Anne Frank House was first up on today’s agenda. Our plan was to beat the crowds by being in line at 8:30am. Confident that our game plan was solid, we strolled up just shy of 8:45am. There was a huge line, perhaps the longest we had seen up to that point. Alright, change of plans! We decided to visit the relatively little known Houseboat Museum which was a stonesthrow away from our apartment. Many of the canals in Amsterdam are lined with houseboats. From antique to modern, posh to in serious need of rehab, these are coveted spots in the city. We learned that due to limited docking space there are no houseboat permits available at this time. Touring the vintage houseboat was a short, cheap and educational way to spend 30 minutes.
The Houseboat Museum completed we walked back to the Anne Frank House and the line was no shorter. After a brief consultation we hopped on the bus that picks up at the corner and decided to spend some time in the Rijksmuseum area. This area is filled with world class museums and there’s no bad choice. The Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum dedicated to arts and history in Amsterdam located at the Museum Square, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum, and the Concertgebouw. We decided to tour the Van Gogh Museum since Darin had particularly liked it during a previous visit.
Ten minutes later we were strolling through the open meadow down to the Van Gogh Museum. The Van Gogh Museum has the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings, correspondence, and drawings in the world. Very easy to navigate, but make sure to buy your tickets in advance! The line looked to be at least one hour long, but we purchased our tickets online (while in line) and we were inside not 5 minutes later. One of our linemates, a student from the US, was suitably impressed!
Pro Tip - Europeans are way ahead of the U.S. with their credit card technology. In order to get around you have to use a chip and signature card. The old swiping the magnetic strip on the back of the card has gone the way of the Dodo, and most places will not be able to process a transaction.
Mom Tip - Your credit card (with chip) probably has a pin number too. Be sure to ask your bank for the number since you may need it when you use your credit card.
The Van Gogh museum never gets old and, after exploring the exhibits, we stopped for a coffee in the museum cafe and plotted our next move. Our decision was to grab a taxi to the Tassenmuseum Hendrikje aka the Museum of Bags and Purses. In a bid to reduce its carbon footprint, Amsterdam has enlisted the aid of Tesla Model S taxi cabs. The cutting edge taxis are just a small part of the Schiphol Airport’s goal to be among the greenest airport in the world. That accounts for the many electric cars in Amsterdam but not the numerous Mercedes cabs.
I wanted to visit the museum, an unconventional selection, but Darin too found it enjoyable and interesting. It is a private museum situated in a lovely canal house in the centre of Amsterdam, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Canal Ring Area, displaying the development of bags and purses from the Middle Ages to the present day. The museum has an enormous and unique collection of over 5.000 bags and purses. The museum shop, cafe and gardens were outstanding and the employees friendly and knowledgeable. On another trip, I’d plan to take high tea in the museum period room overlooking the garden.
After a quick tram ride (seriously, it is very easy to get around this city) we ended up at Centraal Station and purchased tickets to The Hague for the next morning.
Mom Tip - The tram shares the road with cars, who drive on the tram rails, and with bicycles and pedestrians. Alighting the tram be sure to carefully look before crossing. No telling what’s coming!
It was around 3pm and we decided to give Anne Frank House one more try. It was now or never. We took the light rail a few stops and tried our luck. As luck would not have it, the line was still 2 hours long. We bit the bullet. Anne Frank is an experience, and an absolute must visit while in Amsterdam. If you can, try to get your tickets online, but if you can’t expect to wait at any hour of the day. Worth it.
We strolled back to the apartment, window shopping and taking a few selfies along the way. This is really a charming neighborhood.
Later that night we took the light rail to Centraal Station and boarded our Lovers (name of the company, not necessarily for) wine and cheese cruise. Tourists of all ages on board. A two hour sail in a glass covered boat (riding quite low in the water) through the (sometimes lit) canals at night. Several times the boat scraped the side of the canal while squeezing through a narrow opening. It was a great way to see Amsterdam from a different perspective and the on board narrator was knowledgeable and entertaining. The cheese was ok and heavy pours for the wine, and overall it was an enjoyable way to end our time in Amsterdam. Our boat docked a little after 11pm, and our cab pulled up to our apartment at approximately 11:30pm.
Amsterdam conquered. Tomorrow off to The Hague!
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