From Brussels we took a train to Amsterdam. I remember seeing many wind turbines on the train and wondering, “Why are there so many wind turbines?” Then I remembered how famous Dutch windmills were, so they had obviously replaced those with wind turbines. Such a doh moment. We arrived at our train station at around 9pm. Luckily, our hotel was right next to the station. I brought a bottle of water from the hotel, and it tasted like nothing. As water should, finally! We are visiting after the Tulip season, so we missed out on seeing the gardens, but there was still a lot we were looking forward to. We had busy mornings and then mostly free afternoons. So, we set out early.

Although we were ready for an early start. Amsterdam doesn’t have the same energy on a Saturday morning. When we got to the museum area, nothing was open or even close to open. So, we decided to get breakfast from the supermarket. I had this maple and pecan pastry, it was warm, sweet and crispy. Perfect way to start the day.

Rijks Museum

After breakfast, it was time to line up outside the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s national art and history museum. Initially founded in the Hague, it was moved to Amsterdam in 1808. There are one million projects in its collection, with 8000 on display. There is an audiovisual tour with the ticket, which took us through the building design, the rich naval history of the Dutch, the imitation china collection and the more famous pieces in the art collection. An example includes the Milkmaid by Veneer and the Night Watch by Rembrandt.

My favourite part was learning about Judith Leyster, a celebrated artist when alive, but posthumously her work was attributed to her husband and another male artist. How sad.

Another cool thing was that they had a painting of a Black noble gentleman, the oldest painting of a Black person in Europe. (We do not know who the man is.) They had some Hindu idols as well.

This dollhouse seemed so elaborate that it reminded me of how I wanted to make my own dollhouse for the longest time. (I didn’t have the skills for it, but that’s another story). It was so expensive that I remember thinking people’s houses probably cost less than that.

The museum has an art history library; it looked cozy, and I would have loved studying here. In Dutch Christian paintings, there is a lot inspired by Mary and her sisters. I didn’t even know Mary had sisters also named Mary. I couldn’t choose one painting as my favourite here, so here are some paintings I liked.

I regret we didn’t see the Girl with a Pearl Earring because it’s at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, like I wish I knew. Another art museum to visit in the future, I guess.

Van Gogh Museum

After a quick break for lunch, we went to the Van Gogh museum, about 200m away from the Rijksmuseum. The Van Gogh Museum is dedicated to Vincent Van Gogh and his contemporaries, established in 1973. The museum has a lot of Van Gogh’s collection, but his painting Starry Night is in the MET in New York. Another museum I have to go to!

The museum collection is organised chronologically based on Van Gogh’s life; we all know his life was short and deeply troubled. But I learned a lot, such as he decided to become a painter at 27! There is hope for me yet. Also, he only sold one painting in his lifetime. The reason he is so celebrated now is because of the efforts of his widowed sister-in-law. His brother died six months after him; such a tragic family. Van Gogh was productive though, producing around 1000 paintings. There is also an audiovisual tour of the museum, and it was interesting seeing what he was painting at different stages of his life.

I think my favourite painting in the collection was the Almond Blossoms; it seemed such a hopeful painting to celebrate the birth of his nephew. His work appears to focus on nature, with him painting tree roots. I was really inspired by my visit to the Van Gogh museum, and it made me more hopeful to pursue my passions in life.

Stedelijk Museum

We had free tickets to the Stedelijk with the Van Gogh museum, so we thought we should check it out. This is a modern art museum established in 1874. This was the first museum focusing on modern art, and I was not impressed. Like some of the artwork is so abstract, for example, there was a painting of a black streak on a white canvas??? Some paintings had literal essays to explain them. I feel I should get the piece without reading an essay. That is my opinion on modern art.

However, I appreciate the efforts to include Indigenous and minority artwork, like Bhisma Jatah or the Fall of Bhisma by the Indonesian artist Angus Djoya (above). It didn’t need an essay to explain. Seeing Mahabharat-inspired art from an Indonesian lens was interesting because most of the art I have seen has been from India. So not a complete waste of time.

We called it a day after visiting the art museum and just returned to the hotel. We walked a bit around the canals but were getting tired.

Anne Frank House

I first read Diary of Anne Frank in Year 9, when I was around her age. At around that age, it was hard to understand how horrible it was, and I was somewhat naïve and had little perspective on the world. At that age, I focused more on memorising facts than critically engaging with the material. We learned about the Holocaust in Year 10. But it was taught at a distance; something that happened to people far away and long ago. Look at that age, anything in the 90s seemed too long ago. We wanted to go to Anne Frank’s house because we admired her and she represented an often-overlooked historical perspective: an average teenage girl. We had booked our tickets in advance as getting tickets on the day is virtually impossible. I feel most people know this, but in context, Anne Frank was a Jewish German girl whose family lived in hiding from 1942 to 1944, before their capture. She and most of her immediate family died from starvation in concentration camps. Only her father, Otto Frank, survived. He found her diary and decided to publish it to spread her story.

In the museum, you cannot take cameras into the Anne Frank house; there is an audiovisual guide. We went through the warehouse, the annexe, their living quarters, and then it concluded with a display of one of the original copies of the diary. I found it so sad. For example, many of us found it challenging when we all had to stay home during the lockdowns. But these people had to spend three years like that! They weren’t even allowed to use running water during the daytime out of fear of being captured.

One thing I found noteworthy is that in the museum, they do a good job detailing the gradual changes made in Nazi Germany and how it affected the Frank family. It reminds you that Nazi Germany didn’t happen overnight. But gradual changes were made that led to the othering of Jewish people, and them being sent to concentration camps. It took many people and complicity to lead to this tragedy. The Frank family and many other families were not just betrayed by the person who blew the whistle but by their community in general. (There is propaganda, but it never starts that way.) I think with fascism rising in parts of the world, it is crucial to push back at the first sign and be loud then, because it will never happen here is false. If it happens anywhere, it can happen here. Even if you think you don’t have time to care, you should because it just means you are even more susceptible.

Dam Square

After visiting the Anne Frank house, we had lunch, and I had Dutch pancakes, which satisfied the crepe craving. Then we went to Dam Square, which contains the Royal Palace and the National Monument. As it was Sunday, protests were occurring, like one for Palestine. I’m glad it is also happening in other parts of the world. Afterwards, my sister went to buy her magnets.

Final Thoughts

After visiting the square, we just walked around the city. Amsterdam is a really bicycle-centric city. With how fast they go, you must be careful not to get hit by one. Goes to show that obnoxious drivers are the real issue, but I would rather be hit by a bike than a car. In Amsterdam, cannabis is legal, and I felt the smoking here is worse than in other European cities. It smells like cigarettes and cannabis everywhere! I didn’t know cannabis triggered my hay fever, so I was miserable roaming the streets. We tried some more food, such as Stroop waffles (loved them), and Dutch apple pie (wasn’t a fan of the one I had). Overall, I enjoyed my time in Amsterdam. It was intellectually stimulating. I liked how different the architecture is, like the buildings reminded me of Christmas. I feel we could have fit a bit more into our time in Amsterdam, but we are becoming weary, so our aimlessness helped to recuperate.