After breakfast, we asked how to use the streetcars since Museum Platz would have been a very long walk. It’s easy. You tap a credit card when you hop on and again when you hop off so that the fare reflects the distance you traveled. Then you just need to know what line number and which direction. It was a 10 minute ride.
We started at the diamond museum. Amsterdam used to be the hub for cutting and polishing diamonds. The museum movie explained that when Jews were pushed out of Spain, they came to Amsterdam to work in trades. Diamond work was where they ended up. It was exacting to cut and polish the stones. My father’s family was involved in the diamond trade and I recall that my uncle who took over the business travelled there often.
Our next stop was the Rijksmuseum. It is an enormous set of buildings that house a huge collection. I had planned for an audio tour with highlights. There was a special exhibit of Franz Hals work which we were able to see. He was apparently an inspiration for impressionist artists because of his free brush strokes and areas of hazy and beautiful details. It was well worth the look. After 3 hours of amazing masterpieces including Vermeers and Rembrandts, we left the museum and sat in the garden outside to rest and enjoy a warm sunny afternoon.
We pushed on to the Van Gogh museum which was very nearby. It houses a large collection that includes some very early work that probably was never exhibited. Of course many familiar works were there too. What a great day!
We hopped on another streetcar to bring us close to our restaurant for dinner. It turned out to be a great choice. Pesca checks you in, hands you a small bucket of popcorn and a complimentary Prosecco or beer, then asks you to wait until the fish market is ready to discuss your dinner choices. We picked out three small starters which were raw tuna, raw hamachi and cooked scallops. Before we sat down, we went to the beverage bar and picked out a bottle of white Austrian wine. The main course was turbot, a fish I think is best eaten in Europe. It came whole, sautéed in beurre blanc. I did a bit of surgery to get it ready and we had a delicious meal with an accompanying green salad. When we went to pay, we were told to choose an ice cream to take as we left.
It was a fun dinner.
We walked back to the hotel to have tea and stroopwaffels after dinner. It was a very full day.
The Adventures of Anne 