Amsterdam for Kids

Amsterdam proved to be a packed day, carefully orchestrated in an effort to fit in a walking tour, a few traditional treats and four museums before they closed. Our first stop was for breakfast at another charming spot serving poffertjes. 

We criss-crossed canals to reach the Rijks Museum, which is the Dutch National Museum. It houses art and history, but we stayed in the art wing, focusing on paintings from the Dutch Golden Age, such as Rembrandt's Night Watch and Vermeer's The Milk Maid. 

Vermeer's The Milk Maid 

Rembrant's The Night Watch

We then wandered across the plaza to the Van Gogh Museum, which includes the largest collection of Van Gogh's treasures, including 200 paintings, 400 drawings and 700 letters. We especially enjoyed the arrangement of the art, which was displayed in locations in which they were created. Since we had visited many of the places and even seen his subjects, we could envision the setting of the time periods. 

Self Portrait 1888

The Potatoe Eaters 1885

We stopped for warm Stroopwafels, which are a classic Dutch treat of butter waffle cookies sandwiched with a syrupy caramel layer. 

Our next stop was the Dutch Resistance Museum. We arrived with only an hour to tour the galleries, but learned enough about the courageous Dutch who fought underground to protect the Jews during World War II and the events happening in Holland during this time period. 

The museum was fascinating and prepared us for our last museum of the day, The Anne Frank House. Jenny jumped out of the car with a few kids  to grab a place in line, while I parked the car. We were grateful that we were off season, so that we could squeeze in a tour. Before leaving for Europe, I had purchased several DVDs pertaining to sites that we would be visiting. One was The Hiding Place. The kids loved the movie and got a great sense of what Anne Franks Family would have been experiencing while loving in the Annex. The tour was a highlight. At the end, the kids ought Anne Frank Dairys on various reading levels, something that I was not able to get them to read prior to our travels. Clearly the tour piqued their interest. 

With the evening upon us, we embarked on a walking tour of the the city. We only made it part of the way before we ran in to a tantalizing gourmet pizza shop and stopped for dinner. Fortunately we had crossed a few iconic bridges, walked along several canals and snapped photos of clock towers and families on bicycles, because by the time we finished our pizza, we were ready to return to our hotel.