2016 Trip to Europe - Days 20 and 21 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Day 20 - Back in Amsterdam

I must talk a bit about our ship, the Prinsendam. It is the smallest of the Holland-America line and is very different in character from any ship I have been on (barring the Windstar Ships that are a class apart.)

It is a quiet ship. One can wander any of the public spaces without being subjected to unwanted music. There is an easily avoidable casino. There are comfortable chairs, everyplace. No one pushes drinks. One may take dinner at any time between 5 and 8 pm. Room service exists when needed.

Violin-Piano Duo

There is an amplified show every night in the theater for those who want it, but in a different part of the ship a very talented young violin-piano duo played only classical music. She is Russian and he was born in Siberia and spent his younger years in Ukraine. We enjoyed listening to them every night. They have an incredible repertory. They rarely repeated anything except by request. It says quite a bit about the ship and about the guests sailing on the ship that the management provides such an alternative.

The Prinsendam is an older ship, but perhaps that accounts for some of its more attractive features. I would not hesitate to sail on it again.

Days 20 and 21 – Amsterdam

The trip into Amsterdam from the ship was the

Amsterdam

journey from hell. We had opted to be transported from the ship to a centrally located hotel by a ship-arranged bus, because the ship said there might be very few taxis at the ship terminal. The bus trip was to take less than a half hour. We’d done this once before in Rome and it worked like magic.

This time it didn’t. First of all there were many taxis at the terminal. We should have just taken one, but we’d already prepaid bus transport for two.

The bus broke down about twenty minutes into the trip. We had time-specific tickets to the Van Gogh Museum – 11 o’clock. We should have gotten to our hotel with time to spare, but...

An hour later we were on the replacement bus. But without our coats. In the transfer from one bus to the other I forgot them up in the overhead compartment. We realized this the minute the first bus was hauled away and told our new driver who called the other driver. We gave our hotel name where the coats could be sent – but alas they were not.  We have no contact information, no one we can call. My coat was five weeks old and expensive. JP’s was older, but a favorite. 

We admit we have each done this before, lost a coat in the middle of a trip. It comes from having more bits and pieces to handle than you have hands. No matter how we swear we will travel with less next time, we never do.

Van Gogh Museum

The day ended well though. The Van Gogh Museum honored our tickets and we spent a wonderful afternoon in that incredible museum.

A word about where we are. We’re staying in the Hotel Fita in the middle of the Museum District. The Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum are about a block from us, as is the world renowned concert hall the Concert-Gebouw. Connecting them all is a wonderful long park with outdoor cafés and open green spaces.

Hotel Fita

Our charming little hotel, about 30 rooms, is family owned and operated in one of the beautiful, tall, narrow brick buildings that used to be residences. We are on the top floor in a spacious room with a wall of windows and double doors that open to a wide balcony. If you are ever in Amsterdam, I highly recommend the Fita. Ask for room 44. Every room is different and there are some quite small ones. The breakfast at the Fita is well beyond the usual hotel offerings, varied, delicious, and plentiful.

Rijksmuseum

Today, our last day on this trip, we went to the Rijksmuseum. We went with a purpose in mind. We wanted to see all the Rembrandts and Franz Halls and Vermeer’s.  At least that was MY goal. JP just sort of came along for the ride.  She confided to me as we left the Rijksmuseum three hours later that she had had enough museums to last her for a long time. I countered that I had visited enough churches. 

I hate to say I was disappointed in the collection, after all they have the Night Watch and at least two Rembrandt self-portraits and a huge Franz Halls and some, but not much, Vermeer. I guess I expected more. Certainly more Vermeer. Of Rembrandt there was no portrait of Saskia. Where would it be? Franz Halls, no Shrimp Girl. Where is it if not here? What this museum has is impressive, but I thought it would have more of the Dutch and Flemish masters. I’m going to have to do an on-line search to see where these other paintings are.

JP is sleeping. This has been an intense trip. There has been so much to see, and such a limited time in which to see it. We know we are unlikely to return to this part of the world. We too much love the southern countries, Italy and Greece in particular, to spend more time in northern climes. We’re glad we made this voyage, but we won’t be coming back.

Tomorrow night, barring anything unforeseen, we will be sleeping on our own beds. Then all we have to do, besides dealing with B&B guests, is recover from jet-lag. That takes about a week.

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