It was a very good museum. It told Anne Frank's story very thoroughly and made you feel like you were there with her. It brought up the issue of freedom and personal rights. You walked through the entire house which was a store on the bottom, workplace and living quarters in the middle, and Anne Frank/her family/friends rooms hidden in the attic. The rooms were set up to look like they did when Anne lived there so their rooms were very barren. Anne Frank wanted to become a writer and wrote a great amount while living in the house. That was one of the few activities she could do because she was not allowed outside. She could not even look out the window or make too much noise in the house because people working below might have heard her. After the Anne Frank House tour, they had a video of equal rights for all people including homosexuals and marriage before the gift shop. It is nice to see that Holland is a very tolerant country.
When we left, we walked around the West Side for a bit. For dinner, we went to an amazing Thai place. I ordered shrimp pad thai and it was possibly the best I've ever had. Ricky ordered chicken wings with rice and his meal was really good too. For dessert, I got fried ice cream with fresh fruit, whipped cream and some chocolate sauce. Ricky got a pancake (crepe) with fruit, vanilla ice cream and grand Marnier sauce. After dinner we came back to our guest house.
The next day, I woke up before Ricky and got an orange juice and a ham & cheese croissant for breakfast. I picked up Ricky some water and a muffin. Since Ricky slept in, we decided to go to the Van Gogh Museum first. We picked up some sandwiches for lunch. We arrived at the Van Gogh Museum at 13:00.
We got an audio guide and had an amazing experience learning how Van Gogh developed his painting abilities throughout his whole life and how he blossomed into a master. It was very cool to see this transformation. He started using dark colors at first and then experimented using vibrant colors and mastering new painting styles. He re-used many canvases to save money since his brother, Theo, supported him for most of his life until he died.
Self-portrait
Fishing Boats on the Beach at Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
The Garden of St. Paul's Hospital
Almond Blossom
Next, we went to the Rijksmuseum and got to see all the Dutch Master paintings and other amazing pieces of art. I got to see "Night Watch" and the painting of "Waterloo," which was the largest painting in the Rijksmuseum.
Night Watch
The Battle of Waterloo
They had items such as decorated cabinets, tables, crowns, weapons, silver pieces, gold pieces, and tons of other items relating to Dutch history. It was interesting to learn that the Dutch Kingdom use to contain Belgium and the Netherlands. They split when the Belgians (Catholic/South) started to differ from the Dutch (Protestant/North).
(On August 4 -later in the summer after I returned home-I read an article from the Washington Post that Carroll showed me about how the Rijksmuseum had been closed for renovation for the past 10 years. It had only opened back up Spring 2013. It was extremely lucky that we got to go see this newly refurbished museum. I had thought there was a huge line for the museum at the time, but I thought it might be normal. Now I know that it was the case because it had been closed for a decade and Ricky & I just happen to be there a few months after it opened back up. The article talked about how the bottom floor had been redone entirely and made even lower into the ground. The room with "Night Watch" was set up to present the painting in all of its glory. If you would like to read the article, here's the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/the-renovated-rijksmuseum-a-cathedral-of-art/2013/08/01/a389956a-f873-11e2-8e84-c56731a202fb_story.html)
On our way back from the Rijksmuseum, we got great Indian food. I got chicken and veggie curry and Ricky got chicken curry. It came with rice and salad and we ordered buttered nan as well. On our way back to our guest house, we walked through the East side of Amsterdam.
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