Amsterdam Day 2 - a Riverboat Cruise, Rijksmuseum (Museum), Lunch at Lido, and a Tour of the Heineken “Brewery”

Today we started our pre-cruise tour. The day started out quite cold (44 degrees) but warmed up after our canal cruise. It was beautiful to see the sites from the boat but difficult to take many pictures. We did cruise by the 7 bridges (where you can count / see 7 bridges in a row) but my picture is too dark to see all 7 bridges. There was a cute little boy chasing the baby ducklings but I was unable to get him in the picture with the ducklings.

The Rijksmuseum is the National museum of Netherlands dedicated to the Dutch arts. It was designed by a Catholic architect and this influenced the “churchy” look of the building with the stained glass windows and all. He did add “common occupations” in some of the stained glass windows.

Lucas van Leyden painted (1530) this triptych of his impression of the Israelites entertaining themselves while Moses spent 40 days and nights on the mountain talking to God. When he came down from the mountain, he broke the tablets that contained the Ten Commandments after he saw how the people were worshiping the golden calf. This was one of his later works as he died in 1535.

Jan Jansz Mostaert painted (1535) the first encounter of the Spanish invaders in America. He added a few animals that were never in America. Can you find three that do not belong?

The Seven Works of Mercy, also known as The Seven Acts of Mercy, was painted by an Italian painter, Alkmaar, in 1504. The seven acts are: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, burying the dead, sheltering the traveler, comforting the sick, and ransoming the captive. A Dutch city is the backdrop to this painting and Jesus is in the background of each picture.

A prayer nut is a tiny carved ball that is hung from a belt or rosary meant to aid in prayer. The carving is very intricate. People were proud to show offer their nuts.

 We were able to take a short walk to our lunch restaurant, Lido. We were offered 3 drinks but I opted for 2 since we were heading to the Heineken Brewery for a tour. The beer is no longer made in the city center but they have a show room to explain the process. 4 items go into the beer: water, grain, hops, and yeast. That’s all I can share as the recipe is secret. 🤐 The “playground” at the end of the tour was fun. Finally, we were offered 2 glasses of Heineken. After two at the restaurant I could only stand 1 more. They had a “pour a draft beer” station / contest where you had to have the foam a certain height. The catch was the winner was suppose to drink the winning pour in one gulp. I may be slightly competitive but chugging never interested me. I am a savor the moment kind and enjoy it while it lasts. The bicycle video is before drinking the beers at Heineken. 😁🍻

This was a church at one time but now it is a concert hall (rock/pop music).

Just beautiful architecture and stone work.

Students/young people were having fun in these paddle boats. We did see school groups in the Rijksmuseum while we were there. Students are granted free admission until they are over 18, I believe. 

The same is true for public transportation - free for children.

The bicycles come in all shapes and sizes. The terrain is so flat it is easy to bike the area (and pick up speed 😳). They will ring their bell on their bicycle to warn you to get out of the bike lane but will not stop!

Isn’t this shoe boat adorable? I expect it is custom made as it is the only one I have seen so far.

If you see a stork like this one, it means a midwife lives here.

Notice the outward slant at the top of this building. It is to help with the hoist on the roof top. Many furniture items are brought in through the windows because the staircases are so narrow. These hoist systems aren’t just for merchants (in the past) to unload their merchandise off the ships/barges. You will see hoist systems all throughout the city.

I am still in love with these little cars. It is very expensive in the city to own a car. I see electric hook ups around the area but I have not seen a gas station so maybe they are all electric here.

Rembrandt statue in a square.

The store for blue Delft items. Very Netherlands.

It is early Spring here and little ones are showing up. Cute ducklings. 

The trees in Amsterdam are just about like ours - beginning to bud out.

We went on a night walk after dinner on our last night. We found the love locks on the bridge but they were on the chains going up to the top of the bridge. I believe they may have removed the locks attached along this bridge and replaced the ironwork with big wide “planks” to discourage the attachment of love locks.

The lights on the bridges, street lamps and boats in the canals are quite pretty. So peaceful.

Our hotel as seen at night and across from the Amstel.