A day on the Dam town

John at drawbridge

Sunday, July 26, Amsterdam
Since our last posting, we have seen much and done even more.
Last night, we went out looking for a nearby restaurant with local flavor.  Wandering through our neighborhood, we found many steakhouses (We seldom eat beef) a few pizzerias, Burger King, McDonald's (why even leave home if that's all you decide on?) a Mexican joint or two, and a number of high-end places.  Finally, we spotted a place that offered tapas and burgers.  Since we like Spanish food, stepped inside.
Although the restaurant was too dark to read the menu, with the aid of a flashlight, wè finally spotted one of our favorite dishes in the menu, paella con mariscos, that tasty concoction the we had learned to love during our trip to Spain over 20 years ago!  The savory dish lived up to its reputation and we retired to our hotel room full and smiling.
Sunday morning brought sunshine with a few broken clouds, a contrast to the gale-force winds and rains of the previous day.   After a buffet breakfast in the dining room, we decided to take the Hop-on-hop-off boat for a trip to our next destination.  Walking along canal-side on this beautiful morning, we noticed many downed limbs and several downed trees, a result of Saturday's storm.  Some had fallen into the canals, a few hitting houseboats and other watercraft tied up to pilings.

Canal dwellers taking their morning dip.

We reached the boat landing after about a 20 minute walk from the hotel and were surprised to see a couple who lived on one of the boats, jumping into the canal for a morning swim.  Although we didn't check the water temperature out ourselves, we can't imagine that it was anything but brisk.
We were soon on the boat.  The experience was much more pleasant than the previous day, due to the pleasant weather.  It looked so nice that John decided to open the sliding window next to our seats.  As soon as he grabbed the handlè the window glass disintegrated.into hundreds of of pieces.  Fortunately, it was tempered glass and no harm was done to anyone near us.  Wè all had a good laugh, even the crèwman, who commented on John's strength.

Vincent Van Gogh, self portrait

The Kitchen Maid, Vermeer's most famous work 

The Rijksmuseum is the nationl art museum of the Netherlands and was number one on our list of museums to visit since we were in the Louvre, earlier in our trip.  Upon reaching the second floor, we astounded to see a series of stained glass windows.  Upon inspection, we noticed that they were images of great artists, and not saints. We finally had the opportunityy to view, in person, many painting by the Great Masters that we had only read about.  Rembrandt was #1 on our list and were not disappointed.  I had never realized the enoumous size of some of the paintings, where some of the

Amsterdam's last windmill

figures were, literally, larger than life.  Night Watch, originally painted under another title, took an an entire will and was as good as its reputation.
We are certainly not art history experts, but fully appreciated other artists of the 17th Century including Vermeer and Van Dyke. On a lower floor were many of the impressionist paintings, including the famous self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh, a Dutchman who was not recognized in his home country during his own lifetime.
After departing. The museum, we ate a picnic lunch in the square that faces the building's rear entrance.  We had planned to take a tram to the Jordaan, a historic neighborhood that has been revitalized, according to recent publications.  We decided to walk there, with the aid of a number of maps and our trusty Garmin GPS. 

This was also the neighborhood where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis after the country was invaded and occupied by Germany during World War II

(to be. Continued)

Donna relaxes after five miles of walking (3 more to go!)