Amsterdam First Day

IMG_2819, originally uploaded by BiddieB.

Our B and B was very close to the museum district so after our breakfast of boiled eggs, toast and coffee we made our way over to the Rijksmuseum, which features Dutch paintings from the Golden Age. This is where we first encountered the expense of European travel. I suppose we're spoiled in London with most of the museums being free to the public except for their special exhibits. The Rijksmuseum cost 11 Euros (that's like $17). Pretty much everything in Amsterdam cost about 10 Euros; lunch, dinner, museums, pot, everything.

The particularly annoying thing about this museum is, as you can tell from this photo, that it was under construction so I suppose most of the museum wasn't open. The galleries that we saw were about the size of half of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Sure it was full of Rembrandt which some people consider to be one of the greatest painters in European history, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

We then moved on to the Van Gogh Museum which was € 12.50 for adults - there is no student rate just an under 18 rate. Boo- urns. The Van Gogh Museum tells the story of Van Gogh as a human not just as an artist and I did find it more interesting than the ancient Dutch museum.

And this was just our morning... stay tuned for more stories of my travels in June.