Week 3: Amsterdam

Despite having to wake up at 3am to make it to the airport, we made it to the Netherlands!

This week we were in Amsterdam. Audrey, Maurene and I worked at the American Book Store. It was a really nice bookstore with English books for the girls to read, coffee for me to drink and free wifi! Interestingly, free wifi was much harder to find in Amsterdam than it was in Iceland. Even the library charges non-local members for wifi! The gentleman who worked at the coffee counter was incredibly kind and loved hearing about what the girls were learning.

Tuesday, to kick off school in Amsterdam, we took a canal cruise. It was very pleasant and we got a nice overview of the city. We learned that there are more canals in Amsterdam than in Venice! We also learned that the canals in Amsterdam are flushed regularly which is why they don’t smell at all. We did have a small incident where the boat motor turned off and we crashed into a canal wall. Luckily, it all turned out okay, but it did add an element of adrenaline that we weren’t expecting in the tour! After the canal cruise we walked around the Vondelpark and enjoyed people watching.

On Wednesday, we went to the Rijksmusuem. It was a fantastic museum that was as gorgeous on the inside as it is architecturally. The girls and I did a scavenger hunt around the museum. We saw the Night Watch by Rembrant, The Milkmaid by Vermeer, one of Van Gogh’s self portaits, a ring that was also a gun, a massive historical dollhouse, and so much more. Our favorite part was seeing the Night Watch and learning about how it can be lowered through the floor in case of emergency! We only made it to probably a fifth of the museum in the three hours we spent there. If I make it back to Amsterdam, I definitely want to go explore more. Maurene got a playmobil version of the Milkmaid at the end of the visit. I thought that was awesome, because I absolutely adored playmobil at her age.

Thursday, we went and explored the Nemo Museum. The Nemo Museum is a math and science museum designed for kids to experience the world from a mathematical and scientific perspective. We watched a giant Rube Goldberg machine raunch a rocket, rode in a self-propelled elevator, learned about keeping Amsterdam dry using dams, matched brains to the animal they were from, and did a scientific experiment to discover what salt does to cells.

On Friday morning, we explored the floating flower market. The girls wanted to get presents for their mom, so Audrey got her flowers and Maurene got her a croissant.  Audrey gave one of the flowers to the man at the coffee stand in the bookstore, which he loved. In the afternoon, we went to see the Van Gogh museum. We got to see many of Van Gogh’s self-portraits, and some of his older artwork like the Flying Fox and the Potato Eaters. We also got to see one of his Sunflower paintings, Almond Blossom, the White Orchard and my favorite of the day: Seascape near Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. As is the case with several museums in Amsterdam, we were not allowed to take pictures in the museum.

I had a super relaxing day on Saturday. I slept in and then took my time making my way over to the Kasteel de Harr in the city of Utrecht.  This was a fascinating castle because it was at one point in ruins. Then at the end of the 1800’s, the owner got married. His wife financed the castle being reconstructed. Because it was reconstructed so recently, it was a fascinating mix of medieval and modern. It had central heating and air as well as hot and cold running water throughout the castle. Many movie stars have frequented the castle over the years as guests of the owners. After getting back to Amsterdam, I got some pizza for the first time in three weeks!

Sunday was spent exploring Amsterdam more. I took a walking tour in the morning to see the center of the city. It was probably the best walking tour I’ve ever taken, because the guide was a history and city planning major with a minor in acting and was incredibly engaging. We got to see a bunch of the city, including the old headquarters for the Dutch East India company. At its wealthiest point, the Dutch East India Company was worth six times more than Apple is today. Crazy! We also got to see the church where Rembrandt is buried, got coffee in an old church turned into a bar, and learn about the history of Amsterdam’s tilted houses and canals. One of the coolest things we got to see is a art project that is the largest in Europe currently. The artist is adding brass plates with the names of those deported to concentration camps into the sidewalk in front of the homes they were taken from. As people step on the brass, they get shinier. I noticed them all over town after they were pointed out the first time. It was very sobering, but also beautiful. In the evening, I took a red-light district walking tour. I learned that marijuana is actually more legal in Las Vegas than it is in Amsterdam – where it is only decriminalized, not legal. I was amazed to find out that the red light district is now one of the safest places in town, and that the apartment rent has gone up astronomically in the past few years.

It was a wonderful week. Audrey and Maurene’s favorite parts were the Nemo museum and the Rijksmuseum. They begged their parents to go back to both museums. My favorite part of the week were the walking tours. At first, I was not so sold on Amsterdam. I think that was probably because I adored my time in Iceland so much directly before coming here. By the end of the week, I ended up really liking Amsterdam too.