We had an event-filled day yesterday. After going to the ATM to withdraw some cash, Kate, Yehuda, Alex, and I walked to the Pancake Bakery. Because it was around 1:30 PM when we arrived, it was open this time ;) (We all woke up very late that day. Kate knocked on our door at 11:30 AM and she was the only one who was awake.) We all had some delicious Dutch pancakes while sitting outside canal-side. If you’re ever in Amsterdam, I suggest you go ;) Haha.
We headed south toward the Museum District and passed by the Westerkerk again. We attempted to go inside but it was closed to the public for choir practice. So we took some exterior photos and kept walking.
We arrived at the Rijksmuseum first because it closes earlier than the Van Gogh Museum. (The two are near each other.) We spent about 1-1.5 hours at the museum of Dutch history and art, looking at their small publicly available collection. The building is currently under construction (to be completed in 2013) and a large portion of their collection was closed to the public.
We then went to Vondelpark (similar to Central Park) to get hot dogs and just rest for a little bit. Then we went to the Van Gogh Museum, which is where we stopped by a video kiosk and made a very brief video to send to our parents. The museum itself was strange, featuring a small collection of Van Gogh pieces and a lot more works by his friends Bernard and Roden.
After the museum (around 9 PM), the four of us sat down and tried to pick a restaurant. We decided on Walem. We arrived around 10 PM and the kitchen closed soon after we arrived. (The place then turned into a bar/club.) The menu was limited but very good. We ordered calamares (fried shrimp, not squid … much to our surprise) and bitterballen (small round croquettes filled with pureed potatoes and meat) to share, Alex got a salmon & potato soup and a goat cheese salad, and I got beef tenderloin w/French fries & salad. Everything was very good. I’m drooling thinking about it all now :P
We arrived back at the hotel around 12:15 AM.
Leave a Reply