good talk

From Paris to Amsterdam by bus after arriving at 6 A.M. I took the train to the Central Station where they have a listing of hotels, once again due to packed conditions I was shut out and was lucky to once again stay at a Hostelling International location.  Not so luxurious as my 4-man room in Paris it was a 12-person room with both sexes and both nights somebody, I don't know who kept a window open near my bunk, those Europeans, it was cold as heck.  I announced if I ever get to London I'm getting my own room. The 2 big attractions are the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum at Museum Square.  The Rijksmuseum had been recently reopened after a 10-year renovation and features 8000 artworks of the Old Masters.  Perhaps the most famous is "The Night Watch" painted by Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606 to 1669) known for his exquisite balance of light and shade in 1642 at the height of the Dutch Golden Age.  It features a huge painting of the Home Guard in dynamic poses, the little girl is their mascot and even she has a pistol in her belt.  The Van Gogh (pronounced Van Hohhhhk) Museum shows 200 of his paintings including my favorite "The Potato Eaters" whose woebegone figures seem animated. Vincent Van Gogh (1853 to 1890) only painted for 10 years but turned out over 800 paintings, I've probably seen 400.  I've been to Arles, France where in 1888 the tortured genius cut-off part of his ear in an epileptic seizure leading to the townspeople unkindly dubbing him "Fou Rou," Crazy Redhead. The Stedelijk also at Museum Square is Contemporary Art from early 20th Century to the Present, it's good but not real good.  I went to the Hermitage Amsterdam which is the largest branch of the Hermitage in St. Pete and opened in 2009.  In the Amstelhof a classical building from 1681 it featured paintings and artifacts mostly associated with Peter the Great (1672 to 1725) the talented Russian Czar who you didn't lightly offend, he personally cut off heads and had his own son killed.  I was disappointed I didn't think it was all that extensive or interesting, it was okay. I had been to Amsterdam a few times but never to the Rembrandt House Museum.  The House is kept as it was when Rembrandt lived there from 1639 to 1656 when he went bankrupt and the House and all of his possessions were sold off.  My 3rd Day in Amsterdam I stored my bag at the Hostel and then left on a 5 P.M. train heading towards Calais.