Above, Dam Square, Amsterdam’s main square.

We love Amsterdam. There’s plenty to do and see, but not so much that you feel like you have an obligation to get going and see it all. And since this is a return visit for us, we can focus. 🙂

Saturday market, above and below

My market purchase

We spent several hours at the Van Gogh Museum

No picutres to share here (none allowed). But it’s a beautifully designed setting for this massive collection of Van Gogh’s work and I learned a lot about his life and his struggles as an artist and as a person. Van Gogh did not begin painting until his late twenties and he died by his own hand at 37. In this brief span he created over 2100 artworks, including 860 oil paintings. In the last two years of his life he averaged a painting a day.

The.view from the roof of the Van Gogh Museum

In the Museum of Modern Art nearby there was an exhibit by the anonymous graffiti artist who goes by the name of Banksy. There were site pieces like this one, recovered from the streets of Berlin

There were also “indoor” pieces created by the artist

Hunter gatherers with grocery carts 

The following day we went to the much grander Museum of Contemporary Art (one thing I’ve learned on this trip is the difference between contemporary and modern art).

We saw an exhibit of Dubuffet’s work. I liked this one, The Dessert is Glowing, made of oil and lacquer on plaster. He used all kinds of materials in his work: leaves, sand, stones.

Below, an appealing assembly by Cesar Domela that nods to Kandinsky, who was a friend of his.

Gerrit Reitveld, Red and Blue Chair. They did not have a miniature in the gift shop but I am going to get one for my newly created miniature chair collection.

Blue tape and mirrors, a bit too conceptual for me but it made for an interesting picture.

We have continued to walk an average of five miles a day which made it easier for us to justify the food, beer, and baked goods that we enjoyed here.

With a week to explore Amsterdam’s neighborhoods, we felt like we were able to get to know the city and discover hidden treasures like the Mouse Mansion. The shop is the work of a family that creates a series of books for which they build elaborate and exquisite “sets”. In the shop, you can see all the sets, and of course,  buy the books in many languages.

If you are not a fan of miniature mouse environments you may want to skip down.

Above, a small section of the neighborhood that covers an entire wall of the store and that took three years to construct. Below, a close up of one tiny part.

A few more pictures.  Because, miniature mouse environments.

Here is my favorite, the fortune teller’s caravan  (note the crystal ball on the table).

Our accommodations this week were the nicest we’ve had, in large measure because of the care that our hosts Oki and Frank take with guests. Oki brought us fresh fruit, perfect eggs and more every morning. Jay collected the small flower filled vases that came on our tray; Oki must have a large supply, because there was always another one. Here are some of them, arranged by Jay and with the addition of my bee keyring from Prague in the center.

Hope to see these two again sometime.