The purpose of the trip to Amsterdam was to see the Impressionist Art exhibition at the Hermitage - the paintings are those from the collection held at the parent museum in St Petersburg, Russia. However the first museum I went to was the tiny Tulip Museum set on a canal just opposite the Anne Frank House:-
When you go into the museum itself you pass through a door which, when you open it, pulls a door across at the opposite end which has a mirror on it - there are rows of colourful wooden tulips either side of the entrance and the mirrored door makes it look longer than it is and like you are standing in a real life tulip field in full bloom - nice idea!
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After watching a short film about the history
of the tulip you enter a room where you read
various facts about tulips and their history.
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I liked this interesting script - enlarge the
photos so you can read it.
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| More lovely pictures of tulips. |
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In a huge circle hanging the ceiling lots of tulip
labels and pictures to read.
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The new variety "Ice Cream" tulip
I have bought some bulbs to plant
- I can't wait to see these grow in my garden!
I saw them a few years ago at The Keukenhof
so now I can grown my own! The price
was miles cheaper in Amsterdam too.
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A typical - beautiful - Flemish painting of Tulips.
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| A cute use for some clogs! |
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Some charming tulip vases - some even had
real tulips in them despite the wrong time of year!
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A new area of the museum under
construction will show the farming
methods - here are the tools of
the trade.
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More tools and some photos of
tulip farming in the old days!
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| Another lovely tulip display. |
I really loved the Tulip Museum - it was small yes, but it did the job of relating the history of tulips and the shop has a lovely selection of bulbs to buy including a lot of species types so I bought a few of the really tiny ones to try. I am waiting for October so that I can plant them. The museum seemed to employ lots of novel ideas as well like some flower heads that you pull down over your head in order to sniff the scent and guess if it is tulip, daffodil or hyacinths!
The next museum we went to was the Amsterdam Hermitage - just a few pics of this as strictly photography is not permitted;-) and look NO hideous crowds like you get in Paris!
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A huge mural greets the visitors to the exhibition.
It made you feel like you were in the picture!
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As it is a few weeks since my visit I can't
remember the artist or name of the
picture but I like it. The couple were eloping!
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2 of the big Monet's - I particularly like the
lady with the parasol painting which I saw in
Paris in 2011.
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| A beautiful Renoir - not the best photo sorry. |
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I can't remember the artists again but the
pictures are lovely. |
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| A slightly closer photo of the Monet. |
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| The exhibition poster. |
The next day we popped over to Museumsplein and saw the Van Gogh Museum from the outside - we didn't go in, but there was an interesting installation outside copying a Van Gogh in stones:-
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The Van Gogh Musuem will be opening in
the spare wing of the Hermitage while some
renovation is done (I think).
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The stone work painting you can make out
the house. |
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| The information panel shows the painting copied |
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| It shows the outlines laid out in stone. |
After walking through the Museumsplein we went to the Coster Diamonds House - there was a brief guided tour but really I knew more about diamonds that I was told there. I didn't like the jewellery designs much - very old fashioned and hardly "cutting edge" for a European Diamond House! I would say you are not missing much if you didn't go here!
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| A case showing diamonds in various stages. |
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| Some nice earrings - one of the better designs. |
At Dam Square we went to visit the Royal Palace - this building started out life as the Town Hall so it is not as ornate as a purpose built palace. In fact it was quite austere in parts. Can you believe my handbag had to be deposited as it was too large - it is only like a 32cm Bolide size - and Buckingham Palace allow it in!!! Anyway I digress (but you can tell I was annoyed!)
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The spectacular entrance hall with Atlas
holding the world up!
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| One of the lovely chandeliers. |
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The floor was inlaid with 2 fabulous maps
of the world and the universe - they
were too large to photograph properly.
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This bust interested me - not for the man but
for the details......
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...look at the intricate details of his
medals! Amazing how this could be
carved from marble so precisely.
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| One of the many lovely clocks on display. |
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A lovely wooden model of the palace and
Dam Square.
I hope you liked seeing a few of the museums in Amsterdam! |
