It may seem like I spent all my time walking around taking pictures of every canal and bridge I saw. Not true! I also found time for cultural pursuits. I didn't take many pictures in the museums. In part because the museums mostly frowned on it. (But the Rijksmuseum didn't and there were a bunch of folks taking flashless-photos.) But I didn't mainly because I knew I could not do match the reproductions on even a common postcard.
Still, I did take some pictures. The museums I visited (the names are clickable links that lead to the museums' English websites):
I didn't take any pictures at the historical museum. It sits on a large site but from the outside, there isn't much to photograph. It is a collection of buildings that sit cheek by jowl with other buildings in the middle of the city. Formerly it was an orphanage and before that the site held a convent. I spent much of one day there. The main exhibit is on the history of the growing city of Amsterdam. It sprawls over many floors and rooms, yet it kept my interest through most of it. There were some smaller exhibits such as the orphanage's regent's room restored to the Old Dutch look it had in the 1870s. The museum also has a long gallery with 17th- & 18th-century group portaits of various civic guard companies. Seeing these before the Nightwatch provided a nice context for the latter. The gallery itself is free as it is just a covered alley that runs between two of the museum's buildings.
Just beyond the belt of old canals, the area around the Museumplein hosts two of the major museums, some smaller museums, and the Concertgebouw.
I managed to visit the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. The big thing this year is the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt's birth. I think the birthday boy doesn't look a day over 100.
As seen above, the details on the Rijksmuseum are elaborate (the mosaics in the blind windows, the statuary, &c.). This building is not modern. Unfortunately, it is also in bad shape. So they are renovating the old barn. Yet more misfortune: the renovation, which has closed all but a small wing of the museum, coincides with the Rembrandt festivities. Overall this has not been a bad thing. The museum had to focus on its core holdings for the exhibit that fills that wing. Naturally, the script culminates with the Rijksmuseum's complete collection of Rembrandts. I think they had a bunch of lemons and made a pretty good batch of lemonade.
The building is itself fascinating and the plans for the renovation are promising.
At the very left of the last picture is a building that is an addition to the Van Gogh museum. I visited there on Friday night. Turns out they are open until 10 PM on Fridays. Not only that, but on Fridays they have other cultural activities. That particular night, there was a guitar trio that did a bunch of stuff either by or inspired by Django Reinhardt. The building's open plan meant that as I went from floor to floor the music followed along. It was a nice extra. The collection is big enough but not too big. The early stuff, such as works from his stay in Paris, is in some ways more interesting than the better known later works. Photography was prohibited inside the museum. This photo from outside the museum really shows the green tint of the glass. The addition that jutted into the photo of the Rijksmuseum is now to the right and outside the frame.
Hmm, I just recalled that I did take one picture inside the Rijksmuseum. This was hanging in a secluded part of the gift shop next to the children's books. Not for sale or anything.
The other big cultural attraction in this area is the Concertgebouw. I took in two concerts in the main hall. One was a Sunday evening all-Mozart concert (yet another birthday boy: 250 for him), the other was a Saturday matinee dominated by a performance of Act 2 from Wagner's Parsifal. The hall is famous for its acoustics. Turns out, the reputation is correct. Wow. Neither concert was by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. They were on tour in the states. In fact I had seen them in DC the Monday before I left. Here's a picture in front of the hall with folks waiting at the tram stop after a concert.
