Art, diamonds, bicycles, and canal tour

We started the day with a walk from the train station to the Rijksmuseum.

First, we went through the relatively small Chinatown in Amsterdam with many Asian restaurants.

At Nieuwmarkt, we saw the big Waag. Originally, it was a medieval city gate that later became the official weighing house.

We walked along the many canals of Amsterdam.

Finally, we reached the Rijksmuseum.

We contented ourselves with the Highlight Tour of the audio guide, which took us through the exhibition with numerous paintings and other art objects in about 90 minutes.

The more well-known paintings and artists were surrounded by larger groups and sometimes a bit difficult to see.

It was much quieter in the Japanese collection.

Here our tour ended, and we continued to the Diamond Museum.

There, we learned about the history of Amsterdam as an important diamond trading center. We also saw some replicas of special treasures and royal crowns.

The last museum we visited today was dedicated to modern art.

In the Stedelijk Museum, we saw monochrome canvases, modern installations, and bizarre artworks.

By now, the clouds that had covered the sky in the morning had cleared, and we wanted to make use of the sunshine.

So we boarded one of the many excursion boats that transport tourists through the canals of Amsterdam.

We also received some information about the city and the sights along the shore.

We passed by some of the many houseboats in the canals. Living on the water is quite popular, and there are houseboats in all sorts of designs.

In addition to getting around on the water, many city residents use bicycles. We wanted to try that as well.

So we rented bicycles and rode through Vondelpark.

The 45-hectare park was busy on this sunny Sunday.

After dinner with a view of the water, we went for an evening walk.