Waterways of Holland & Beligum (Day 7)

Tuesday, May 8: Amsterdam

Workout. Quick breakfast in the restaurant. Up to the lounge for a disembarkation briefing and then a short walk down the pier to the waiting canal cruise boats for our morning canal tour of Amsterdam. Our boat is docked right near the central train station and nestled among an entire clan of riverboats, including the Amadeus Silver III.

The canal cruise was a great introduction to the layout of the city as well as some of the history and culture. 

I had grabbed one of the small city maps at reception and was able to trace our canal cruise route on the map, which really helped to orient me to the city and to note the location of a few potential sites of interest for later in the day. Very bright sun. Quite warm.

When we returned to the boat, we dropped off a few things in our cabins and then asked the reception staff to call a taxi to take us to the Rijksmuseum. As we waited, we encountered another couple whom we’d met previously who were headed to the Van Gogh Museum, so I suggested we share the taxi since the two museums are just a block apart from each other. Our taxi arrived promptly, and we made arrangements for a pick-up at 2pm to go back to the boat.

I had purchased tickets in advance, based on what I’d read in several guidebooks about long lines, but there was actually hardly any line at the museum at all. Still nice to have the tickets already, though, so that we could just head to the 2^nd floor to admire the collection of works by Dutch Golden Age painters, including Vermeer and Rembrandt. We also enjoyed the dollhouses, a few Impressionists, and Delft porcelain. Lunch was in the Het Café, overlooking the main lobby area in a lovely light-filled mezzanine. 

Mom had the special creamy white asparagus soup, and I had a smoked salmon plate with a glass of rose.

Our return taxi pick-up was right on time, and we had a rather adventurous journey through the streets (and over the sidewalks) of the central city. I got dropped off near the Katten Kabinet, and Mom and the other couple continued on back to the boat. I had read about the Katten Kabinet in my Lonely Planet guide, and although it wasn’t a typical museum, it was quite fun to see the eclectic collection of cat artwork.

About a block away, I visited the Museum of Bags & Purses, which was quite wonderful. It started as a private collection and then moved to this old canal house in 2007. The newest exhibit on the top floor has some bags and purses from as far back as the 17^th century, and this part of the museum just opened about two weeks ago. I was fascinated to learn about the history of various types of bags and purses, not to mention the diverse techniques and materials utilized to create these functional works of art.

I navigated my way back to the ship, stopping for an iced Americano at a Starbucks along the way. After a very-needed shower (mid 80s today!!!), I met up with Mom for the evening lecture about contemporary Holland. Then we joined the rest of the Smithsonian group for dinner out at De Kas, a farm-to-fork restaurant where much of the food served is grown on-site. We had a lovely and inventive five-course dinner, and the kitchen was very accommodating of my allium allergy. Yay! 

Dinner finished up rather late, so we didn’t get back to the ship until close to 10:30pm. Luckily, I’d planned ahead and incorporated yoga into my morning workout, so I could just go right to bed.