Tuesday, August 9, 2011

City Tour and Van Gogh

Bicycle parkade


Downtown canal scene


Diamond polisher at work


Sample sale


Our Vince


Slept in again and after another heroic breakfast provided by our hosts, caught our trusty number 2 tram to Centraal Station.  After a bit of wandering, located the start point for a city tour by bus, bought tickets and boarded.  Turned out to be a low-value affair, with the GPS-driven, taped commentary giving up the ghost early on and the only real stop being made at a diamond factory where we were shown how the gems are polished and then herded in to a sales room.  Thence to the souvenir shop, the cafe for a free coffee (buns extra), back on the replacement bus (GPS guide now working) and back to city center.

Mildly disappointed, we caught a tram to the Van Gogh (pronounced Von Gock) Museum which was rather more of an art gallery than a museum.   We splurged on the audio guide and set off with thousands of others to shuffle past hundreds of his lesser-known works.  Frankly, if these had been done by anyone else, they wouldn't have rated a second glance.  However, several of his famous works were also present and some I'd never seen but quite liked.

Tired and all arted-out, we trammed home and collapsed for the night.  Tomorrow the river cruise begins, if we can find the departure point.


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