July 14 - Haarlem (Day trip to Amsterdam)

 July 14 - Haarlem (Day trip to Amsterdam)

A bright and early start today as we were doing a day trip to Amsterdam. Although the big city is only 15 minutes away from Haarlem the only reason for the early start is that we’d booked a 9:00 start at the Rijksmuseum.


Opened in 1885, this magnificent building is also known as the ‘Museum of the Netherlands’ and is the most visited museum in the country. Telling the story of Dutch art and the Netherlands, from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, this is a fantastic place to visit and is home to works from artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, Van Gogh, and more. The permanent display here also includes many other magnificent pieces by some of the less well known ‘masters’ as well.  In addition to the paintings the ‘Rijks’ is also home to many collections of decorative arts, furniture, and many other outstanding items as well, although I must admit weapons really aren’t ‘my cup of tea’!  Something else that was a standout experience was the free app supplied by the museum. We used this as our audio guide and it was brilliant, lots of information (but not TOO much) and very easy ‘to listen to’ vocals. It certainly enhanced our experience there. 

After the Rijksmuseum we had nothing planned, apart from maybe a late lunch and a drink or or two in one of Amsterdam’s famous‘Brown Cafés’, and so that’s what we did!  😊  After nearly five hours in the museum ‘lunch’, overlooking one of Amsterdam’s many canals in the sun, was delightful and so a very nice day-trip was had by all. 



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