My wife and I took our first trip to the Netherlands with a long weekend in Amsterdam and a trip out to the nearby town of Haarlem. We had intended that this wouldn't be quite the usual museum-fest that we indulge in when on a city break, mainly because the galleries in the Netherlands are so expensive to get into! Coming from a country where most museums and galleries are free, and believing strongly in that system, I have to admit some resentment to paying upwards of £10 each to get in, even as a tourist. Added to this is the fact that the museums were almost exclusively art based rather than archaeology or ancient history, and although I like art there's only so many paintings I can take in the space of a few days.
So this trip would take in a limited number of major cultural venues but otherwise be one with a good deal more walking, shopping, coffee drinking and pancake eating than usual. Thankfully, despite it raining on us at least a little bit every day, Amsterdam is a fantastic city for doing just that. The architecture and canals are very pretty and the city rewards the time taken to explore its myriad of tight alleyways and near-identical waterways. One thing I have to mention is the sheer friendliness of the locals, who were without exception welcoming, good humoured and in possession of excellent English language skills.
Of course, its impossible to visit Amsterdam without seeing anything of its red light district (mainly as its slap-bang in the centre of the historic city). As expected, it was a rather seedy experience with a range of decidedly depressed looking prostitutes peering out at the mostly disinterested passers by. The occasional anorak-wearing person seen going inside only confirmed what a tawdry existence it must be. Safe to say we saw, didn't buy the T shirt, and kept walking!
Rijksmuseum
The recently reopened Rijksmuseum was one of the main reasons for our visit. After being closed for ten years, this much vaunted 'cathedral of art' was very high on our hit list, despite its €15 entry fee and talk of enormous queues.
Arriving early on a Sunday helped us be one of the first in the queue, though the crowds never seemed to reach crisis point at any time during our 4 hour visit. Being one of the first through the doors, we naturally headed straight for the star attraction, Rembrandt's 'Night Watch', to see it while it was still quiet. As the photos below show, the gallery was as quiet as it must ever be.
With that done, we began to work our way back through the galleries more systematically, starting with the architecturally attractive Asian Pavilion. The use of large glass walls and exterior water was very well executed, and matched the feel of the objects beautifully. In fact, throughout the Rijksmuseum, clean, simple displays with careful and effective lighting were the order of the day.
Next up were the Medieval galleries, though I had to remind myself that I was in an art gallery and that this was about attractive objects rather than daily life and context. Nevertheless, the combination of paintings and diverse 3D objects complemented each other well and kept the galleries varied and the quality high. The wooden statuary in particular is wonderful, and as Medieval displays go this is as good as I've seen since the Musee du Moyen Age (formerly the Musee de Cluny) in Paris.
The Rijksmuseum is understandably a very large institution, so below is a selection of images from the other galleries, encompassing a large range of collections, from weaponry and armour to costume, ceramics and model ships.
Anne Frank's House
The story of Anne Frank and her family is truly one of the most memorable and moving of the 20th Century, and of course just one highlighted episode which serves to tell the countless millions of similar personal tragedies now lost to history. It would have seemed wrong to go to Amsterdam and not go and visit the house where she and her family attempted to hide from persecution.
I almost want to separate the two elements of the visit - firstly the story of Anne herself and the slight but touching traces of her that remain, and secondly the experience of mass international tourism that the house attracts. As my wife will tell you I'm not a big fan of being in huge crowds at heritage sites, much preferring to experience them when quiet and easier to contemplate. At Anne Frank's House, that is pretty much impossible. Although by going in the evening we missed the worst of the crowds, we still had to queue outside and then shuffle around the house like the world's most boring conga line. This inevitably meant that in the earlier rooms, part of the offices and stores that formed the company occupying the 'visible' part of the building, we spent a long time going nowhere with very little to look at apart from the odd quote on the wall and some short video interviews. However, when in the 'secret rooms' where the Frank family hid, the line would often seem to move forward at great speed, meaning that the key experiences such as seeing the posters Anne placed in her own room or the marks on the wall where Anne and her sister had their height measured over the years, were impossible to appreciate due to the people behind constantly forcing you forwards. Not a great experience it has to be said, though the power of the story still thankfully manages to shine through.
I had decided that since, to my shame, I didn't have a copy of Anne Frank's diary on my bookshelf, I would buy one from the shop. However, as the copies they had were imported from the UK, with a UK RRP of £7.99 printed on them, I certainly wasn't going to pay the 12 Euros they were charging!
Overall, despite my price and mass tourism grumbles, Amsterdam was a lovely place to explore, and I certainly hope to be able to experience more of the Dutch welcome in future visits to other parts of the country.
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