Day 13 - Negotiating What Day It Is

Day 13 – Friday, Apr 3 – A Fabulous Museum Day

We had to disembark our beloved ship(boat), and Viking arranged for our transportation to our hotel – the Sir A’dam Hotel. As usual it was cloudy and cool with lots of wind. We later came to realize that A’dam is shorthand for Amsterdam. Steve got an early check-in while the other did not have rooms available. It’s a Marriott partner, and maybe it was because I was using some of the 1,000,000 Marriott points I still have. Anyway, everyone piled their stuff in my room as we prepared to adventure through the Rijks Museum (the large art museum with many Dutch masters - think Rembrandt or Vermeer), then the van Gogh Museum (no explanation necessary here) and finally the Anne Frank House Museum in the evening. After a brief respite, we headed off to learn the public transportation system of trams and subways with the help of our expert guide and Google Maps aficionado, Kurt. After a tram ride to Museum Square, we had a short but brisk walk to the Rijks Museum. Our appointment at the Rijks was at 1:00pm (1300) so we had lunch (no meat on Good Friday!) in a small restaurant just in front of the museum. 

There is timed entry to control crowds, and Steve made reservations 8 weeks in advance for this time slot. After he handed out the tickets, someone noted that these tickets said they were for April 4^th not today, April 3^rd. What?!?!?!?! How did that happen (more on that later). When we got inside the museum and they scanned our tickets there was an annoying buzz and security said, “Halt!” I approached (or was confronted by) the lead security guy there and he said, “No admittance. See you later. Come back tomorrow. No exceptions.” I pleaded my case – we were from the US; this was our only chance to visit this national treasure; I even worked up a little tear in my eye. Meanwhile my siblings were being told to exit the museum. I finally convinced him to let me talk to a person at the Information Desk that could be seen from where we stood. If they said “No,” then I would leave peacefully.

So, while the sibs waited – some being forced outside into the cold – I went to work on the nicest looking guy I could find at the Info Desk. He wanted to help, but I could see he was conflicted. I told him we had two hours … it was only seven people in this vast museum … the museum is a national treasure that we didn’t want to miss … He said, “OK. Go up to the security guy and tell him you are in. He should look toward me at the Info Desk, and I will give him a thumbs up.” Back to the security guy with the explanation. He was flummoxed if not incredulous. The info desk guy gave him the thumbs up, and we were in (although those who were expelled had to talk their way back into the museum to catch up with us).

I told everyone we should go to the Info Desk and thank this guy, which we did. But by the time we got there, someone else on walkie-talkie got wind of our scheme and was on the line with the Info Desk guy. I pleaded … we are already here. What can it hurt for us to go into the exhibits. Everyone behind the desk looked the other way and the info Desk guy simply said, “Enjoy!” We made it!

Now, I like art and art history a lot, and this museum is way up the list of famous art museums. I won’t bore you with details but suffice to say, it is amazing. We split up figuring that there was no way for us to hang together in the massive number of large exhibit halls. Here are a few glimmers of artistry reading from left to right:

A van Gogh that is not in the van Gogh Museum

Jacob von Reusdael – a view of Haarlem

Vermeer – classic 17^th century Dutch life 

    

Sorry. I did not get any Rembrandt photos. I was too busy gawking, and the most famous of his paintings was being restored. There is all kinds of artwork, including ridiculously ornate furniture with inlaid wood and inlaid stones to make incredibly intricate floral patterns and birds.

 

And what would an old building in Europe be without gigantic, beautiful stained glass windows!!

Oh! Did I mention the six-floor library with books, manuscripts and references dating back centuries to capture the art history of it all? Many researchers come here to do art history research. It’s very cool! “Silence please” says the sign at the door at the entry, and I saw people working at tables and desks multiple floors below my balcony vantage point. [Look at the ultra-cool multi-floor spiral staircase in the back right corner of the library. 

At some point 90 minutes or so into our adventure, we met up. Steve noted that the van Gogh Museum tickets for 3:15pm (1515) were also for Apr 4^th, so he was leaving early to begin negotiations with those folks.

The walk from the Rijks to the van Gogh is about ½ mile. Steve got there at 2:30pm (1430), and of course there was a guy outside the museum that was checking tickets. He was turning people away saying that the whole day was booked – in fact, they were booked fully for the next two months (Steve got the tickets about 8 weeks earlier). When I approached, I explained the situation to the young man. He said he was not empowered to make exceptions. As I pleaded my case, a young woman who was his boss asked what was going on. I stepped out of line and began to explain to her with that little tear in my eye … she was listening and appeared sympathetic. Then I realized the cause of the mistake.

The stinking European weekly calendar starts on Monday (on the far left) and goes through Sunday (on the far right). The websites were in Dutch, and I simply looked at the museum schedule and selected the day that was second from the right – Friday on the US calendar and Saturday on the stinking European calendar. Aren’t these people of Christian descent where the week starts on Sunday?!?! When I explained that, the young woman, Fame, smiled and understood. “An honest mistake. Yes, I will let you in, but your group has to be here by 3:00pm (1500) because I am off after that, and the person who follows me is not so nice.” I immediately contacted the sibs in the Rijks and said you gotta get here by 3:00 for us to get in. They left the Rijks immediately hustled to the van Gogh, arriving at 2:55. Fame allowed us through the doors. The bar code scanning army inside began to scan and object, when Fame said, “It is OK.” Whew! We were in once again!!!

Mark and Carol did not join us – they had been there before. The rest of us wandered up the three floors of the museum reading about his life and seeing his paintings progress until he took his own life and died in relative obscurity. Ironic that a man who sold exactly one painting in his lifetime is now one of the most revered artists in history whose painting go for 10’s of millions of dollars. The simplest brush strokes woven into an evocative piece of art!

Here is a view from the third floor down through the center of the museum, which has all the galleries of hundreds of van Gogh paintings winding around the outside of the museum. Also, just a sampling of his brilliant (in all senses of the word) work. The “Peach Tree” painting hangs in my house; the museum has a print. One painting done near the end of his life shows a road going nowhere and disappearing into a wheat field. Stormy clouds are on the horizon. Crows/ravens fly off into the distance. Rather ominous!

 

 

 

After van Gogh, we went back to the hotel since our Anne Frank visit wasn’t until 7:15. We needed a little break. The others got into their rooms and got settled. When it was time to go to the Anne Frank house the weather had gotten worse (if that is possible) – colder, windier, and now raining. Mark and Kurt were outside negotiating a cab ride since the nearest Uber was a long wait. Eventually five of us piled into an SUV (Don and Beanie stayed back since they were fighting colds).

Fortunately, Mark made these reservations as soon as they were available 8 weeks earlier (they sell out in less than an hour). He was able to navigate the stinking European calendar and actually gets tickets for Apr 3^rd! Again, I will spare you the details, but Mark got us into the full program where we learned some history and context prior to visiting the actual house and storage area/attic where Anne and her family and a couple of other friends lived for 750+ days before being discovered by the Nazis in January 1945. They were shipped to concentration camps and tragically died there shortly before the war ended, except for Mr. Frank. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed, and we respected Anne and her family’s legacy. What we did get outside were ‘stumbling blocks’ if you recall those from our visit to Koblenz. There were bronze squares embedded in the pavement outside the actual front door of the original house. “Here lived …” Very cool!! (and sad). 

 

After the amazing tour (I highly recommend it), we needed to find a place to eat. It was 9:00pm (2100) and we hadn’t eaten since lunch. We found local restaurant/pub just walking down the street, and they had a table for five upstairs in an area that was smaller than Anne Frank’s attic. We ordered various non-meat plates and drinks and enjoyed ourselves. When we were done, the wind and the rain had ceased, and we decided to walk through the city – over canals and through narrow streets – back to our hotel for the night.

At this point it is worth telling you more about the hotel. It is shocking and like no other hotel I have ever seen. In short, it is black. The elevators are black, the hallways are black walls/carpet, ceilings, my room is black, except for two exposed concrete walls. The floor is concrete with no carpet. The “closet” is a … you guessed it … black metal frame with chicken wire. Whew, there wasn’t this much goth in the Cologne gothic cathedral!!! Enough! The shower was in a closet that was white marble! Hey, I could see! In the end it was a great shower and a comfortable bed. What else do you need?

It did look nice all lit up from across the canal.