Amsterdam 2

On the eve of my departure from Amsterdam, I feel confident that I have explored the city's many artistic, historic, and cultural offerings to the fullest! Wish I could say the same for some of the shady characters lazing around the Flying Pig Downtown hostel as we speak. That's their problem, I suppose...

Following the Rijksmuseum, the other big two on the list were the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House. Both were a tad crowded (I can only imagine the line for Anne Frank during the summer!), but neither was dissatisfying.

The Van Gogh Museum praises hell out of a man who lived his short life enjoying virtually no praise from anybody. What a testament to the output! 800 paintings in ten years! A few masterpieces were notably absent (i.e. Starry Night, which is in New York.), but the collection on display was wonderfully thorough, arranged so as to trace the artists' many trends and developments, including his dabbling in Japanese woodblocks!

The Anne Frank House I took in this morning with a pair of short Argentineans, Denise and Alejandro. We were impressed by how expansive and yet well-hidden the Secret Annexe truly was. Having re-read (most of) Anne's Diary just before my visit, I was moved when I recalled how from this hideaway she often could hear nighttime air battles, and even see Jews being arrested on the streets through tiny slits in the curtains.


I'll turn in the book report and diorama later. (I promise! Here's a note from my Mom!)

Now it's off to Belgium!