Baltic Cruise- Day 17: Arrival in Amsterdam - June 3, 2018

We awoke at 7 to find ourselves docked in Amsterdam. The cruise was over. We visited 6 countries in 14 days and started and ended in a seventh.  It was the longest cruise any of us had ever taken, but that was not an issue. It was so nice not to have to pack and unpack all the time. My daughter J and husband K had to get back to work, but, being retired, the only thing pulling me back home was a lack of clothes to continue on.

It was overcast and cool, much like our first day in Amsterdam. We looked out our veranda to see a ship below us pumping fuel into the Koningsdam. We went to breakfast at 8 and had one last terrific meal and went out on the Lido deck to see them loading fresh food for the next cruise and the buses for those they had to transport. We went back to the cabin to wait at 9. We checked the temperature and it was 63.7, which was the coolest it has been for a while for us. 

   

At 9:20, we went down to the Queen’s Lounge to wait for our group to be called. But, there were so many people in there that we went to the Ocean Bar across the hall, where they had these lovely flowers. We saw a couple with Gator gear and it turned out they were from Jacksonville. I continued to marvel that there were people from our area who had all decided at the same time to travel across the ocean to be on this cruise.

At 9:35, we were called and we went with our hand luggage to be scanned at the gangway one more time. We were off the ship at 9:42. There was a nice little Amsterdam display in the passageway at the terminal and I had J and K pose. We got a better view of the food that was being loaded.

When we got to the luggage claim, there was no sign for our group. Finally, K asked someone and they said it was being transported to the hotel, which we’d paid for. So, we went to the hotel, arriving at 9:55. It took until 10:30 to finish checking in, which was unfortunate, because the lobby was way too hot.  We did have time to check in with Holland America to confirm our transfer to the airport tomorrow. J would be leaving before us, as her flight was earlier. Our rooms were not ready, so we put the hand luggage in their storage room, before buying tram tickets for 7,50 Euros each.

We finally headed out at 11:10 and were on the tram to the Centraal Station seven minutes later. On our way, we’d passed the captain of the Koningsdam, seemingly with family. We got out at Centraal at 11:20 and walked down the street. We stopped in a rather warm McDonald’s for a bite ten minutes later. The ordering kiosks worked, but the credit card reader there was out of order, which was frustrating. K got coffee and yogurt with muesli for 5,25 Euros. I got a small Coke Zero and a burger for 2,20 Euros. Unfortunately, K had trouble with his coffee lid and a lot of the very warm liquid got spilled on my leg. Luckily, I was in blue jeans, which protected the skin somewhat.

We left at 11:55 and went looking for more wooden tulips for J to give as gifts. We managed to find some, but then just missed the #16 tram that we needed. Another came at 12:15. It seemed rather crowded for a Sunday. At 12:28, we got off at Museumsplein by the Concertgebouw, our destination. 

 K had really wanted to hear a concert in this building, because it is one of the five best in the world for acoustics. He wanted so much, he was willing to go to a children’s concert. They were doing Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. We had a little trouble finding an entrance, but once we did, K was incredibly lucky to get 3 tickets at 17,50 each. I say incredibly lucky, because once we were in there, it was incredibly packed.

A restroom was the first order of business, because McDonald’s hadn’t had one. They were much larger than normal in a theater. Then, we checked out our seats and took photos of the hall and selfies, before going to get the free drinks that came with the ticket purchase. I decided to try Appelsap-delicious- and K and J had ginger ale. We noticed the Amsterdam shield above one of the lights.

The program began with Romeo, in very modern attire, and Juliet, in a poufy skirt, coming out to talk. It was in Dutch, but they made hand gestures and some of the words were close to English and/or German. Plus, we know the story, so we got the gist. The kids laughed like crazy at the broad acting of the death scene, which was done before the music, not during. The balcony scene was during the music and it was quite funny. I noticed that Dutch is more guttural than German and wetter.

It was finished at 1:55 and when we got outside at 2:08, there were puffy clouds and blue sky. We crossed the street to kill some time by going to the Stedelijk art museum, which specializes in modern art. We showed our Holland Pass to get a discount, but, instead, it was free! That was great, since we had tickets for the Van Gogh Museum at 3:15.

The Stedelijk had free Wi-Fi, which let us post to Facebook and find out that the temperature was now 75. The museum signaled its art focus right away with the escalator. The museum had the kind of art that I love. Not the current modern, but the recent past. 

 We saw Van Gogh’s that I was unfamiliar with, such as this, Kitchen Gardens on Montmarte from 1887. He was trying to appeal to a possible buyer. It seemed a similar style to the Cézanne, La Montagne Sainte-Victoire from about 1888. 

As soon as I saw this next painting, I knew it was a Chagal (The Fiddler, 1912-1913). It is on loan to them. On the other hand, I did not recognize Tableau III- Composition in Oval, 1914 from one of my favorite painters, Piet Mondrian. However, I immediately, recognized Composition with Blue, Yellow, Red, Black, and Gray, 1912, as his. I really liked Gerrit Rietveld’s Red and Blue Chair, designed 1919-1923 and made around 1950.

Leger’s The Three Comrades from 1920, was a very interesting design. I’ve always liked Breuer’s chairs and I am a big fan of Mies van der Rohe’s buildings, so his chair was of interest to me, too.

I immediately recognized this painting as being by Max Beckmann, due to the shape of the man’s head (Double-Portrait of the Artist and His Wife Quappi). It is amazing to look at Kandinsky’s Improvisation 22 (Orient I) and see that it was painted in 1913. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a George Grosz painting with such bright colors (Der Agitator, The Rabble Rouser, 1928).

I’m not fond at all of Picasso’s Nude in Front of a Garden from 1956. It seems garish and borderline obscene. It was cool to look up and see Alexander Calder represented by Mobile XII.V-III.H from 1955 and Suspended Composition of Small Leaves (Four Red Spots) from around 1947. My younger daughter is a fan of Lichtenstein, and he was represented by As I Opened Fire, 1964.

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing several Oldenburg pieces over the years, including the spoon with a cherry in Minneapolis. This piece is Saw (Hard Version II),1971. It is impossible to not recognize a Segal, when you see one. His people are iconic. This one is Woman in a Doorway (II), 1965. Jeff Koons has done some pieces I like and some that I don’t get much out of. Ushering in Banality from 1988 is one of the latter.

We’d looked at enough of the museum and took time in the shop, of course. Then, we hurried over to the Van Gogh, which was more or less next-door. We showed our tickets and entered at 3:20. I was not happy to see that I had to descend stairs immediately after the ticket checker.

K checked his bag and we had to climb another set of stairs to reach the exhibit space. Unfortunately, you can only take pictures inside at the selfie wall. Some folks did not obey the rule, but the guards usually caught them. This was done, the museum said, to keep the viewing space in front of each painting accessible to everyone. That’s good, but I do like to take photos of art to study later. The cards in the Stedelijk were particularly informative about each piece of art.

We were able to take elevators to the other floors, but that never put us where we were supposed to be to follow the map logically. We found a shop on the top floor and bought a couple of things. I couldn’t resist a packet of postcards that you color

 yourself. When we got back to the lowest level again, we found a more extensive shop. I needed a new case for my sunglasses and thought the one that is inspired by Irises, would suit just fine.

Luckily, there was an elevator that took us back up to the level we’d entered. It was 6:04, when we exited. At 6:06, we were back on Tram 2. It took only 11 minutes to reach our next stop. We thought we’d have a bit of a walk, when we got off, but were surprised to see Haeje Claes’ back. 

This was the restaurant that had been recommended to me by a guy we’d met on last year’s Luther tour. We had reservations for 6:30. We walked around the side of the building, where there was patio seating, to the front, which was actually three buildings. We went across the street to take better photos, before correctly guessing which door to enter. 

 We had to wait a few minutes for the headwaiter to acknowledge us standing in the small hall. I said that we had reservations, but he did not bother to check on them. Rather, he led us to a table near the open back door. The spot was charming and we had a nice view of the rest of the room.

 Unfortunately, K was coming down with a cold and the air from the door really made him cold. So, J changed seats with him and he found the settle she’d been sitting on protected him from the air. K ordered coffee to warm up and J ordered her usual Coke (2,60). I was intrigued by a Wieckse Rose (3,25), which turned out to be a ruby red beer, that smelled like cranberries. It was awesome! 

 K decided to order the Amsterdam Menu (26,95), which was a three-course meal. It started with a very nice salad with smoked ham and cheese. A wonderful, hearty, warm dark bread was placed on the table.

For his main course, he had salmon. I ordered the seasonal special Classic White Asparagus Dish (21,50)- boiled potatoes, egg, dairy butter and farmer’s ham. It was okay, but a bit too much butter for me. J ordered what she had intended to from the moment she saw it on the menu back home, Sauerkraut Stamppot (17,25). I was glad that she and I had planned to split the meal, because I really liked hers.

K’s third course was Apple Pie, but not like any from home. J and I just had to try the waffles with strawberries and lemon cream. It was amazing!

While we were dining, various people came in trying to get seats. It wasn’t long before they were either told to come back at 8:30 or to look for seats outside.  When we left at 8, there was a tour bus outside and the folks had been seated at long tables behind us. They seemed to be speaking German.

Before the end of the meal, I climbed the killer staircase up to the restroom. In spite of the age of the building, the restroom was quite up-to-date. I peaked in a open door and saw a large dining room, that they obviously had chosen not to use it tonight.

It was still light out, of course, when we left. At 8:05, we caught Tram 5 to Centraal Station. We got there in just six minutes. We went over to the platform for Tram 26, where we had to wait until 8:20. At 8:27, we got off across from the Mövenpick. The walk over took 8 minutes, mainly because my knees were getting angry. As we passed the ice cream shop, I remembered that J and I had planned to get Mövenpick ice cream after the cruise. So, we got 1 scoop of Swiss chocolate in a cup for the two of us to share. It cost 2,50 Euros.

At 8:45, we went to the front desk and got our keys. When we got upstairs, we were happy to see our luggage was in our room.  When J was ready to go back to her room, I was already beginning to feel the sadness of her leaving us tomorrow. So, she let me walk her back. I got this gorgeous picture out her window.