I Amsterdam

Top of Monday morning to you! Before my Paris entries, here's one on Amsterdam. Have a wonderful day!

At the park's wading pool with Rijksmuseum in the background

At long last, we spent Friday, July 13th in Amsterdam. This is our fourth trip to the capital city since we landed on Dutch soil last September.

This excursion has been in our minds for the previous few days but the persistently crummy weather foiled the plan. Also, Sadia's considerable lack of appetite after recovering from her flu has got us immensely worried. Thank God that she finally ate something in the middle of the week. We also postponed going to Amsterdam since we're doggone tired. From what, we know naught. Maybe from all the carbs hibernating in our system. :)

The Amsterdam jaunt was decided that same morning after gauging the weather's turnaround. We hopped on a train shortly before half past noon and following close to a one-hour ride, we arrived at Amsterdam Centraal Station.

We went straight into a tram that would bring us to our main destination for this trip: the Rijksmuseum. Rijksmuseum, which literally means 'State Museum' is located in the Museumplein quarters of Amsterdam. As the name Museumplein suggests, the area boasts some of Amsterdam's famous museums, namely Van Gogh Museum and Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art. We took Tram Number 2 that stopped straight in front of the Rijkmuseum which in turn stood adjacent to a large public park cum playground. We arrived around half past 1 p.m. and instinctively adjourned to the park to release our eager beaver Sadia to the ground. The texture of its gravelly surface caught her interest as evidenced by the way she cheekily dragged her floral shoes across the tiny pebbles.

Shortly thereafter, raindrops fell in a staccato manner, thus prompting us to take shelter under one of the vacant canopied tables. We took the opportunity to order two generous servings of tuna toasties. But Sadia's excitement couldn't be contained as she wanted to roam about her new expansive surroundings. She took me by one of her hands and literally pulled me toward the gravel-like ground. Luckily the rain had stopped.

The alfresco cafe-kiosk where we had lunch

Hubby in the meantime used the free time to eat. Sadia bumped into an American-Asian boy (and his dad) about her size at the 'sandbox' and wanted to follow him pushing his stroller around. I had to coax her back to our table when the boy went further afield. By the time it was my turn to eat, the precipitation became heavier. We only brought Sadia's red parasol along and frantically put it on her stroller but to no avail. Sadia refused to cooperate with her harried parents.

The cool, larger-than-life I Amsterdam sculpture

Say cheese!

Typical of Dutch weather, the afternoon shower died down long before we fully recovered from Sadia's tantrums. We later sat by a bench watching a skater extraordinaire performing on a half-pipe in a blue shirt and black pants. Smartly-dressed, he was the last person we would expect to show off his dexterity on the ramp surface.

We then made music - literally - on this interactive sculpture in the form of an oversized manhole cover. It sat close to the public basketball court and the half-pipe. Like oblivious kids, we happily stomped our feet on the different 'keys'. Well, at least, I was. :)

The original plan was to wait for Sadia to fall asleep before we entered the Rijksmuseum. It was however 3 p.m. by the time we finished playing at the park and since Sadia didn't show any inkling of snoozing off, we decided to just whisk her off to the museum.

A quaint, pleasant courtyard greeted us after we entered the main gate. The calming sound of water at a nearby fountain and the smell of hydrangeas in the air were enough inducements to pull us further inside, that is, into the building itself. Before we could go in to buy tickets however, we had to pass through a security checkpoint, like the one you would normally see at the airport! Bummer!

Tickets purchased and we walked towards the direction of the ground floor's exhibition room. But hubby was stopped at the entrance by a security guard who asked him to leave the tote bag we had brought along at the coat room. His reason? It contained a bottle of water whose content (acidic perhaps?) or possible spillage might cause harm to the paintings of Dutch Golden Era. What gives?!

Right after we finished the ground floor, Sadia beckoned noisily for some nursing action. So I hurried to the next available empty bench, albeit near the open-glass elevator, to do her bidding. She dozed off without much protest and we thereafter enjoyed the rest of the paintings like the famous Rembrandt's work "The Night Watch" in peace.

A substantial part of the museum was unfortunately closed for major renovation works until next year. So much so, that our Museum saunter ended abruptly short. That's it? I blurted out.

Yet, the collection of paintings, artefacts and other Dutch memorabilia on display provides the average visitor with a comprehensive overview of the Dutch's rich and glorious period. My husband and I were particularly excited to find two paintings of Delft, one of which depicted a scene of every day life on the street we currently reside! How surreal to find Delft's famous well-preserved landmark - the Oude Kerk's tower - hovers majestically in the painting's background.

We exited the museum's grounds and ambled to the public park again to let Sadia continue napping for a longer period of time. Temperatures picked up in the late afternoon that we sat on the wooden bench, lulled by a multitude of leisurely activities. A gaggle of teenagers were shooting some hoops in front of us whilst small children squealed in delight as they dipped their toes in the wading pool. We will sorely miss this kind of slowpaced lifestyle once we're back in Malaysia.

One for the road! Rijkmuseum's rear facade

Post-nap, we hopped back on the tram toward Spui, wending our way through the Bloemen Markt, making pit stops at Kalvertoren Shopping Center as well as De Bijenkorf, and fooling around with Sadia at Dam Square.

Taking a rest at Dam Square

On Dam Square with the building that houses wax museum, Madame Tussaud and Peek & Cloppenburg's department store in the background

Taking a turn about Dam Square with Sadia

We finally boarded a train after the rush hour, around 6:30ish, and arrived home one hour later. The sun set only close to 10 p.m. in the summer that we were satisfied that we're able to make full use of the daytime. It was tiring but hey, it's not everyday we go to Amsterdam! Next time, it will be the Artis Zoo for our precocious animal lover, Sadia!