Bluejake

8-9am Woke up- raining outside and chilly. Something of a stomachache. Slept about seven hours.
9:15am Walked down Oosterpark to a nearby laundromat. Jumped in a taxi to Rijksmuseum. Huge ornate structure- resembles the Centraal Station. Very good Rembrants (like The Nightwatch) and rooms of Delft ceramics and period furnishings. Sort of disappointing Oriental Rooms- but very good doll houses- if you like that sort of thing.
11:30am Van Gogh Museum- very crowded but a very good survey. I liked his interpretation of Lazarus rising from the dead- perhaps an allegory for his struggle with mental illness. Also very good Japanese and Asian inspired work that I hadn't seen before. The old stuff- sunflowers, fields, peasants, as usual top notch.
12:30-3:45pm Long walk through best streets of Amsterdam. Down the Keizergracht to Golden Bend, and up Spuistraat to Paleis and Dam, and then a stop for lunch. After, up Singel to Brouwersgracht near Fat Beats, and then back through Jordaan to Anne Frankhaus. All the canals and buildings were cool- cross between Venice and West Village in NYC. Karen was tired through some of Jordaan. Some crankiness on my part on way back. Got laundry, and now back at hotel relaxing, waiting for Eric to arrive.
5pm Eric arrived.
6pm Drinks at ToDrink, the hotel bar.
8pm Dinner on Spuistraat at Kantjil, a nice Indonesian restaurant. We had this 13 course dinner with many good dishes- sort of like Malaysian food.
9:30pm Drinks on Rembrantsplein at one the big coffee bars.
10pm Walked home through Weesperstraat and the University of Amsterdam. Got back to Arena and watched CNN/BBC for awhile, until going out for a few vile drinks at ToDrink.
12am Sleep.

Travelogue