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| The Canals of Amsterdam |
We weren’t very far into our first day in Amsterdam, when we realized we had a problem. It started as we were nearing the garage near the Rijksmuseum when our GPS lost power. Easily enough, we found the garage, and parked for our day at the museum. But, then we discovered a bigger problem. We had blown a fuse in the instrument panel, so the outlet that we needed to use to power our GPS and get us back to the hotel was out of commission. Gary is quite good at car repair, but car repair in a foreign city on a foreign car seemed like a tall order, even for him. In good Scarlet O’Hara fashion, we decided to ignore the problem for the moment and enjoy the day at the museum.
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| Posing next to the sculpture “I am Amsterdam” |
The Rijksmuseum was such a delight. Small enough to be enjoyed without art overload, but packed full of Dutch masterpieces. Of course, Rembrandt is the big name at the Rijksmusem, but I am also a huge fan of Jan Vermeer. My love affair with Vermeer began with my …affinity for Colin Firth. Because I think his accent is hot deeply respect his acting ability, I was anxious to see The Girl with the Pearl Earring. Although, I started that movie with only a love for Colin, I left with eyes for Vermeer.
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| Evan on the “E” |
Vermeer’s story is mysteriously intriguing. He was a poor painter, father of many children, and not much else is known about his biography. He left behind relatively few paintings when he died at an early age. But, his paintings are simplistic little gems of normal Dutch home life, and they are as intriguing and mysterious as the painter himself.
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| More posing on the letter “M” |
Like many other places we have visited in Europe, the Rijksmuseum was overly accommodating for our young children. The security guard insisted there was no reason that we pass through security, as it would be uncomfortable for the children. Instead, he opened a special door just for us, so that we could forgo the lines. Ryan was interested in sketching, as usual. Normally, we try to be as unobtrusive as possible, but here the curators insisted that he sit wherever he wanted to sketch. I am not sure what accounts for this refreshing attitude for children. I would love to bottle it though, and take it home to my local art museum where they practically growl aloud at children who have the misfortune to visit.
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| Playing next to the Rijksmuseum |
After the Rijksmuseum, we walked out into the sunny courtyard and enjoyed a playground for a few minutes while we ate our picnic lunch. Then, we walked across the street to the Van Gogh museum. Van Gogh is a favorite of all of our family, and although we have seen a selection of his works in other museums, we were excited to see an entire museum filled with his works. We spent several hours wandering though the museum, with both of the older boys sketching contentedly.
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| Evan sketching at the Van Gogh Museum |
After touring quietly for several hours, the boys were ready to run off some steam. Back to the playground for another chance to play. Next to the playground, we found a snack vendor and purchased a fresh, hot crispy waffle. Oh my! These were like heaven, sprinkled with powdered sugar. I have searched in vain for a recipe to duplicate this yummy snack, but still only have the memories of that waffle in the park.
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| Ryan entertains Aidan during a break at the museum |
Finally, we were forced to face our denial from earlier in the day. We have become completely dependent on our GPS, and were uncertain how we were going to get back to the hotel without it. We asked for directions that we thought we could follow, but faced with the reality of reading signs in a foreign language left us lost. We wandered for a while, but as the sun was going down, we knew we needed to find the hotel before dark.
In a panic, I said, “Boys, look for airplanes. We need to see where the airplanes are landing.” We knew that our hotel was very near the airport, and if we could head in the direction of the airport we might have a chance of finding our hotel.
All of the boys had their eyes trained on the sky, and just in time we spotted a plane landing. Of course, we were headed in the wrong direction, so we flipped around and sped off the opposite way. Soon, the landmarks around us were starting to look familiar and with a sigh of relief we found our exit and ultimately our hotel. As it turns out, planes can take you home in more ways than one.
