Today, a slightly different plan. Because breakfast in the Hotel is outrageously expensive, we decided to make our way into town and have breakfast when we got there. We found a very nice English Breakfast place on Martelaarsgracht, very near the station.
Hunger sated, we then made our way into the 9 Streets (de 9 Straatjes), nine side streets of the Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, Herengracht and Singel in central Amsterdam. These are full of little shops &mdash many of them of the "coffeeshop" variety (legal cannabis shops, either for simply selling, or as a place to indulge in smoking the stuff!). The whole area is full of character, and the canals you pass by are picturesque to say the least.
The weather was dubious, and we soon had our umbrellas out. You will no longer see Suzie with her wonky polka-dotted brolly — it finally gave up the ghost, and she now has a bright green umbrella with a tulip handle, a souvenir of Amsterdam! When the rain started to set in, we decided to take shelter in a canal tour boat. It gave us good shelter, a nice trip round the canals — but the perspex windows spattered with raindrops weren't exactly conducive to photography
After leaving the cruise, we jumped on a tram to go down Domrak and across south of the Amstel to Waterlooplein, a short walk to the Hermitage Amsterdam. But we jumped off one stop short, at Rembrandtplein to take in the art market there, and the incredible statue replicating in 3 dimensions and full size Rembrandt's "Night Watch". No chance to get a clear shot of it, as it was a major playground (and photo set) for children and adults alike!
We also passed around behind one of the canal dwellings, and found a little gem. They apparently were strictly controlled in their frontages, but in the back they were free to create beautiful secluded gardens, and here was one of them!
As we rounded the corner towards the Museum, we had a good view down the Amstel, toward the famed Magere Brug ("skinny bridge"). If you look left, you see another drawbridge of similar design to the central span of the Magere Brug, and it is this bridge we walk across to get to the Museum.
Then we walked round to the Hermitage Amsterdam, the largest of the seven "satellite" museums of the Hermitage around the world. The museum was currently running four exhibitions —
- the "Portrait Gallery of the Golden Age", a permanent exhibition actually staged by the Amsterdam Museum (we visited this last time we were here),
- "Treasury! Masterpieces from the Hermitage",
- "Art Brut : Jean Dubluffet's Revolution in the Arts",
- The Art Ambro Art Award 2018 "Schamerkat", by Helen Verhoeven, 'a direct reaction to the "Treasury!" exhibition'.
- brilliant! a superb collection of the paintings of the civic groups in Amsterdam, of which the Night Watch is but one,
- superb! A small exhibition, mainly of paired objects/artworks which bear some interesting relation with each other,
- at best, an acquired taste; at worst, untalented artists who have somehow garnered a following,
- rubbish, pure smut!
Here is a view of the central display of the "Portrait Gallery of the Golden Age" ...
... and here are just some of the "Treasury!" exhibits ...
Icon of St George
and the Dragon,
Russian 15th c
Tintoretto
- The Miracle
of St George
and the Dragon
Lucas Cranach
the Elder
- Virgin and Child
under the Apple Tree
Valentin Serov
- Portrait of
Princess
Zenaida Yusupava
Jean-Antoine Houdon
- Bust of Catherine
the Great
van Dyck
- Portrait of
Nicolaes Rockox
Frans Pourbus
the Younger
- Portrait of
Margaret of Savoy,
Duchess of Mantua
Farnese Hercules
(1st century AD)
Portrait of
a Chinese
imperial official
(c. 1850)
As we left the museum we noticed two animal statues by Patrick Visser, a Dutch sculptor in (mainly) recycled metal. Delightful!
On our way back to Centraal Station, we passed the Hotel d'Europe in Nieuwe Doelenstraat. It has a restaurant, "Au bord d'eau", which is a delightful play on words — "at the edge of the water" (which it certainly is!), or "of Bordeaux" — maybe it serves a southern French cuisine, perhaps served with Bordeaux wines. One can only surmise!
We took the tram back to the station, then walked through the Amstel Passage within the station (passing, on the way through, a place advertising a rather interesting "Soup of the Day"!) to get to some restaurants at the rear, where we had a delightful Wiener Schnitzel for dinner.
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