Travelogue Amsterdam: Part V - Sunday

"There's a thin line between Saturday Night and Sunday Morning!"
Jimmy Buffet
(From Fruitcakes)

The line was less than five hours wide! I fell into bed last night and was almost immediately asleep. This morning, I was awake around six thirty and, not being able to get back to sleep, I took a shower, got dressed and went for a walk around the city.

I had passed a number of sites that I really wanted to take pictures of on the way home from the club last night. But because I didn't want to carry my camera around with me all day, I had to run back there this morning. There were some interesting statues, monuments and buildings all of which can be seen in the photo album that can be seen at the link above.

There was a wonderful little market place just opening as I was making my way back to there were stalls selling food, clothing, flowers, all the necessities of life spread out for sale along the road. I stopped at one of them and took the pictures of the Margriets (Gerber Daisies) that appears to the right as well as the roses that appear below. There are more pictures from the flower stalls at the link above.

Back at the hotel, I had a cup of coffee with the owner and his partner. We chatted about what I had done the evening before and what my plans for the day were. I thanked them for the advice on the Ann Frank house and asked what they thought of my itinerary for the day. They said that provided I got to the first museum early, it should work out well. So after coffee, I headed straight to the van Gogh Museum.

All day my timing was, as luck would have it, excellent! I arrived at the van Gogh and was fifth in line to get in. The museum was busy but not packed. I spent a few hours working my way through the galleries. Almost every time I was leaving one gallery for the next, a large tour group was entering the gallery behind me. I ate lunch from a cart in the park outside the museum and made my way across to the Rembrandt Museum.

I entered the museum just as a huge group was leaving and heading toward a waiting tour bus. There was a short wait to get in, but during the wait, another large group left, chattering in something that sounded like Spanish, and then boarded another bus.

I spent a couple hours of perusing the galleries. (I have to say at the risk of being branded a philistine, I preferred the van Gogh.) Then, I headed over to take a canal boat tour. It was good to get off my feet! It was bad to be sharing a boat with a family from the States (or perhaps - and I pray I am right here - Canada!) with a small child who…

Well, to my father and anyone who had to put up with me as I was a child, please let me say: If that is how I was, please accept my apologies! This child was the most ill-behaved snot-nose I have ever heard! A short example:
Recorded Announcer: "You are sailing down the Gentleman's Canal. To your right you will see…" (The remainder of the announcement was obscured by the child.)

Unruly Child: "Your in a boat! To your right, you'll see Amsterdam. To the left You'll see Amsterdam! What do you expect to see from a boat in a canal in Amsterdam?"

(At this point the kid started incessantly yakking at his siblings about how clever he was and how dumb it was to have a voice announcing what it was we were seeing.)

RA: "We are now turning into the…"

UC: (Obscuring the rest of the announcement) "We're now in a different canal. It looks like the first but that is because they are all the same. Look to your left and you will see Amsterdam! Look to your right and you will see… guess what… Amsterdam!"

This child was narrating with this inane babble for the next five minutes while all around glared at the kid and his parents. When he did it for about the fifth time, I stood up, turned to the kid's parents and said (Pointing at the kid) "This is why we get a bad reputation as tourists."

The parents shot me acid glares and the kid made a face at me. The next announcement started.

RA: "We are about to pass through the…"

Tensing (as I am sure much of the rest of the boat was) I waited for the inevitable inane commentary by the kid. I was rewarded with:

UC: "We are about to - Ouch! Hey! Why'd ya do that?"

There were no further interruptions to the commentary. The person sitting across the table from me told me that the father had reached across the table and flicked the kid's ear when he started his last comment. Thus explaining the "Ouch! Hey! Why'd ya do that?" The family left the boat at the next stop to a smattering of applause.

I returned to my hotel briefly to make notes and to rest my feet a while and then went for a walk in the Red Light District one last time before sunset. There is an oddity in it. The Church (to the right) is in the middle of the red light district. As a matter of fact, as I was trying to frame and take this shot, I was having to ignore the pleading requests of the women in the windows behind me to come over and "talk" to them. I find it an interesting juxtaposition that were you to swing the proverbial cat by its tail, you could hit a church and a chippie on the same swing.

I hope that wherever you are today, you are able to see the interesting things in life!

Don Bergquist - 17 February 2007 - Amsterdam, Holland, The Netherlands