A Morning in the Rijksmuseum, an Afternoon in the Vondelpark of Amsterdam - July 31

Scenes from A walk through the Rijksmuseum.

Each day I spent in Amsterdam, my faith in the world is more restored.  From the families playing with kids smoking a jay, everyone riding bikes through the Vondelpark, the art in the Rijksmuseum, to the smell of pot and sex floating through the air – the city opens a space for people to be more honest and human.

“Pussy eating is organic” noted a sign for an apron in a store.

Repression is for other cities and big surprise – crime is down here.  They can’t fill the prisons.  So they are renting them out to Norway.

Our day started taking in the art of everyday life of the Dutch at the Rijksmuseum, just down the street from the hotel where we were staying.  So we wandered through centuries of masterworks – the Vermeers and Rembrandts, of course, the dolls houses, still lives, scenes of canals and a city coping with water, an exquisite library, delftware, ship models, battle scenes from Waterloo, street scenes such as Breitner’s people and the city, the reflections of Gabriel, the self portrait of Van Gogh, and so much more.  We had a quick coffee and cake and kept on wandering for four hours all told.

Later we walked and walked.

“Lets go in there,” number one pointed at a sex shop with colorful, red, pink and yellow vibrators.  “It looks like Pylons.”  We all had a good laugh.

Finally, we rented bikes and looped the Vandelpark.  One man rode with rave music playing.  

Another couple of dogs ran free.  Woman led boxing classes. And people jogged.  We enjoyed a picnic as the ducks dipped in and out of the water.  A crane flew overhead as the park buzzed well past sunset.

And we kept on walking and biking, the whole city alive with energy.

A day in the life in Amsterdam!