Amsterdam Golden Age Tour and All Aboard!

Thursday Dec 1 

We met our guide at 8:45 for the Golden Age Tour, and we were taken by mini van to our starting point at Museum Platz, where we visited the huge and amazing Reichsmuseum.  Our guide is an art historian and lover of history in general, and she was wonderful as she led us to the highlights, the paintings by the masters, most notably Rembrandt.  It is amazing to see original works up close and personal that I have seen in books and films.  The Building itself is a piece of art, and we admired the church like architecture and stained glass, which instead of saints, featured artists and representations of nature.  While I would have appreciated more time at the Delft pottery exhibit, which she kind of breezed us through, it was a thoroughly enjoyable visit, and even Clem was seen to lean in close for a better view and appreciation of brush strokes and symbolism .  

The stained glass reflected  artists and representatives of nature, rather than saints.  Rembrandt on the right, and an artist by the name of Leyden on the left.  

The famous Milk Maid painting by Ver Meer

Self portrait as Apostle Paul, one of 40 Rembrandt painted

The amazing research library 

Another elaborate "doll house" like we saw in the Frans Hals museum. 

Delft pottery, or Blue Delft, produced in Delft, has been produced since  1653, with the craft passed on from generation to generation.  

This small shoe with square toe reflects the fashion  around 1665. 

a very ornate hand made child's cradle 

We encountered a couple groups of school kids, sitting like this with their teacher, apparently discussing the paintings at some length. Cute. 

an opportunity to shoot the stairway we went up to see the stained glass and paintings, shot on the way down, with no people! 

Back downstairs, we entered another room of exhibits other than paintings. I think one could spend a couple of days exploring the huge exhibit spaces! But we have other things to see and do, so we were  led on. 

The hilt on one of firearms pictures above. 

The next stop after the Reichsmuseum was a canal ride in a small boat, which fit just our group, and was small enough to to get into the smaller canals.  It turned out to be a lovely sunny afternoon, and combined with the cool air it was quite pleasant.  It was interesting to see the house boats and various canal houses,with their varying architecture.  The “dancing houses”, which are crooked, and the ones that lean forward were especially interesting, Houses were taxed by their width, so most are very narrow, but the forward lean, or widening at the back, provided more space without more tax! 

Our cruise companions who also signed up for this excursion, and the boat captain, who provided us with blankets for our laps.  

  

My position at the back of the boat allowed me to shot photos out the back opening, where the plastic curtains were pulled back.  I used that blanket to ward off the chilly air, and was glad to have that, as well as the clear shots. 

A view from the water of that stately house we had seen while walking.   

A view of the Reichsmuseum from the water. 

                                    

Cars are precariously close to the canals edge, and have occasionally had the mishap of falling in! 

Neat to be able to see way down through the many tunnels formed by the bridges, which our captain out 

 

Historic Blauwbrug bride over the Amstel River is richly decorated and has three openings for boats. 

Narrow canal with house boats lining one side. 

People sat along the water enjoying coffee and the lovely sunshine on the chilly day. 

The Flower Markets

                                          

                                                      

After the boat tour, we headed to a restaurant for a true Dutch lunch of mashed potatoes mixed with carrots and cabbage, with a huge meatball on top, and gravy.  She assured us this was winter food, with the heaviness of the meal, though the Dutch do eat what she refers to as Farm food.  Apparently they have also developed a taste for foreign food, since theirs is so plain, and they have learned to cook various ethnic foods in addition to their traditional meals.

Another walk led us to a mansion on the canal, so we could see the inside and witness what life would be like.  We were surprised by the beautiful garden out back, as well as the carriage house.  

We finally wrapped up the day with another mini van ride, but this time to our long boat, where the red carpet greeted us for our check in and the start of our journey.  The weather had turned very cold by late afternoon, and I was actually shivering at one point!  The warmth of the boat was inviting , as was the glass and clean Scandinavian design, and Christmas decorations, and we checked into our room then up to the lounge to meet our friends and new acquaintances for a welcome drink as we excitedly began our journey!