Netherlands - Amsterdam & Delft

An efficient 4 day itinerary...

Facilitated by Delta's direct flight, we built what turned out to be a pretty great, pretty tight, but not stressful plan:

• day 1 morning - Arrive AM - drop off bags at hotel, get coffee/lunch

• day 1 afternoon - Self-guided Rick Steves orientation walk; Early dinner at Yerba (great!)

• day 2 morning - Liberation Day - Anne Frank museum, Dutch Resistance Museum

• day 2 afternoon - Excellent Context historical walking tour

• day 3 morning - 1 hour train to Delft - visiting the Markt, City Hall, climb "New Church", tour "Old Church"

• day 3 afternoon - evening Amsterdam canal cruise, great late night pizza at La Zoccola

• day 4 morning - Rijksmuseum

• day 4 afternoon - Van Gogh museum, late dinner at Choux (WOW!)

• day 5 morning: Depart for US

Day 1 - orientation

Amsterdam's history and architecture are obviously intertwined. From the canals (typically no more than a couple of meters deep) to the ever present cargo hooks that top every building. Used to this day to work around dutch staircases, the variation in design is interesting. Most building facades actually have a slight overhanging lean to keep things on the hoist from hitting the building (and stealing a few square feet of floor space from the tax collector).

Day 2 - History

The Anne Frank house was incredible, emotional, and impactful. Enduring more than 2 years in hiding only to be discovered a few months from liberation. The bravery of those that helped. The tragic homecoming for Otto Frank. It takes planning ahead but see this. We paired this up with a visit to the Dutch Resistance Museum. It's a very well done exhibit telling the personal stories of those that resisted, those that cooperated, those that looked the other way. Hard choices. Dire consequences.

In the afternoon we took a tour from our favorite group, Context Travel. For three hours we walked the Jordaan area and learned the history of the three main canals, Herengracht, Keizergracht, and Prinsengracht. A little about the architecture: Historically residents were taxed by the width of their properties, hence the narrow but deep and tall structures. Bigger windows suggest that the property was likely a warehouse at some point. Often the size of the windows would decrease floor by floor as the living space went from owner to servants and so on.

Everything in Amsterdam is built on wooden pilings from the Black Forest and Scandinavia. Buildings are settling and leaning. Often the interior floors will have been leveled while the building leans. Homeowners are responsible for keeping their buildings upright and not impacting neighbors.

Day 3 - Delft

Just an hour-ish away from Amsterdam is Delft. Home and muse to Vermeer. Location of a wonderful markt where we sat and had beers and people watched. Home of Royal Delft earthenware. Climbing the 376 steps of the bell tower of the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) is a must-do. The views of the leaning Oude Kerk (Old Church), city hall, and the markt are wonderful. On a clear day you can see to The Hague and Rotterdam. By the way, the NEW church broke ground in 1396. The old church was established in 1246. Delft makes for a great day trip!

Some examples of the 'dancing houses' in Amsterdam

Day 4 - museum day

We stayed at the College Hotel - a really nice space that inhabits an old Amsterdam boarding school. It is in Amsterdam Oud Zuid not far from the Museumplein where you'll find the Rijksmuseum housing many of the masters, The Van Gogh museum, and the Stedelijk modern museum. We took tons of photos of many great works. Above are just a few samples: Rembrandt's Night Watch, Vermeer's The Little Street (in Delft), and one of Van Gogh's many self portraits.

Tot ziens Amsterdam!