CENTRAL EUROPE BLOG April 29th, 2026 - AMSTERDAM

 

4/29/26– What a great night’s sleep. The bed is comfy and the fan is more than enough to cool off the room. This coupled with how nice the rainwater shower is makes this an excellent choice to stay at.

I spend the morning catching up on a few things. Kelvin is not as interested in museums as I am so we plan to do our own thing today. The place that has my eye is the Rembrandt House museum which is only about a ten minute walk away.

        

Between 1639 and 1658, Rembrandt painted and had his art dealership run through this house (until he got too far behind in debts and had to sell it along with much of his work).  The cost is a bit steep at 23.50 Euros ($27 USD), but it is quite informative. There are about five floors or so, each depicting his work alongside showing his studio, kitchen and where he taught others his trade.

        

Back outside, I locate where the Rembrandt Memorial is and walk around the canal another ten minutes to the statue before continuing on another sixteen minutes toward Rijksmuseum (which is the national museum of the Netherlands). I did try to get tickets for the Van Gogh Museum but they’re already sold out for today, and second hand retailers are selling for more than double the original price. So Rijksmuseum it is.

I’m allowed to enter thirty minutes before my timed ticket starts, which is good because I had nothing I wanted to waste time on otherwise, and make my way through the exhibits. The first floor is loaded with Dutch artifacts and statues which is pretty cool, but I soon continue to the next floor up for the paintings.

It takes a few rooms but manage to find some of Van Gogh’s work, including a self portrait he painted to work on his craft. The third floor is more of the same, just by different artists, and I soon exit to begin the route back to the hotel. Since it’s now a 36 minute walk, I opt to take the Metro back to the train station to save my legs.

I return to the hotel around 2pm and stay in for the rest of the day. Kelvin does go out after dark to check out the Red Light District, but I need my rest after all the walking these first four days so far.


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