Our recent trip outside France also took us to Amsterdam. There, we enjoyed a canal boat ride and visited the Rijksmuseum and the Anne Frank House.
The canal voyage was especially fun because we rode at night and saw a lot of holiday decorations. During the holiday season, Amsterdam hosts a Light Festival, with all sorts of displays on the canals and bridges of the city.
Below is one of the light displays we saw during our voyage, Atlantis by the artist Utskottet.
According to AmsterdamLightFestival.com, "You may identify the image of an international metropolis plagued by floods and other natural disasters from blockbuster films like Deep Impact (1998) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004). With the sinking city, Atlantis, Utskottet demonstrates how this menacing scene can become a frightening reality."
You can view more of the light displays by clicking here.
While strolling, we spotted another light display. We guessed someone has a sense of humor.
During the day, we visited the Rijksmusem. The building that houses the museum is large and ornate.
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| The front facade of the Rijksmuseum |
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| The back of the Rijksmuseum |
We assumed that it was once a palace or something similar. We learned, however, that the building was constructed in the 1880's as a museum building to house the country's extensive collection of artwork and historical artifacts.
The museum has an amazing art collection, including masterpieces by the Old Dutch Masters, including Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt Van Rijn.
While touring the museum, Marie-Chantal explained to Jean-Charles that the painting below won a competition to decorate a cigar box. Who knew?
While strolling around Amsterdam, we spotted noteworthy architecture and artwork. Below is a photo of the bell tower of the Westerkerk, built in the 1630's. The tower, called the Westertoren, is the highest church tower in Amsterdam, about 285 feet tall.
We also spotted a Zadkine sculpture. Marie-Chantal identified the artist from a distance. The sculpture was commissioned for the large bank building behind the sculpture.
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| Le Demeure Humaine ("the Human Dwelling") by Ossip Zadkine (third version) |
Our visit to the Anne Frank House was a sobering reminder and warning about inhumanity in the world. The house has been transformed into a museum. We passed through the secret passage behind a bookcase and entered the secret annex where the Frank family and four other Jews lived, hidden for two years during the Nazi's WWII occupation of the Netherlands, before they were discovered and sent to the death camps. Photos were not allowed. However, you can you visit the secret annex virtually by clicking here.
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| From AnneFrank.org |
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