Thursday night/ The Rijksmuseum

IMG_5167 sm — I enjoyed a little Heineken beer in the Vondelpark Restaurant late Thursday afternoon.

IMG_3288 sm — The main entrance of the Rijksmuseum, from the south side.

IMG_3273 sm — The main atrium of the museum is free of charge, with the museum’s restaurant and museum shop below it. It is €15 (about $20) to gain entry to the exhibits.

IMG_3245 sm — Found it! Rembrandt’s famous ‘Night Watch’. The painting was completed in 1642, at the peak of the Dutch Golden Age.

IMG_3305 sm — Stylish gilded letters at the Vondelpark entrance.

IMG_3309 sm — This is near Leidseplein (Leidse Square). Amazingly, some pedestrian crossings have no signals that stop the traffic. So here is where you wait for the locals to make their move across and then you join them so you cross as a pack. Safety in numbers.

My mission Thursday afternoon was to make it to the Rijksmuseum. To do that, I had to buy a tram ticket, and figure out the tram line to take.

I made it there with an hour and thirty minutes to spare before they closed. Now I wanted to find the room where Rembrandt’s famous Night Watch painting is. Luckily, the Rijks-museum is not the Louvre in terms of size : not even close. But the gardens and park around it has been renovated very nicely and it all makes for a great space right in the city to stroll around, and eat some frites or stroopwafels*.

*Belgian fries or syrup waffles.

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