Thursday, July 11.

Well, yesterday it took five and a half hours to do the Van Gogh museum, I expect that it will take longer to go through the Rijksmuseum, which is the largest museum in The Netherlands.

Front entrance.

Rear entrance.

Here we go.

Lets try a bit from the Renaissance period.

A bit on their naval history. Water has and still does play an important role in the life of the Dutch. The size accuracy of these models is amazing.

This was fascinating.

Who said the arms race was a new thing? I suspect that the mortality rate at either end of some of these would be comparable.

This takes decoration to another level.

Catering for all tastes today. Some great Delft , Meissen and Majolica among others.

I just knew there would be dragonflies somewhere in here.

And some entertainment.

Variety of wind instruments.

Apologies for the poor shot.

Now these are nice.

Have to love a lock.

Next time you are considering changing the furniture, here are a few suggestions.

We’ll ring my chimes.

Maybe a couple of tapestries? Need a large wall.

Or some cups made from nautilus shells.

Now to the serious part. Paintings are always crowd pleasers, especially if they are by say, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Van Dijck, Rubens, Whistler, Monet, Poussin etc. I remember them from my Year 10 art days, and that wasn’t yesterday. They are all here.

But the highlight was seeing Night Watch by Rembrandt, the most expensive and talked about painting in the world. Unfortunately we were not able to see it clearly as it is currently undergoing a total body scan. The comparison between the X-ray and the two people give an indication of the size of the painting.

The next two photos show an analysis of the painting.

Fabric samples found in storage.

Napoleons banner from Waterloo.

Trying to pick up, again.

This was very thought provoking. They did it hard and for what? It’s interesting that when you speak to the majority of Germans, they are embarrassed by what happened in WWII. This was no more evident than earlier in our travels, they celebrated 75 years of Normanby. They interviewed several German veterans, who were visibly embarrassed by what had happened in the past, and they do not celebrate events in war like we do.

Into the modern era.

Oops, not so modern.

Anyone for dolls houses?

These shots are actually inside the dolls houses.

What to do with left over tiles.

Well, hope you’re exhausted cause I am. Just an amazing place, and guess what, we were kicked out at 5.30pm. That’s 9.5 hours in total.

Just enough energy left to walk to central station through the old town centre, via the red light district.

This is the traffic outside the museum. Check out the bikes.

These guys were playing outside the museum.

Typical Amsterdam scene.

Honey, I’m just going out to tend the garden.

What, no canal?

Google earth camera car drove past so we noted where we were.

In English, use other footpath.

Could do with some of these at home.

Would not want to be near this when it was o’clock. Check out the bells.

They know how to grow flowers. Guess who has a flower named after them?

This shows just how small these electric cars are.

Hotel with a view.

Looks like a chocolate cake.

Rope and pulley shows how they get furniture to upper levels.

More lovely canals.

Not saying what this is but it is in the red light district.

I know a few people with this problem.

Arrived at central, metro back to camp. About time, 16,000 plus steps, 24 floors and 10.4 kms, according to the health app on my phone. Have to tell you, a tad buggered.