2019-04 - Van Gogh Museum and Zaanse Schans (Amsterdam)

Another beautiful morning in Amsterdam! Blue skies on my 30 minute walk to the Rijksmuseum, through it's arches to the Museumplein and the Van Gogh Museum. Currently, the special exhibits at the museum are the influence of Vincent Van Gogh on artist David Hockney and an exhibit of prints by Camille Pissarro. Sadly, there are no photos allowed anywhere in the museum. However, the two nicest pieces in the Hockney special exhibit were Van Gogh's "The Harvest", an idyllic farm scene; and, "Field with Irises near Arles", a bright outdoor scene with irises in the foreground and the town of Arles in the background. In the Camille Pissarro section, my two favorite prints were "Rain Effect", with slanting slashes across the plate creating the effect of a rain downpour and "Sunset", a one-of-a-kind monotype of a herder and her cows, with their long shadows stretched away from the setting sun. So simple yet so eloquent.

The permanent collection of the Van Gogh museum has three floors covering his life and paintings. Did you know that most of the paintings that Van Gogh is famous for were painted over a period of 4 years? Van Gogh didn't start drawing until he was 27 (and, his drawings on display are actually quite realistic). However, it wasn't until he moved to Paris in 1886 at the age of 34 that his paintings turned into the impressionism that he is so well known for today. Only four years later, Van Gogh took his own life, but, not before painting a plethora of works. The most famous work at the Van Gogh Museum is his "Sunflowers". In addition, there are pieces from artists that inspired Van Gogh (e.g. Millett) as well as from his contemporary fellow artists (e.g. Paul Gaugin, Edgar Degas). Be forewarned that the museum is packed with school groups and tour busses of people.

Pancakes at Upstairs Pannenkoeken

Today was the day of our special lunch that we reserved a week in advance. Upstairs Pancake House only has four tables. One of the specials of the day was a pancake with blueberries, local strawberries currently in season for two months and thick cream. It was all topped off with powdered sugar. Sheer heaven! Plus, they did tea right -- individual tea pots with lots of sugar and milk.

Model of Olam Cocao Factory

After lunch, we took the train to Zaanse Schans to check out their touristy windmill area. Upon arrival at the station, we were hit with a wave of smell, which we later found out was the smell of the Olam Cacao factory. We walked past several buildings of the factory, with no visible visitor entrance (shouldn't every cocao factory have tours and chocolate tastings?). Eventually, we arrived at a corner with a tiny little shop with chocolate paraphernalia a "free entrance" sign on the windows.  Inside, two retired workers from the factory explained that all the pieces in the store were from Olam. They even had a little viewing room where we sat and watch a short video on the chocolate making process. Plus, they gave us hot chocolate samples. Olam Cacao celebrated it's 100th year anniversary in 2011.

Watching the boat come in from the side of the lift bridge

Re-energized, we continued our walk toward the tourist village. As we were walking over a lift bridge, all of a sudden lights started flashing and a dinging began. Then, as we passed the seam in the middle, the arm dropped across the sidewalk in front of us! We got past it in time before the bridge slowly started rising in the middle for an incoming boat to pass through. 

At Zaans Schanse

Zaans Schanse itself is a quaint little historic village of shops and windmills. It's also a big draw for tour busses (you have been warned). However, we did get to try cheese samples, learn about the history of clogs in the Netherlands and find out what windmills used to do (cut lumber, grind spices, make paper, mill flour, etc). Steam power made windmills obsolete for most tasks. Zaans Schanse seeks to restore and keep windmills in working order through the tourist village. You can even purchase milled oil and paper. (Toilets on site costs 1/2 Euro.)

My day ended with more delicious food. The goat stew at Betawi's was a great introduction to Indonesian cuisine!