Final Day in Amsterdam Museums and Bicycles

Here we are at the end of another European travel experience. I should begin by noting that booking an extra day or two at the beginning and end of your cruise is generally a win win if your finances can afford it. On the front end you are protecting against airline delays that might cause you to miss your boat. Second, an on time arrival gives you time to decompress from a long flight or to do some extra touring before you board your ship.  A day or two at the end allows for some extra sightseeing at your destination port plus a more relaxed trip to the airport for your flight home.

Our final day in Amsterdam started with a 9:00 AM entry ticket to the ultra-modern Van Gogh Museum.

There we re-visited the largest repository of Van Gogh paintings in the world.  They range from early drawings like this

to more familiar and highly colored work from his later periods.

A little after noon we left the museum and walked to the Amsterdam flat of some friends from our home town who were on an Associated Colleges of the Midwest  assignment during the fall semester.  They were living at the time in a long thin apartment that crawled along a third floor and was accessed by the ground floor entrance you can just see in the lower right of the photo below.    We had a typical Dutch repast with cheeses, sausage, crackers, bread, and veggies.  Oh, and did I mention wine.

Lots of good conversation about the benefits and challenges of living in a foreign land.

We didn't get back to our hotel until late afternoon and as we walked back from the tram stop along a major bike path, it did occur to me that I had not really commented on the bicycle bastion of the civilized world.  (Though Copenhagen may give Amsterdam a run for its money.)   Bicycles in the Netherlands come in infinite numbers and in all sizes and shapes.

Many have a rear slot for an extra rider.

Some prioritize infant comfort up front.

Then again it doesn't have to be an infant.

 

Yet when all is done, it is just the vast numbers of them that you remember.

Always be alert; they do not stop for pedestrians until they hit you. Our evening was completed by a nice dinner at a restaurant in one of the streets near the railroad station.

Early tomorrow morning we fly to Helsinki to spend some time with our son and his family who live there.

I hope you have enjoyed these posts that chronicle our trip down the Rhine. . If you have not done a cruise perhaps it will whet your appetite to try one.  If you have done this one, perhaps the daily posts will bring back some good memories.  You might also enjoy looking at my posts dealing with our Danube cruise from Budapest to Prague in 2015.  You can find those posts in the listings along the right side of the blog.

 Good night and a last look at Amsterdam as seen from our hotel window.