, The Bedroom, the Yellow House in Arles. Perhaps a little too loud and crowded, but what can you do? Van Gogh was a genius painter and the world has come to see why. It's the thick brush strokes when observed really closely that seem random, but only when you step back it becomes an image.
Somehow, after the day started without a cloud and the boat ride was hot in the morning, it had begun to rain by the middle of the afternoon. Where did that come from? I was unprepared and I didn't have any rain gear with me. I couldn't take a tram back to my place because the trams don't really go that way, there is a bit of a hike from the stop to the hostel. I had to walk and get wet. I've heard about these heat waves that Europe gets, but I've never seen it.
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