Aside from the Anne Frank house, beautiful architecture and a notorious counter culture, the city also offers a handful of museums and interesting eating.
Being museumed-out I wanted a change of pace, a change of scenery, so I walked across town to the Van Gogh. The museum is set in a modern park surrounded by lush green grass, fountains and public art, including the I AMsterdam sign which could be equated to I heart NY.
Van Gogh began his career as a painter at the age of 27 with no experience in Holland. He had been a missionary yet felt called in a different direction, so decided to start painting. The museum has an ass load of works from Van Gogh, the single largest collection in the world. Yet, only 3 or 4 pieces of notoriety. Everything else is well, everything else. However, it was cool to see how his style changed in the 10 years that he painted. This contributed to by both geographical location and those around him.
Next I went to the Heineken experience. Before I start getting bashed let me explain. It is a museum built on the site of the first heineken brewery in 1864. The museum takes you through the history as well as shows the process of brewing including original tanks, explanations and demos from real people throughout and videos. It is quite an experience. There of course is a tasting room where guests are shown the proper way to taste beer. In comparison to the World of Coke in Atlanta, this place is awesome. It is educational, hands on and it seems the staff cares about it's visitors rather than moving them through.
Speaking of food. The food in Amsterdam has been rather unique. Amsterdam doesn't have a food scene of it's own, yet it seems like a stoner's paradise of munchies from china town to kebabs, shitty pizza, hot dogs and hamburgers it can all be found here in mass quantities. However, there does seem to be one thing that Hollanders are on to and that's breakfast. It seems that this is the birthplace of American breakfast. Eggs, bacon, and pancakes are all the norm. Most restaurants have either a brunch menu or just serve breakfast late (until 2 pm or so). First up are pancakes. They're thin and filled with savory ingredients like bacon or cheese. However, these are NOT CREPES. These are thin pancakes that are flat with the savory ingredients cooked into them. Second is eggs and toast. This is fried eggs atop toes with you guessed it more protein (bacon or ham) and cheese on top. Heart attack on a plate to say the least, but delicious nonetheless.
Anyway, I'm now on the night train off to Berlin where I will spend a couple of days before beginning my last week of travels.
History tells us a story, it tells us why things are the way they are. History is the answer to life's never ending why?
-Until
Matt
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