For those of you who know me as notoriously late, I am proud to say I arrived at the Rijksmuseum before it opened. The Rijks was a repeat for me, but it was well worth seeing the collection of "greatest hits". The museum is currently undergoing a massive renovation, so it is exhibiting its "masterpieces" (the most famous of which is Rembrandt's The Night Watch) together in one open wing of the museum. This made life easier for me; I didn't have to choose what to see among thousands of paintings.
The Van Gogh Museum didn't open until 1973, so I could not have been there before. I was fortunate enough to be visiting during the special exhibit, "VanGogh and the Colors of the Night", which is being staged with the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. The exhibit brought together a number of paintings in which VanGogh worked with twilight and night coloring. With or without the special exhibit, the museum has an excellent collection of Van Gogh pieces. I knew that Van Gogh committed suicide at the age of 37, but I had not realized he did not take up painting until just over ten years before he died.
The Anne Frank House was another repeat for me, but was still well worth the return visit. I had not recalled that the Franks came to Amsterdam from Germany in 1933, expecting to be free of Nazi oppression. One tenth of the population in Amsterdam was Jewish (a relatively large percentage), and Jews had long been welcome there. Unfortunately, the Nazis ignored the Dutch assertion of neutrality, overran the Netherlands in one week, and eventually killed over 100,000 of Amsterdam's 130,000 Jews. After reading and listening to some of Anne Frank's words as I moved through her family's hiding place, I have added her diary to my re-read list.
The Portuguese Synagogue, also well worth a visit, has been in operation since the 1600's. Miraculously, it survived World War II intact and still houses a congregation today. Four other synagogues, just a block away, met a different fate, but have been restored and now house the Jewish History Museum. The Dutch Resistance Museum, in the same area of the city, received only a half-hour run through from me, but it was interesting in its portrayal of at least a few actions taken by plain folk to "protest" the Nazi occupation, e.g., a two-day strike during which trams, schools, and businesses were shut down.
I must have walked through the canal side flower market when I was last in Amsterdam, but I nevertheless walked through again this time around. What I found were not only thousands of tulip and other plant bulbs, but also the ultimate in kitsch souvenir shops. It was not difficult for me to pass up the wooden shoes, wooden tulips, and knock off delftware.
I was disappointed that the Hermitage on the Amstel will not be open until the middle of June. The Hermitage in St. Petersburg has such a large collection that it has satellite exhibition sites, including in Amsterdam. Apparently, the Amsterdam site is currently being expanded--bummer for me, but I had no trouble finding several other options. Since I still had a vivid memory of my prior visit to the Rembrandt House (lots of Rembrandt etchings on display at his home), I skipped a visit there and went to some "new" spots--the Amsterdam Historical Museum (good snapshot of Amsterdam's history as well as an outstanding special exhibition of Old Masters (e.g., Rembrandt, Bol, van Ruisdael) and three other museums that were "period" homes open to the public (Van Loon (a founder of the Dutch East India Company in the early 1600's),Willet-Holthuysen (a canal house containing, among other things, paintings collected by the husband with his wealthy wife's money--cynical on my part, but apparently she did not mind!), andGeelvinck Hinlopen (later 18th century patrician home with a very attractive courtyard garden between the coach house and family house).
Considering the museums close at 5PM, I had no choice but to bid farewell to Amsterdam and catch the train to Eindhoven to meet Henry. Eindhoven, a city of over 200,000 people, is home to Philips, the electronics company. The city does not appear to be prominent on the tourist radar screen, but a lot of business people pass through.
Watching bike riders passing our hotel each morning in the direction of the train station and seeing the station parking lots filled with hundreds and hundreds of bicylces, I surmise that Einhoven is also a commuter community. After getting "museumed" out in Amsterdam, I elected to take it easy in Eindhoven. That means I biked instead of walked! I rented a bicycle at the train station and headed south through a park bordering the Dommel River. Before taking off, however, I visited the Wednesday outdoor market in the square just outside our hotel, and collected fresh fruits, veggies, cheese, and bread for a picnic lunch. Actually, a very interesting aspect of this market, which I saw again the next day at the outdoor market in Maastricht, was that the large majority of stalls were for selling either bolts of cloth or sewing notions. In addition, Muslim women, wearing long robes and head coverings (but without their faces fully covered), constituted a relative large percentage of buyers at these stalls.Unfortunately for me, no sooner did I begin my ride when it started to rain. Convinced I would be riding toward a location where there was still blue sky overhead, I continued on. Probably more to the point, I refused to let my plans be dampened, even if I could do that only in a figurative sense. In any event, a nice thing about riding a bike in the Netherlands is that you don't have to worry about hills. As a result, I was able to ride at a fast pace until I arrived at a nicely shaded, quiet, and relatively dry lunch spot bordering the river. Well, it was relatively dry for about two hours, until the rain got really serious. It was a good thing I was wearing fast drying clothes, but that wasn't much help while it rained. I had not bothered to bring an umbrella, because I would not have been able to hold it open and ride the bike at the same time. After not having ridden a bike (except stationary ones at the gym) for I cannot remember how many years, it was difficult enough for me, with two hands, to maneuver the bike around cars, pedestrians, and other bikers. As does Munich, the Netherlands has separate bicycle lanes, but that's not always the place where cyclists ride! In any event, I am looking forward to more bike riding days, especially in the Englischer Garten in Munich. I doubt I'll wait until Henry agrees to go with me; otherwise, I might be waiting all summer!
Maastricht, about one hour south of Eindhoven by train, was my next destination. Still museumed out, I elected to take a self-guided walking tour along the old city walls. The walk through and around the old city was pretty, despite the very overcast weather. I was glad to have a step-by-step guide in English, so I could appreciate some of the history. It also helped me imagine what no longer exists along the wall, but was described in the guide.
Kudos to Eindhoven for the dinners we were served. They went from good (de Verdi), to better (Antonio's), to best (Fens). Actually, Fens was truly outstanding. No, it was not a Michelin Red Guide find (we did not have that guide), though it may well be in there. The restaurant was recommended by the colleague Henry visited. The restaurant offered a three-course surprise, with wine pairings. Thank goodness I didn't have to worry about being surprised with the current local specialty (white asparagus is still in season here) or other vegetables that are not in my repertoire. The restaurant permits its customers to nix in advance unwanted culinary offerings!
We are now back in Munich for just over a week. We leave on a drive to Florence next weekend. We had the pleasure of our friend Rod Franklin's company this weekend, and celebrated Henry's birthday (5/31) at Terrine, a Michelin Red Guide one-star restaurant two blocks from our apartment. Terrine was another outstanding find, though, at the prices charged, our visits will have to be limited to VERY special occasions. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HENRY!!!!!
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