Amsterdam, oh Amsterdam!

Monday 2022/10/03

Amsterdam was the exact opposite of a highlight, rather one of the few low points on our journey to the North Sea, apart from the weather.

How beautiful it was back in the day, nearly 50 years ago, strolling along the canals, feeling that oh so new and exciting way of life, visiting the recently opened Van Gogh Museum with the last bit of money in our pockets!

And now? Endless shopping street with all the well-known clothing chains, with countless souvenir shops squeezed in between, all offering the exact same items, probably made in China or something. And a few chip stalls - in front of one of the most famous ones, Manneken Pis, there's a long queue of people, as if there was nothing better in the world than Belgian fries with mayo.

And the canals? If not full of cars parked on both sides, then filled with countless bicycles. And construction sites everywhere. The garbage collectors are on strike - or at least it looks like it here. And in all the streets and alleys, there's traffic that makes you shudder. In the evening at six, there's no way through between Bloemenmarkt (tulips from Amsterdam...!) and the main train station, including a honking concert. And on top of that, crowds of people whose destinations you're not exactly sure of. To the next party? To eat fries?

In any case, we wanted to go to the Rijksmuseum (because of Rembrandt and Vermeer and all) and the Van Gogh Museum. The latter didn't work out because if you didn't order tickets online at least one day in advance - with a choice of time slot - you don't stand a chance of getting in. So as an alternative, we went to the Stedelijk Museum of modern art, right across the street. Not Van Gogh, but not bad either.

Conclusion: The question remains whether or not to visit Amsterdam at all. There are much more attractive cities in the Netherlands worth visiting. Rotterdam, for example, is definitely one of them.

P.S.: Of course, just because of the magnificent paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and many contemporaries, on display at the Rijksmuseum, the detour to Amsterdam was more than worth it.