Day 6, 18 June 2014, Amsterdam - Bags & Purses Museum, Van Loon Museum (in a canal house), Amsterdam Museum, excursion to the country to Haarlem for Frans Hals Museum, Teylers Museum and general strollings.
It dawned overcast at about 4.30 am and the morning was a lovely cool, grey time to spend indoors. I'm not sure what I imagined the Bag Museum to be like - but based in a luxurious canal side home with some stunning period rooms was probably not it. Seems a tiny shame that the original Mr de Graeff who bought the two canal lots in 1665 died before he could move in - but his son ended up being one of the 50 richest of Amsterdam's golden age and generations lived there for over 150 years. The bags were pretty astonishing too. It wasn't just shelves of hand bags covering the last few centuries - there was also an exhibit called "All Aboard" demonstrating the origins and development of travelling luggage - obviously a topic quite close to our hearts. For instance, did you know, back in 1800 only 1% of the population had the ability to travel as tourists. Further - did you know, that Samsonite luggage was named after the biblical character Samsom with his exceptional strength. An hour at 573 Herengracht flew by then it was out the door and over a couple of bridges to get to the Van Loon Museum. Built in 1672 this was utter luxury at it's finest (and still is). Not sure if the same family still owns it, but they definitely lived there from 1884 until the 1940s. The original Mr Van Loon co-founded the Dutch East India Company - so there has been money in the family for a very long time. What's stunning is that the size, proportions and grandness of this home are incredible by today's standards. It must have just been the cat's pyjamas back in the 1600s. Even the coach house (or garage!) on the far side of the manicured garden was beautiful. Now the plan for the day was to start my 24 hour Amsterdam & Regions bus ticket after lunch - so that I could do an excursion in the afternoon, have a night's sleep, then manage another trip or two the following morning. So I really needed to fill in time until 1.30 pm or so. I figured out the best thing to do was a snack and another museum. This time the actual Amsterdam Museum - saw a great film feature on how the pilings/poles were put into the great swampiness and how the city was built from the ground up. Incidentally - the houses are meant to lean forward a bit - helps to avoid window breakage when hoisting furniture in. Some houses however lean all over the place... bad sign of foundation and pole issues! Saw another film here of the Nazi occupation during WWII. Apparently there was a protest by the population when it first started - the only such protest in Europe. Didn't stop them though. They used the No. 8 tram line for deportations. To this day there has never been another No. 8 tram in Amsterdam. Museum and Lunch accomplished I trammed to Leiseplein. Apparently the bus station was "just" behind it. So I walked and I asked and I asked and I walked. Danger of believing people who cycle everywhere is that 700m or so really is "just" on a bike. Finally got there, found Bus 80 and started my exploring at 1.36 pm. Roughly. Not to harp on about it, but Holland is flat. The highways are flat, the fields are flat, the water (obviously) is flat. Trees were a highlight during the drive to quaint old Haarlem. It was well worth it though, and the Sydney sunshine made a huge showing during the afternoon - I actually got pink in the face. Haarlem is known for it's hofjes or courtyards and I saw a prime example of this pretty garden style when I visited the Frans Hals museum, founded way back in 1609 and for most of it's life an Oude Mannenhuis. Or Old Man House (Dutch naming practicality strikes again). If you were over 60, single and clean living, this was the place to live. Eventually a museum it holds many works by Frans Hals - one of the earliest Dutch Masters (some examples are in today's album). From there I wandered into the big square and marvelled at the view of the church - identical to the painting I'd just seen that was completed in 1696 (today's picture is the modern version). I picked up some free postcards at the tourist office (thank you Amsterdam pass perks) and then headed to Teylers Museum - it was already 4 pm but I'd been fooled by the bright sunlight into thinking it was earlier. Teylers was opened in 1784 and it's the oldest museum in the Netherlands. Much of it is laid out in a very historical way, but they also had a fascinating modern exhibition about where Earth lies in the stellar scheme of things. There was a section about the night in 1938 when War of the Worlds was played on the radio in New York and New Jersey - and people honestly thought the martians had landed and gassed them. Now no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the general public - but having read the article in the NY Times, I can't believe that people managed to miss the multiple announcements during the broadcast that it was JUST A PLAY!!! Still, all good stuff. Strolled along the Haarlem canals, back through the shopping streets and ran for my bus about 5.30 pm - the very nice lady deigned to open the doors for me (though she might have damaged herself with the look on her face...) and it was back to Amsterdam for dinner, a quiet night in and tomorrow-planning. What should I do? Zaanse Schans & Windmills or historic harbour Volendam... if I time everything to perfection I reckon maybe both. Right. Sleep. Desperate.