Amsterdam

I took a day trip to Amsterdam whilst I was in the Netherlands. It is always an interesting city to visit, made more so by catching up with an old friend for coffee - a coffee that lasted 3 hours before she had to collect her daughter from school and I had to go to a museum or two!

I visited the Rijksmuseum - the Dutch National Museum, reopened last year after a 10-year, 375M euro programme of refurbishment.

Here's the new visitor information desk:

The famous Nightwatch by Rembrandt.....

The renovated Atrium....

In the galleries.....

I loved the Victorian greenhouse in the museum gardens - even more so than the Henry Moore sculptures!

After the museum I took a wander around the canals...looking at the architecture, the crooked houses....shopping on Haarlemmerstraat with its quirky stores, located in the Jordaan area of the city. Oh and of course I found my favourite shop, COS, on the canals of Amsterdam so I just had to have a little look!

The houses along the canals are just amazing, many built in the 17th century, still standing, although often slightly squint.

One of the best ways to see the city is on foot, but it is also fun to take a boat trip. You can find many along the canal near the station offering trips. 

Or if you prefer a little exercise you could always hire a pedalo!

The merchants warehouses with their windows and shutters are amazing. Now of course turned into upmarket apartments. I love that most of the furniture still enters the homes through the windows, using the external hoists, as the internal staircases are too narrow.

Many of the houses were built during the Dutch Golden Age and were both homes and workplaces, with goods stored in the basements and attics and the family living in between. The canals of Amsterdam and their distinctive homes were listed by UNESCO in 2010. 

The Netherlands

Another little trip late last year took me to the Netherlands to visit with my friends, the Fernandez-Olivera clan, recently transplanted from Paris to The Hague. It was lovely to see them all again and to meet their youngest, Lucas, for the first time. I had fun trying to speak French with Nicolas (3) and Beatriz (7) who I think wondered why I was crap at speaking French!

I spent time with them, taking the kids to school, taking the kids to the park,  washing the dishes, making packed lunches, visiting Delft and Leiden (well driving there and eating lunch - you know how it is with 3 small kids in tow) and Amsterdam. In Amsterdam I met with a girl I had been at secondary school with, who I hadn't seen for over 20 years - it was a lovely catch up!

Some of my favourite images from this trip (Amsterdam to follow)!

I took a cycle in the rain to the Gemeentemuseum, about 2kms from my friend's house and spent a lovely afternoon wandering through rooms of Delftware, art and architecture. 

Delft in the museum in The Hague.

Even a Delftware Miffy! There will be more of Miffy in a later post!

And giant sized on a window blind.

Serious Delftware!

Not exactly beach weather, but about 1km from my friend's new house is the fabulous beach of Scheveningen, where my friends spent many a happy post-school afternoon in the summer.

Leiden - close to The Hague is the city of Leiden, home of the oldest university in the Netherlands, founded in 1575. 

That most Dutch of sights - windmills! Sorry the photos are not the best, most were taken from a moving car....to scared to stop less the 3 small children got grumpy!

Delft - this is a quaint little town, almost joined to The Hague, with beautiful canals and old townhouses. My friends think that Delft will be to The Hague, what St Andrews is to Dundee - the place to take visitors, outside the city, full of history.

Some more things that make you think of the Netherlands!