Existence of Chris: A day at the museum

It was overcast again today, but in place of yesterday's snow was a constant drizzle. This was our first taste of the infamous depressing Amsterdam weather that we were constantly warned about. But we weren't going to let that stop us, and we decided that today we would walk to the Rijksmuseum, via the Albert Cuypmarkt.

Stopping for more photos at the canal near our house

On the way we found a new supermarket chain called Lidl (http://www.lidl.nl). We had a quick walk through, it is a bit simpler with less variety than the Albert Heijn, but had most of the basics and looked significantly cheaper. We'll definitely visit this place again.

Stockings for sale at Albert Cuypmarkt

After stopping again for a number of photos of the now thawing polygons of ice floating on the canals, we made it to Albert Cuypstraat, the location of the markets claimed to be among the best in Europe. Having just come from Malaysia, which is filled with huge streetside markets such as the Petaling St Chinatown markets in Kuala Lumpur, and the epic Batu Ferringhi night markets on Penang, this market street seems quite small, but it is quite different and worth the visit.

Orchids, Netherlands icon

The street is lined with stalls selling gloves, beanies, scarves, jackets, bicycle locks, cheese, waffles, vegetables and antiques. Many of these stalls front walk-in shops which contain more stock from the same seller. Everything is quite cheap here compared to the tourist strip of Kalverstraat in the city centre, but there are also very few recognisable brand names to be seen.

One of the highlights was a musical duo entertaining the passers-by with accordion and clarinet. Their Eastern-European style was a great accompaniment to us perusing the market stalls.

Mad street performers

At the end of the street we stopped for lunch at a lovely little cafe called Bagels & Beans. It had a really nice friendly atmosphere that made you wish you were a local who spent every Saturday morning there, as well as some delicious bagels and respectable coffee. Then we were off to the rijksmuseum, about a 10-15 min walk away through the De Pijp and Museumkwartier districts.

Delicious Stroopwaffel for lunch

The museum building itself was quite a spectacle, and would have been even more impressive without the construction site which obstructs the view of the front. The museum is unfortunately undergoing renovations which are to be completed in 2013, so we will have to visit again to see the bulk of the collection.

Under construction

However, the pieces that are on display are still very impressive, with relics and artwork dating back to the 1400's. It was capped off with the Rembrandt display, including his depictions of the prophetess Anna, the Apostle Paul, and the famous De Nachtwacht. This painting is quite large, 3.5m x 4.5m, and it's rectangular shape seems out of proportion- later we found that in the 1700's the paining was moved into the town hall, where it did not fit on the wall, so they cut it down to size by slicing half a metre of one side...

Painting of a battle scene between a Dutch and a Spanish warship, incredibly detailed, to the point where you can actually see this guys legs separated from his body as he flies through the air

There was a phase where rich European built and collected dollhouses, this was is so painstakingly detailed that it would have cost more than the owner's real house