We started the day earlier than usual because we wanted to be sure to get into the Rijksmuseum.  Since we got stiffed by the line on the D'Orsay and the Anne Frank house, we were determined to get into this one.  So we were at the door as soon as it opened, and we walked right in because no one was there.  There's just no telling..

The Rijksmuseum was created to house the various collections that were growing in the city, and also the display the history of Amsterdam and The Netherlands.  It was created in 1815, and has been a museum ever since.  It has the largest collection of Dutch Masters, and whole bunch of other Dutch goodies that are really worth a look.

We spent over four hours in the museum which is a new record for Caroline, who gets museum fatigue after a couple hours, but she humored me and stayed for four hours.  We got a crash course in the history of Holland, how it came to exist and evolved.  As European countries go, it hasn't been standing on it's own very long when compared to the other western European nations.  But it has created quite a standing in the world, which is terrifically displayed and described in this museum.

The displays of the Dutch Masters is worth a look all by itself.  Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Vermeer, and many others are well represented and nicely displayed.

The Rijksmuseum is very relaxed about cameras.  I was able to take a few photos.  So when we saw this one, we couldn't believe how much it looked like Mickey.  We knew Mickey was a somebody, but had no idea that she looked so much like Rembrandt's self portrait.  :-)

Caroline has a severe bowl addiction.  She can't help herself, it's just a fact of life.  In the universe of vices, this one will never get a national telethon, so I just have to live with it.

When Caroline found out about the Delft pottery, she had to go and see it in Delft.  But when she saw a full exhibit, wild horses couldn't keep her away.  

The real surprise turned out to be Tulip holders, done in the Delft style, pictured here.  It has a series of holes set at an angle at each level of the holder so you display a load of Tulips.

The second picture shows a statue that used to be outside the Amsterdam Insane Asylum.  The asylum would sell tickets so that people could come and see the insane by peering in the slots of the doors in their cells, as shown on the base of the sculpture.  Caroline was really inspired by the sculpture, as you can see here.

We got to the main gallery and there were some extremely large paintings.  Raushenberg and deKooning have nothing on these paintings from a size perspective.  And then I noticed that all the main characters in the paintings have the same posture.  Caroline thought it might be fun to try it, thus the first picture.  All the main characters are pretty fat, and they lean back and put one hand on their hip, just so...  I guess I won't be sitting for any Dutch masters any time soon.

The next picture is a really famous painting whose name is Night Watch by Rembrandt. It was pretty cool to see in it's larger than life dimensions.  It was the first really major piece in this museum.  The collection has grown substantially from that point.

We got some lunch at the museum cafeteria, saw the Dutch history part of the museum, and went out for more touring.

Caroline and I went to see the Red Light district.  Caroline was having some heebie-geebies about walking around the district since so much of the tourist literature makes it sound like everyone that ventures into that part of town in the evening gets ripped off.  We compromised and saw it in the afternoon.  It would be tough to see it at night at this time of year since it's still light out at 10 PM.

The first really noteworthy item was the statue shown above.  It's actually a fountain and the balls revolve with the water flow.  Caroline and I finished walking around the red light district thoroughly unimpressed.  I saw one girl that was actually very impressive, then rest were either repulsive, or transsexuals.  ..Just not my taste at all..

We decided that "we" needed to get another rice and noodle fix, so we had a rice table for dinner.  It was delicious.  Then, after a people-watching stint at a local cafe,  we took a canal boat tour of the city.  This is a very touristy thing to do, but it turned out better than I expected.  The city is truly a beautiful place, and the canals are a very nice way to get to know it.

The first picture shows a typical canal bridge complete with it's bicycles locked to the rail.

The second picture shows a typical canal scene with the historic houses  and Dutch Elm trees aplenty.

I tried to capture a series of pictures that represent the city reasonably well. 

The first picture is a bridge at a canal intersection.

The second picture is a typical set of houses and some wooden boats docked in front.

This is the West Church near Anne Frank's house.  You can see it's about 9:15 at night and it's still very light out.

The second picture is a typical houseboat in the canal.  The houseboats come in all kinds of repair.  This one is very well maintained, and the gardening is very nice.

This picture shows one of the sluice gates that are used to refresh the water in the canals regularly.  Gates like these are located strategically around the canals that so that several times a week the water is flushed through the canals so they stay fresh.  About 600,000 cubic meters of water gets pumped in a night to complete this process.

Caroline was feeling a little outdone by the streets of Brussels.  She was keeping her edge by plotting out every single step that we took.  The canal tour was mapped out step by step.  She is the best navigator I've ever had the pleasure to travel with.

We cruised out of the canals and into the IJ river, which is broad and very active.  We saw a number of interesting sights, but the one that really stood out was the Greenpeace ship.  I had always thought the Greenpeace people were mostly French, but I guess there are a lot of Dutch involved.

The Maritime Museum has this extremely well preserved and restored wooden ship at dockside.  We'll try and visit this museum tomorrow.

These pictures are two draw bridges and a stone bridge.  The middle picture is a wood draw bridge, and the first draw bridge in Amsterdam.

The stone bridge was just very pretty in the waning light, so I took the shot.

After the water tour we headed back to the hotel.  We want to get an early start again to try and get into the Anne Frank house.  And we don't do mornings very well, that's for working people..  :-)