Living Positive: Amsterdam/Sri Lanka Adventure: Day 2

Day 2: A Nice Day for a Museum

Today was a dreary rainy day - which I think is kind of the norm for this time of year. But that does not stop the bikes. They were out in full force today!

The rain didn’t stop us either because we had tickets to the Rijksmuseum which is the national museum of the Netherlands and is filled with Dutch Art and history. It was very crowded but it was worth it to see many works of Rembrandt, Vemeer and some very talented 17th century artists including women that I have never heard of. I am always in awe that paintings and furniture can be so old but still strikingly beautiful. A bonus was seeing the research library which is the oldest and largest art history library in the Netherlands and located right in the middle of the museum.

We also learned how the Amsterdam transit systems work today. Our hotel is a 2 minute walk to the tram station which we took to the museum. From the museum, we took the train to Centraal station in the heart of Amsterdam. The Centraal Station is very large and houses an indoor mall. We also learned how to elbow our way in when the train is packed..the Dutch use their transits!

From the Centraal Station we walked on Damrack which is a very touristy thoroughfare with many souvenir shops, fast food restaurants and even a KFC. We ended up in Dam Square, the historic heart of Amsterdam where we found a nice little restaurant to eat a late lunch/early dinner and more importantly to sit for a while.

Of course we had to find the Red Light District but not much was happening since it was early evening - probably for the best.

We decided to wait for a nicer day to take a canal boat tour so it was time to call it a day. We’re hoping for better weather tomorrow.