We start out early this morning to visit a couple of key museums, and we have sunshine! Our group includes Debby, Marylou, Jerry, Ross, Tom, and me.

We are first going to the Rijksmuseum and on the way we have to dodge the bicycle traffic.

Walking in the city is tricky for us. There is a car-sized bicycle lane to watch out for, then tram tracks, and then car lanes. The majority of traffic, however, seems to be bicycles. After about a half mile, we see the museum.

We are early arrivals and get to stand in line for awhile but we purchased our tickets while still at home so when the museum opens at 9 a.m., the line moves in quickly.

There is a special Rembrandt exhibition right now with hundreds of his drawings and about 20 additional paintings, so we check that out first. One of our favorites is of this woman, purported to be Maria Tripp, a wealthy 20-year -old.

Painted around 1639, her signs of wealth include her many pearls, the exquisite fan in her left hand, and the lace so fastidiously detailed by the artist. Just a few of his many drawings are shown below.

Next we go into the regular part of the museum to see The Night Watch.

Huge and very impressive and the highlight of the Rijksmuseum. Rembrandt was commissioned to paint the Amsterdam militia in this portrait. Another painting we wanted to see was Vermeer’s Milkmaid. Also impressive with its intense blue and yellow colors.

I specifically wanted to see Petronella Oortman’s dollhouse. The dollhouse was built between 1686 and 1710. This was not a child’s plaything but an item wealthy women had made replicating their own homes and placing items in it that duplicated their actual possessions. This was the dollhouse that inspired the book The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton, published in 2014.

The dollhouse was big and it was very detailed.

Next we visit the “Delft” room.

Then we head to the nearby Van Gogh Museum. Some of his most well-known paintings are at the d’Orsay in Paris but there was plenty of interest here. First we saw many of his self portraits but the one Ross liked best had actually been at the Rijksmuseum.

The rest of the exhibit was set up in chronological order and it was easy to see how his style changed over time. We saw The Bedroom and also Gauguin’s Chair.

Van Gogh had invited Gauguin to visit him and when they got into a ferocious argument and Van Gogh threatened him with a knife, Gauguin left. Van Gogh was very upset that he had threatened Gauguin and that’s when he cut off his own ear.

Anyway, lots of history including information about Van Gogh’s parents and siblings and friends. We stop at an outdoor cafe for a drink and then head back to the hotel. Ross had earlier discovered that he forgot to pack the charger for his Norelco razor. But he also discovered that the headquarters for Norelco-Phillips is in Amsterdam where they have 70,000 employees. Then he discovered there was a parts shop six blocks from our hotel. Problem solved. Dinner tonight was at the Seafood Bar. Good day.