Day 8 - Heading Home

We had a very early morning - pick up at 6:30 am. I packed us before I went to bed after that  amazing dinner. I had a very short night. Packing was a little trickier going home because of all the things we bought - but we made it. The driver was waiting for us and we headed out to the airport. Arriving at the airport, we found a very long line at the United counter. Their system was down. As we watched the line get longer and longer, we understood why they wanted us at the airport three hours early. After about a forty-five minute wait the line finally started moving. We made it through and our heavy bags did too. We arrived at our gate and waited for the security team to arrive. In this airport, each gate had its own security clearance. We got through that and into a new waiting area. Finally, we began boarding our Star Alliance airplane for our trip home. Everything was pretty much on time. I watched three movies on our trip home - Tim's Vermeer, The Hotel, The Wolf of Wall Street. When we arrived, custom's went fine except for "the cheese". Toby had it in his suitcase so he had to go a different direction. He was quickly cleared and we headed out to find our PreFlight Van to take us to our car.

What a wonderful exciting trip! Thank you Fund for Teachers for giving me this amazing learning experience. I cannot wait to share my newly acquired knowledge with my students!

Day 7 - Last Day - Museums and Shoppng

The last full day in Amsterdam was bitter sweet. Today we decided to revisit the Rijksmuseum to see the things we missed earlier in the week and revisit our favorites. The Museum Card was a great buy! We walked right in without having to wait in line. We visited the oldest collection of Dutch antiquities and also their collection of art from the Far East. We also had to revisit the "stars" of the museum. After we finished our Rijksmuseum  tour, we headed down to old Amsterdam to visit the Rembrandt House gift shop.

I was inspired to buy pigments so that my students could mix their paints - just like Rembrandt. This is part of the project I have planned for my older students. While there, the lady in the shop told s about the red chalk Rembrandt would draw with and showed us to where they had som small pieces for sale. The chalk came from the same quarry but can no longer be mined. An artist from the area has some stockpiled and I bought a few pieces to show my young artists.

Next we decided to find The Hermitage - Amsterdam because it was so close. We walked through the museum and enjoyed the exhibit, " The Silk Road". We saw many interesting things. Tired, we headed back to the hotel with a stop at a beautiful patisserie for some chocolates and cookies to take home. After a visit to this lovely little shop, I really didn't want to come home. It was a feast for the eye! The proprietor was very nice and gave us a great recommendation for dinner. It was our last night and we wanted to do something special.

We had long been told how wonderful the Indonesian food was in Amsterdam. The Dutch colonized Indonesia and brought the food back with them. There are many restaurants, but our friend from the patisserie said we must go to Sama Sebo! We didn't have a reservation but we headed out anyway. By now, we were pretty good at using the tram for transportation. We arrived at Sama Sebo and we met a waiter standing outside. He took us under his wing and he made us a table after a short wait. Hooray! There was only one thing for us to order according to our friendly waiter - The Rice Table. It was a little of everything and quite a wonderful experience! Everyone was so friendly! We had a marvelous time and the waiter gave me roses when we left. A perfect end to a perfect evening!

Day 6 - All Around Old Amsterdam

Heiniken was the scheduled tour of the day. They have what hey call "The Heiniken Experience" - and is truly was. Imagine Disney and beer - that's it. It had a lot of history about how the brewery came to be and some gimmicky interactive exhibits. We even became the beer in a movie that took us through the process in an interactive screening. The highlight of the exhibit is the tasting. It was fun but geared to twenty something's.

After we finished our Heiniken tour we decided to take a boat cruise. You can't come to Amsterdam and not do a canal tour! While we waited for our evening tour, we had a snack of croquettes and fries in an Irish Pub across from the boat stand. It was very pleasant sitting and watching the boats go by and the  ducks swimming around. The cruise was very pleasant. There was a lot of excitement in Amsterdam this evening because of the World Cup match between the Netherlands and Spain. At the museum park near our hotel, thousands of people turned out to watch the game on giant screens. It was amazing to see. The streets were nearly empty around our hotel. It was very eerie. No bikes, no walkers ... Nada.

We stayed up and watched the rest of the soccer game when we returned to the hotel. The Dutch beat the Spaniards - 5-1. Everyone should be in a good mood!

Back to museum study today - our last day here. :(

Day 5 -The Charm of Holland

Today was a tour day. We started very early to be sure we could get to our tour meeting place on time. We started our tour leaving Amsterdam to the north. It was surprising how fast we were out of the city amongst the beautiful Dutch cows in the countryside. All the  places we visited were reclaimed land from the sea. Most of Holland is below sea level.  Our first stop was in the village of Marken. It was a charming little peninsula where they still make wooden shoes by hand. It was a little touristy but still interesting. We walked the village and their lovely gardens. Lastly, we walked to the docks and boarded a ferry to our second stop. The lake we crossed used to be part of the Zuider Zee but they closed it off from the North Sea with a dike and slowly over the years it has become fresh water. The boat ride was fun and we drank coffee and ate a piece of apple cake on our way to Volandam.

Volandam was a quaint fishing village. It is amazing how different the two villages were even though they were so close to one another. We walked  about the little town and looked at there darling houses. It was just as neat and clean as could be. Toby and I sat an watched the water before we met the group for lunch. At lunch we sat with a couple from Singapore and a couple from Romania. We truly had an international representation. They were a fun group!

After lunch, we  boarded the bus again and headed to the world famous cheese-making town of Edam. It was such a peaceful place! We had a cheese tasting and bought two of our favorites. The dairy in this country far surpasses any in the U. S. The favors of the butter, cheese, ice cream, and sour cream are unsurpassed.

Our final stop was at a place called Zanse Sans -  the windmill place. I had been to the windmills at Kinderdyjk, but those windmills are for water control. These windmills were for product production. We visited one that made peanut oil. Another one made pigments for paint. It was very interesting.

We returned to Amsterdam tired and sunburned. We had a message from my friend Petey's niece that my elderly friend wanted to see us. We took off to her nursing home for a short visit. It was good to see her and let her know we think of her often. All in all it was bittersweet as I don't think I will see her again.

We rested for a time and then went down the street to Fidellio's for dinner. The start of the World Cup was on and it was interesting to see everyone so excited about the match. We finished off our dinner with the most amazing crime brûlée I have ever eaten. Exhausted, we returned to the hotel and reflected on the very busy day.

Tomorrow a canal tour and maybe a very famous brewery tour......

Day 4 - The Stadelijk - Modern Art Mania

Modern art was the order of the day. The Stadelijk is one of the finest  modern museums in the world.  I loved seeing the Chagall piece " The Violinist". There were many wonderful works from Mondrian, Picasso, Sol Lewitt, Jeff Koons, de Kooning,  Barnett Newman, and the wonderful Ed Kienholtz. The  interactive piece by Kienholtz named  "The Beanery" is a personal favorite. It is a replica of a diner he went to in California. Many of the patron's faces have become clocks and the tight quarters - even the smell are part of  the work. I love art that evokes emotion and this piece just is creepy. I love it.

Two special exhibits were very interesting. The first was a photography exhibit by Jeff Wall. His large format photos are backlit and sooooo sharp. They glow unlike any other I have ever seen. I didn't dare take any pictures because there is no way to capture their luminosity. It was a wonderful exhibit.

The second special exhibit was a design exhibit by artist Marcel Wanders. Mr. Wanders was even there today. I was previously unfamiliar with this seemingly very well-known designer. He is quite prolific. There were so many interesting objects he created- chairs from crochet, larger than life lamps, flatware,  dinnerware, glassware, large heads, and just about any functional object that exists. He is definitely into shameless self promotion. Very entertaining!

Dinner was on the Beethoven Straat - pizza, salad, dessert.

Tomorrow we are going on a tour of the Dutch countryside. I need to get up early so I shall say goodnight. So fortunate to have another great day!

Day 3 - Van Gogh Museum and The Anne Frank House

I'm still dealing with a bit of jet lag but am getting more with it each day. Today was fantabulous! There are no words to really describe the experience of the Van Gogh Museum. Around every corner are treasures I've seen in pictures all my life. I was at this museum over thirty years ago. The venue has undergone a couple of major renovations since then. The works were much easier to see as we moved through the galleries - The Potato Eaters, The Pieta, Van Gogh's Bedroom at Arles, Irises, Sunflowers, Crows in a Cornfield believed to be his last completed painting and so much more. Works I've never seen before we're wonderful surprises. The evolution of Vincent's work happened so quickly. It was fascinating to see how quickly he learned and adapted his new influences into his very unique style. The brushstrokes were so much more noticible in the original works and added to the sense of movement. Van Gogh's sister- in-law collected all of his works and made this museum happen. She saw what no one else seemed to see. Good for her - she left us a  legacy unequaled.

After our Van Gogh adventure, we headed over to the Anne Frank House. The line was not too long and the experience was so moving. I didn't expect to feel the way I did but the magnitude of Anne's experience is  overwhelming when you are in that space. What an amazing soul she was - so wise for someone so young! Being in the space where she and her family stayed for so long was surreal. Looking at the room she shared with her sister and looking at the pictures she pasted on the walls of movie stars from tabloid magazines showed how much she was like so many teenage girls. Her favorite thing was to go up in the attic in the morning to look at the trees and suns rays through the skylight. It is hard to imagine living like they did. The true meaning of friendship was demonstrated through the help they received from coworkers that would bring them food and provisions without thought to their own personal safety. After they were found, the museum showed the lists of the family as they were transferred to work camps. All in the family died but for the father - Otto. Anne died one month before the war was over. After her sister died and she did not know what happened to the other member's of her family, she really lost her will to live. Her father returned and chose to have the story told through the diary Anne had kept during the time of hiding.  It has been many years since I've read the diary and I purchased one there - where the story was written. I am starting to read it again. My thoughts still go to how can mankind be so cruel to one another! At the same time the resilience of the human spirit speaks through a young girl's words.

Tomorrow - Boogieing on down to The Stadelijk for a modern art adventure... And the Rijksmuseum once again!

Day 2 - Rijksmuseum

We got a little later start today. The time change is still getting to us a bit. We went by our friend's place in an elderly home to take her some gifts. She was not feeling well and we didn't get to see her. We left our gifts and then preceded on to the Rijksmuseum. We found the correct tram and went straight there. Once there we produced our Museum Card and went right in.

Rembrandt was the man of the hour once again and was joined by Franz Hals, Vermeer, Rubens and other wonderful artists from the Dutch Golden Age. The ten year renovation of the Rijksmuseum was quite impressive. I was here in 1983 and it was much in need of work then. The facelift is marvelous. They have returned the frescos and other decorative adornments to the old building.

I am always amazed at the works of art that we see. The Nightwatch, The Jewish Bridegroom, Rembrandt's Self-portrait, The Milkmaid by Vermeer. All in all - a great day of art. We finished with little Dutch cookies and some water at he cafe in the museum.

Dinner was a little Chinese place in the Beethoven Straat. Yummy!