My plane arrived about 30 minutes early to Amsterdam's Schipol airport. Usually there is a 15 minute or so direct train to Amsterdam Centraal (the Dutch use 2 a's) station, but there was track work today. As such, I had to change trains and it took about 30 minutes. Here's a photo of the station, considered a landmark of Dutch Neo-Renaissance style:
From the station, I walked about 800 meters to my hotel, Convent Gallery, an Accor hotel where I have silver status. They had also offered 3 nights for the price of 2, so I booked with them. My room was ready early, so I checked in, showered, and napped. Around 10:30 am, I walked out and took the tram to Spui Square where I grabbed brunch - an egg and spinach frittata with cheese and a latte macchiato. I then took the tram to Leidseplein so I could visit the tourist center. I bought an unlimited day metro ticket - the trams are easy to use and look like this:
I went to the tourist center to try to buy a Museum Night ticket as they were sold out online and my hotel suggested trying to buy them here. Museum Night is the first November Saturday where the museums are open all night with events and parties (kind of like White Nights). Apparently, folks bike from museum to museum enjoying the parties. Unfortunately I won't be able to enjoy the festivities as this would be totally up my alley, but I'll probably be too tired anyway.
I then took the tram to the Museum Quarter where I first visited the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art. I specifically made an effort to go here first as it is closed on Mondays and I planned to go to The Hague tomorrow. I was also able to buy a Museum Card here which allows me priority access and admission for practically all the museums in the Netherlands for an entire year. Although I'm only here for 3 days, with 15€ museum admission prices, you're able to recoup the almost 60€ card price very quickly.
Here I saw one of my favorite Chagall paintings, "The Fiddler":
The museum also had a lot of design pieces, including Gerrit Rietveld's "Red Blue Chair" that according to my guidebook was "game-changing" in 1918 (he also designed the Van Gogh museum):
Afterwards, I walked over to the Van Gogh museum which was just next door. The line was really long, but I went through pretty quickly with my card. You are not allowed to take any pictures in the museum, but the famous pieces here are "Sunflowers", "The Bedroom", and "The Potato Eaters". I'm sure you've heard of them / seen pictures - they are truly exceptional in person. As a substitute, here's a selfie of me outside the museum in line with my Museum Card:
In order to max out being in the Museum Quarter, I also went over to the Rijkmuseum, which is the State Museum and right next to the Van Gogh museum. Most famously, it houses Rembrandt's "Nightwatch" pictured below - the central figure's hand feels like it's 3D:
And Vermeer's "Milkmaid" shown below:
Also in the Museum Quarter is Vondelpark, which reminds me of Central Park. There are bicyclists everywhere (not one helmet though), runners, rollerbladers, and people enjoying marijuana. Indeed, I could smell it practically everywhere I went today. As my dad would say, "it smells like Chinese herb. It smells nice." Here's a picture of a massive bike lot in center city and a photo from Vondelpark:
I then took the tram to the Leidseplein area. I read that the Indonesian and Suriname cuisine are good here, albeit adapted to Dutch tastes. This is very logical as both were colonized by the Dutch. My guidebook recommended an expensive Indonesian restaurant and a cheap one. I went with the cheaper option called Bojo. I was excited as I had been to Bali in 2011 and hadn't had Indonesian in awhile. Here's a picture of my mini-rice table and satay along with a local Amstel draft:
After dinner, I walked over to Beginhof which is a small courtyard surrounded by almshouses right off of Spui Square. Women have been living here since 1150 leading a spiritual and philanthropic life. Apparently, there are several courtyards and almshouses around the city, but this is the most famous. I then took the tram to Dam Square which is the main city square. Here there is the National Monument, a white obelisk was erected to remember Dutch soldiers who died in World War II and the Royal Palace which is pictured below:
I then took the tram to my hotel and rested for the night. I took the tram a lot today to max out my ticket, but the whole city is pretty walkable and flat. I also didn't want to tire myself out - I've been up since 2 am U.S. time and it's now around 10 pm in Amsterdam. I plan to get some rest as I plan to visit The Hague which is about an hour away tomorrow.
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