A Weekend in Amsterdam: Het Scheepvaartmuseum

The last thing I checked in Amsterdam before I headed back home was the Maritime Museum, or Het Scheepvaartmuseum. It is a museum dedicated to maritime history, and has plenty of artefacts related to shipping and sailing. After all, the Dutch were great seafaring people, and during the Colonial Period, they definitely had a wide reach. There's plenty of things to see here, including massive ships from a bygone age.

A Weekend in Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum

I spent an entire day in the Rijksmuseum. It is a large museum with plenty of things to see, so I decided to go there early to beat the crowds. I showed up in the morning, when there wasn't any queue yet.

A Weekend in Amsterdam: Bolenius*

It's been awhile since I have been to a Michelin-starred restaurant. The last time I was in one was during the Spring of last year, when I was in Luxembourg for work-related reasons and dined in Clairefontaine*. So when I was in Amsterdam for a weekend, I decided to take this opportunity and make a reservation for Bolenius*. I was quite excited about it.

A Weekend in Amsterdam

Back in November, I felt like I wanted to get away from Berlin for a little bit. So I opted to do a quick getaway, this time to Amsterdam. I took a flight on Friday night after work, spent 3 nights, and went back to Berlin on Monday morning, directly heading from the airport to work. And I must say, it was fun!

A Sojourn in Southern Holland: Leiden

The last place I have explored during my short long weekend stay was the city I was staying in: Leiden. I opted to stay in Leiden because it was strategically located relative to the list of places I wanted to visit. Before visiting this place, the only reason I have heard of Leiden was because there's an ancient university located here, which had a rather good reputation given my field back then.

A Sojourn in Southern Holland: Zeeuws Museum

As I mentioned in my previous post, Middelburg flourished during the Dutch Golden Age. This period is well-documented in the Zeeuws Museum, housed in the Middelburg Abbey.

A Sojourn in Southern Holland: Middelburg

The following day, I took the train again, and this time, almost to the end of the line. I headed out to Middelburg, the capital of the province of Zeeland, and more than two hours away from Leiden.

A Sojourn in Southern Holland: Gouda

After spending the most part of the morning and early afternoon in Den Haag, I took the train for a short hop to Gouda. Gouda, as most people know, is famous for the cheese it produces. So yes, cheese features in several places in this town.

A Sojourn in Southern Holland: Escher in Het Paleis

While I was in The Hague, there was one museum that I really wanted to visit. This was the Escher in Het Paleis, the museum situated in the Lange Voorhout Palace, exhibiting the works of M. C. Escher, a Dutch graphic artist.

A Sojourn in Southern Holland: Mauritshuis

The Mauritshuis is an art museum located in Den Haag. I was early enough to arrive in the city that I actually caught the museum still closed. This was a good thing, as it's relatively popular, and seeing important art pieces while the crowd isn't too thick was actually a better experience. So I queued up at the gate, and when it opened, I was one of the first people who got a ticket. After purchasing my ticket, I immediately went to one particular salon.

A Sojourn in Southern Holland: Den Haag

On my second day in the Netherlands, I took the train and headed to The Hague, or Den Haag as it is in Dutch. It's a quick train ride from Leiden, and after about thirty minutes or so, I found myself in Den Haag Central Station. I then walked toward the centre from there.

A Sojourn in Southern Holland: Delft

After having some lunch in Dordrecht, I took the train back heading north, but I also opted to stop in lovely Delft. Before my visit, I didn't really have a good notion of this town. I knew that Vermeer spent a significant amount of his life here, but beyond that, Delft was a blank item in my head. So I figured it's worth exploring for an afternoon.

A Sojourn in Southern Holland: Dordrecht

I arrived pretty early, and it was a fortunate thing that the hotel already had a room ready for me. So after dropping off my bags in my room, I quickly rearranged things and headed out. This morning, I wanted to go to Dordrecht, a city that until now I only knew because it's the home of some academic publishers, and I always encountered this name whenever I was writing a bibliography for an article I was working on.

A Sojourn in Southern Holland

Back in May, I took a long weekend. It was short, just a three-night stay from Friday to Monday. But I must say, it was quite a fantastic trip. I remember having a positive impression of it more than my two-week stay in Mexico. I don't exactly know why, but I have some ideas. In any case, this trip to southern Holland was a blast.

Cube Houses (Kubuswoningen) in Rotterdam

In my previous travelogue, I showed you pictures of the innovative and interesting futuristic architecture that can be found in Rotterdam. Well, there is one section of town that I particularly liked, and that was the Blaak District, where the Kubuswoningen or Cube Houses can be found. This collection of apartments are designed by architect Piet Blom back in the 1970s, with the concept of living as an urban roof, so to speak. You may have seen pictures of these houses before, but it definitely is eye-catching.

Modern Art and Architecture in Rotterdam

Back in July, I went to Amsterdam for a conference. I opted to extend my stay over the weekend, so I had time to venture outside the city and explore somewhere else outside Amsterdam. So for one day, I took the train and spent the day in Rotterdam, which, I have heard, is a totally different city from the other Dutch cities that I have seen so far. I have heard that this is a very modern and futuristic city, and sure enough, I was surprised.

My Love-Hate Relationship with Amsterdam

It seems that I have a few love-hate relationships. I have one with IKEA, with New York City, and even with a piece of literature. And now I have a love-hate relationship with yet another city, that is, Amsterdam.

Amsterdam!

Good news, boys and girls, this summer I will be heading to Amsterdam!

Portuguese Synagogue (Esnoga)

The last place we visited in Amsterdam before catching our flight out was the Portuguese Synagogue. Also known as the Esnoga, this is a 17th-century Sephardic synagogue. We visited this for a change, and so after getting through the double-locked entrance (there are two sets of automatic doors, first, the first one opens, and it has to close first before the second can open), we paid our entrance fee, and donned our head covering.

Museum het Rembrandthuis

One of the museums that I visited while I was in Amsterdam was the Museum het Rembrandthuis, or in English, the Rembrandt House Museum. Yes, this was the actual house of the famous Rembrandt. Before my visit, I didn't really know Rembrandt. Yeah, I knew he existed, but I didn't really know what he did, and why he was famous as an artist. After my visit, I now knew a lot. Well, compared to where I started, that is.