Museum Hopping and Date Night

Today is the day we embark on the cultural motherload - Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and then the Concertgebouw for a performance by the Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra.

First, we checked out of our home for the last three days, the Bulldog hostel. We leave behind a 12 person mixed dorm room and traded up to the Hotel Freeland, south of the City Centre right off the Leidesplein, another busy, if not touristy, part of the city. We opted for a private room with en suite bathroom and the Hotel Freeland doesn't disappoint. The room is cozy, with artsy touches that give it some real character. I'm very happy my research paid off.

We first walk down to the Concertgebouw to purchase tix to the orchestra that night. I was really worried it would be sold out and I was going to get them online, but the listings weren't in English so I couldn't follow the prompts to buy them. We get to the Information desk and the woman tells us about a last minute ticket shop near our hotel where we can get tix at 50% - sounds good to me! So we head off to the Van Gogh Museum. Unfortunately no photography was allowed inside so I don't have any photos of his work, but the usual suspects were there, Sunflowers, the famous self portrait, Almond Blossoms, etc. The latter piece reflected Van Gogh's interest in Japanese art, so I'm now taken with it a bit. I was very satisfied with the collection overall.

Next up we continue on the Musuemsplein to the Rijksmuseum, where the Rembrandts, Vermeers and Goyans were located, among others. It was in the process of renovations so only part of the museum was open, which is kinda good because the building was huge and Travis didn't look enthusiastic about spending hours in the place. The main draw of this museum is Rembrandt's The Night Watch, which is exciting to see in person and it was also interesting to see the various examples of delftware on display. Other than the million schoolchildren in the place, I enjoyed it very much.


Travis and I were a bit overwhelmed with the artsy fartsy stuff for the moment, so we went and grabbed our half price orchestra tickets and made off the Leidesplein for some people watching, nibblies, and beers. Ahhhhhhhhh, I grab a Bulmer's Cider and Trav gets a La Trappe and we enjoy the sun and goings on in the square.

We head back and shower up for our fancy date night at the orchestra. We arrive just in time for the show to start (after having to run part of the way there, my bad) and I need to mention that the inside of the hall in so gorgeous, just stunning. Again, there is no photography allowed so I have nothing to show you, but take my word for it, it was pretty nice. The show was comprised of three pieces of work from Griers, Dvorak, and Tchaikovsky. It was really fantastic and the guest violinist was outstanding, a superb performance that Travis missed a third of because she fell asleep. In her defense, it was a bit warm inside and the lights were low and the 2nd piece wasn't very dramatic so I can see a snooze coming on! I think the best part was waiting for the second piece to start and Travis leans over and asks if the musicians are doing bongs hits backstage. Classy! We got to be fancy for the night, drink wine with the locals and do something 'normal', perfect :)

We headed back for a nightcap and then retired to our room for a good night's rest.