Day 2 -Amsterdam

 Day 2 -Amsterdam

This was a day chock full of walking and major sights.  We purchased two-day Amsterdam passes, which included most sights and transit.  A short walk to the main train station got us on a tram to the Rijksmuseum – the premier art museum in the NL.  The train station is itself a work of art, as you can see in the picture of three of us in front of it.  We used the tram system extensively over the two days and found it to be superb: fast, frequent, immaculate, and with good signage showing when trams were arriving at each stop.







The Rijksmuseum building was even more impressive than the station, as shown in the photo.  The interior was enormous, similar to the size of the Metropolitan Museum in New York.  The interior architecture and décor were just as impressive as the art works and included a three story library, full of ancient works.  Of course, we made a bee line to Dutch masters (Halls, Vermeer, especially Rembrandt) – some of his most famous originals were on display.  The Night Watch was being prepared for restoration but could still be seen.  A very helpful docent went into great detail on the many subtleties of this work.  Several Van Gogh works were prominent, including his most famous self portrait.  The love letter, milk maid, threatened swan, merry family among others.

We next went to the nearby Stedelijk museum, the main modern art museum.  While we are not modern art lovers, a quick tour gave us an overview.  The early period (pre 1950s) was much more interesting than the later works and included Picasso and others.

A tram ride across town took us to the Dutch Resistance museum – an extensive, fascinating, and troubling presentation of the times and lives of the Dutch people during the Nazi occupation.  This focused on the very active resistance effort and the actions to protect and save Jewish people.  Well worth the visit.  We also managed to enjoy the flower market area of the city as we walked from one tram stop to another.  A nice surprise.




Unknown to us, the Amsterdam Zoo and gardens were adjacent to the museum, so we spent time exploring that.  It was a large area with lots of gardens and waterways separating the various animal exhibits and buildings.  A lovely, relaxing (not busy) time wandering around.  Favorites were the gorillas, giraffes, and flamingos!

By this time we were VERY tired and gladly rode the tram to the old town where we enjoyed Indian food.  We walked almost 7 miles and over 16,000 steps!

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