14/04/2022
The day started on the bus into the city with no real plan. As soon as we arrived, Eloise requested a playground, luckily there was one at Museumplein. Although it was a bit big for her. This is where the iconic I amsterdam sign was located, outside Rijksmuseum. “The sign was removed in December [2018] after a motion filed by GroenLinks to Amsterdam City Council received a majority vote. The motion deemed the sign to be individualistic, whereas Amsterdam should instead promote solidarity and diversity”. Sophie had to settle for the bench.
Jane and Juju seemed to be eating a lot of apple pie on their adventures last week. That was all it took to convince Sophie. We looked up where to get the best classic Dutch apple pie. We started walking over the canals and passed over Aluminium Bridge and made our way to Nieuwmarkt. We spotted a flower market that took us completely off track, but it was a sunny day and we were happy plodding along checking out the beautiful terraces.
After completing the scenic route we arrived at Winkel and it did not disappoint. We were glad we had taken the long route here, we had earned it.
We continued walking along the canals. Liam checked out the Amsterdam Cheese Museum, Sophie did not want to be tempted. The girls did pick up some Danish treats, essentially pure sugar.
In the afternoon we decided we should visit Rijksmuseum, one of Amsterdam’s most popular tourist attractions. By the time we had arrived, Museumplein was starting to fill up with people enjoying the sun and tulips.
The building was pretty specky, all the rooms were enormous and echoey. Once Lachnado had discovered this, there was no stopping him. He continued honking and chuckling as we made our way through the exhibitions.
There was an enormous collection of trinkets, furniture, weapons, ship models, a plane and art. We thought the library was neat. We had to take turns as you had to be silent to enter and we could not stop Lachnado honking.
There was a series of Vincent van Gogh pieces, although this was a replica. The real one is in the Van Gogh Museum only a few hundred meters away.
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is one of sixteen national museums in the Netherlands. The collection offers an overview of Dutch art and history, including works by 17th-century Dutch masters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals. The museum has been housed in the Rijksmuseum building since 1885, which was designed by the Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers.
Dinner tonight was an easy one at Wagamama. Although, Eloise is going through a bit of a phase where she does not like to eat out. She much prefers to take her food away takeaway style and eat it elsewhere. Tonight she wanted to eat near the lizards.
By the time the bus dropped us back at the hotel, we had two sleeping children. Their bedtimes have slowly been sliding, but luckily when we fly back home late tomorrow we will gain that extra hour back.
Looks such such a great holiday, and all that sun!😎