Amsterdam Historische Museum

Today we thought we would break up the days of shopping with a visit to the Amsterdam Historische Museum (Historical Museum).  On the way though, we had a quick browse through the Waterlooplein flea market, which is full of stalls selling clothes, antiques and souvenirs.  It looks pretty fun and we'll have a closer look some other time.  For now, we were happy to try the Dutch staple 'Patat Frites' which we have seen being sold all over the place.  Basically they are just a cup of fried potato chips, but they are incredibly crunchy and come with a  mayonnaise sauce, which is not something I have ever had on chips before but it is delicious nonetheless.

The entrance to the museum, located on Kalverstraat, is a spectacle in itself, and we wait our turn behind a bunch of other tourists to take the obligatory photo standing under the incredibly detailed arch.

The museum is quite good and kept us entertained for a few hours.  It currently has an exhibit set up called "Amsterdam DNA", which walks us through the millennium long history of the city using original artworks, videos and cool infographic style displays.  It was pretty incredible seeing paintings of landmarks such as Dam square, the royal palace and the Nieuwe Kerk that were done three or four hundred years ago, knowing that we were just at that specific building in real life.  It is definitely worth the visit if you are ever in Amsterdam.

Incredibly detailed painting of the city centre, done in the 1500's

Close up of the above painting

One thing we discovered is the Netherlands Museumkaart (Museum Card), it costs about 40 Euro but lasts for 12 months and allows free access to hundreds of museums across the country.  At 10-15 euro normally per museum, I'm sure the card will pay for itself in no time.