The big plan for today was to go visit the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. We took the train from Haarlem to Amsterdam, once again, and then took a tram from Amsterdam Centraal to Museumplein, where there are a number of museums, including the Van Gogh.
We had tickets to enter at 10:15, but were a little early, so we walked around a bit. It’s a beautiful park where all the museums are
and there was also an exhibit of flags of the 63 countries that criminalize same-sex relationships, or gender expression. The hope is that this collection shrinks over time.
At the appointed time, we entered the museum
And rented the audio tour, and we took about 2.5 hours to walk through the whole museum, and hear some of the stories of Vincent van Gogh’s life, paintings, and influences. We also learned about his brother, Theo, who was his benefactor and supporter for his entire career, and who died only six months after Vincent, at age 33. We also learned a little about Jo, who was Theo’s wife, and the driving force behind ensuring that Vincent’s artwork would be known. I didn’t take any photos of the artwork, because I am sure there are better representations easily findable on the web.
After the museum, we walked in the direction of Anne Frank’s house, including a brief incursion into Vondelpark.
We did not plan in advance enough to be able to tour the house, but we passed by.
We kept walking in the direction of Amsterdam Centraal, and found a cute little restaurant that served traditional Dutch meals, so we shared a Hutspot met Gehaktball (enhanced mashed potatoes and large meatball). We also went past the Royal Palace, a gorgeous building build in the 17th century, and marveled at the fancy light posts.
We had a nice, easy train ride back home, and then headed out for dinner at a local restaurant in Haarlem a bit later. After dinner, we walked past the Corrie Ten Boom house, just to see it, since we didn’t get tickets to tour it earlier.
And that about does it for our vacation! Tomorrow is essentially a long travel day. We have an Uber scheduled in the morning to bring us to the airport, and then two flights later, we should be back in Boston!
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