Amsterdam is located in the Netherlands, that being said; where is Holland and who are the Dutch? Well the secret is unfolded: Holland is a province of Netherlands and the Dutch are a Germanic ethnic group living in the Netherlands, well, now you know the rest of the story! We arrived at the airport 5 hours early so we could use our United Club passes before they expired I guess. Kathy used some of our United point to upgrade us to Premium Plus which allowed us to to sit right behind 1st class so we could see them convert their seats into beds while they drank free champagne and watch their movies on a big screen.
Well, I can tell you I was impressed. The mile, 7 hour flight, was sort of comfortable with our 6 inch reclining seat and 6 inch elevating leg rest. The airport was a zoo, when we finally made it out, the highlight of the day was the Uber ride that took us to the hotel, I Love Uber!
We arrived at am and at we started some of the walking tour down a busy street called Damrak that was filled with people, shops and things to see. We went through a 5 story store called De Bijenkorf that was amazing, but by then my new knee felt old, so we stopped at a sidewalk cafe for wine and fish and chips. We were only 2 blocks from the Red Light District but Kathy said the lights were prettier at night, so we found an Amsterdam Cheese Company and bought some cheese, chips, and wine and made our way back to the hotel to crash and save some excitement for tomorrow.
After an early breakfast, we tackled the local metro system and much to our relief found it relatively easy to navigate. We started at the Rijksmuseum that houses the best Dutch artists: Vermeer, Steen, Hal and Rembrandt, they were interesting β but no paintings of fish. Then on to The Van Gogh Museum. Not being an art connoisseur, I found his life more interesting than his paintings.
He suffered from psychotic episodes and delusions and cut off his ear with a razor after a disagreement with another artist, later admitting himself to a psychiatric hospital where he painted 75 paintings in less than 75 days and ended up shooting himself. No pictures of fish here either. With no more museums to explore a friend of mine suggested The Sex Museum but Kathy just smiled when I mentioned it so we strolled through Vondelpark and people-watched.
