Warm Intro to Amsterdam

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Geo: 52.3738, 4.89095

I had a very good nights sleep and was ready to tackle the day. I did not have a set plan other than a few things I wanted to see so I wasn't sure how the day would go. I started by having breakfast at the hotel, which was included in my room rate. There was a large buffet with rolls and pastries and sausage and bacon and little pancakes (or poffertjes) and cheeses and meats and cereals and delicious orange juice. I got plenty to eat, but I wish they had larger glasses for the juice. I filled my tiny glass up three times and I still wanted more. In any case, it was good and I'm glad I did not have to go out and find breakfast on my own.

My hotel is conveniently located around the corner from the Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum. The Rijksmuseum is huge and I don't know if I will get to it, but it is a beautiful building. As I walked on may way to the museum area, I had to remember to watch for bikes as well as cars and trams. There is a constant quiet dinging in the air from the many bikers warning people they are headed their way. The bikes have their own lanes, but I did see some tourists who were using those as sidewalks and they got yelled at.

I decided to start at the Dutch Resistance Museum, which was a 45 minute walk from the hotel. I followed quiet streets along canals, crossed a bridge called the Skinny Bridge which is apparently famous, and finally found my way to the Museum. In Paris, we used their museum pass and I decided to go ahead and buy a 48 hour I amsterdam city card. This card allows you free access to over 40 sites and free use of the public transportation and one free canal cruise. I got to the museum at 10 and it was already pretty hot so I thought the free transportation portion would be well worth the cost. The 48 hour card cost 59 Euros. Each portion is activated separately so I have 48 hours from 10 to use the museum part and 48 hours from about 12:30 for the transportation part.

The Dutch Resistance Museum was not very busy at all. A free audio tour was included with the admission and I did use it in most sections of the museum. The exhibits take you through life in Holland from just before WWII, through the war and then to the liberation. There is information on the resistance, as well as the Nazi Party organization within Holland. It was a very interesting museum with lots of information and you could spend a good amount of time if you are interested in WWII.

My next stop was just across the street, the Artis Royal Zoo. The zoo was the first zoo in the Netherlands and is right in the middle of the city. I have been to a lot of zoos and this one was very nice. The zoo was also part of my card and I paid 2 euro extra for a map. There are lots of garden areas and trees throughout the zoo. Some animal habitats are done so you feel you are right next to them, such as the camel that seemed to be standing right on the sidewalk with me when I first walked in. There was a moat surrounding that exhibit but it was nicely blocked by some landscaping. I went in the Forest House, where animals are roaming free. I almost stepped on a lizard who was sitting on the ground. Luckily I saw him before I put my foot down. There were little monkeys and a sloth and other little critters. This was connected to the Bird House so I had to go through there as well to get out. Luckily the birds did not choose that moment to fly around! There were lions, wallabies, a giant anteater baby, two baby zebras, gibbons, gorillas, lemurs that roamed free in their exhibit, chimps and lots of other things. There was an elephant area that had two females, one smaller one and a giant male that was causing some mischief that resulted in a whole lot of noise that was pretty spectacular. I don't think I have ever heard an elephant make noise in a zoo, but that pair made a commotion and put on quite a show. This is Amsterdam after all and I didn't even have to go to the Red Light District😉

I enjoyed a quick lunch at one of the zoo eateries. They had a delicious home made iced tea that I could have drank all day. I also had a sausage roll (a flaky pastry surrounding a sausage) and an apple cake thing.

It was pretty hot by then and I thought a canal cruise would be just the thing to cool off. I hopped on a tram and rode all the way to Central Station. This is the main train and bus station for Amsterdam and it is huge. Another beautiful red brick building in a very busy area. My card allowed for one free ride using one of several companies. I chose the Holland International one because it was the first one I saw. Unfortunately, these boats don't have air conditioning or fans or much shade at all and they move pretty slowly along the canals so not the cooling off experience I was hoping for. But a canal cruise is a great way to glide along the picturesque houses. We started off going out into the harbor and went past a few large cruise ships and I learned the Amsterdam harbor is not salt water, but fresh, due to the locks that close it off from the sea. It also has no tide. The boat went through a former lock, glided past old buildings and under beautiful arched bridges. I was very surprised by the lack of picture taken by the other cruisers, but mostly all stood up to take a picture of the famous Western Church, or Westerkerk, with it's beautiful steeple. A little ways ahead on the right, the Anne Frank Museum. The line was very long, but I already have a ticket for 9 am tomorrow! There was a lot of boat traffic on the canals with other sightseeing cruises, but mostly it was small boats out pleasure cruising.

We finally arrived back at the dock and I headed right for the hot dog stand to get two bottles of water, since by now my pants were even sticking to me! And then I hopped on a tram back to the Rijks and for the hotel to cool off.

Trying to decide what to do for dinner, I noticed the Van Gogh Museum stays open until 10 PM on Fridays! The line was very long when I had walked by earlier, but later might be better and this was one art museum I was interested in. It was still warm out but I had cooled off nicely in my air conditioned room. The line at the museum at this point (5:30ish) was not too bad and I was able to go in a shorter line due to my city card. There is no photography allowed in the museum so no pictures of the famous works. The big ones are sunflowers, self-portraits and my favorite Almond Blossom. There are 3 floors to the museum. I started at the top (the later years) and worked my way down. There are plenty of English descriptions and those without the audio guide (I was one of them) were well served by the signs. I didn't think to ask if the audio guide was also covered by the card, but I normally don't spend enough time in front of one piece of art to justify a guide. I do enjoy Van Gogh's landscapes and flowers and felt the museum was worth my time. They also have a lovely cafe where I got a delicious pasta dish for my dinner.

Upon exiting the museum, I saw some clouds were moving in and it was cooling off. I walked around the museum grounds a bit and then headed back to the hotel to avoid any potential rain showers that might go along with the rumbling thunder.

I only saw a small portion of Amsterdam today, but I enjoyed what I did see. It doesn't feel as though many tourists visit the Resistance Museum or the Zoo but both are well worth it if you have the time. I initially was not going to get the card because I was going to walk everywhere and did not plan to go to many of the big museums. However, I think I paid for the city card today by visiting 3 of the covered
sites, riding the canal cruise and using several trams so I would highly recommend it!

Oh also, yesterday I walked 6 miles and today 6.3!

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Photos

Odd slide
Climb up the giraffe's butt and slide down it's neck?

Comments

[MOM]

The zoo sounds great! I wonder if we could use our Brookfield Zoo card to get in. HAHAHA It sounds like you are not having any trouble getting around. I hope it isn't too hot tomorrow.

[Mom]

Would you rather climb up its neck and slide out its butt??