Navigate Amsterdam’s picturesque canals while discovering its cultural and architectural treasures. Witness the legacy of the Dutch Golden Age that lives on in the city’s gilded manses and stroll through the Jordaan district, passing historic sites such as Wester Church and the Anne Frank House.

Note: The Anne Frank House is very popular. If you plan to visit it, we advise purchasing your tickets well in advance online at the museum’s website.

OUR EXPERIENCE

The planned transfer to our cruise ship was delayed because of low water levels on the Rhine because of drought conditions. We would be spending another night at the Movenpick Hotel after a full day in Amsterdam. Our first focus was to attend a Catholic Mass in Amsterdam. Bev joined Barbara and me as we found a taxi to take us to the address of the Catholic Church I had researched. I paid the driver then we walked to the church he had pointed out. The church towers were immense, some of the tallest in Amsterdam. We entered the church only to discover that this was the Westerkerk Church, one of the first protestant churches built after the protestant revolt. It was historical, the burial place of Rembrandt, but not the right church:

 Next, our iPhones directed us to the nearby Church of Our Lady. We were just in time for Mass, but we didn't understand the language. It turned out that this was a Syriac Orthodox church used both by the Syriac Orthodox community and the Roman Catholics of Opus Dei, a beautiful church but not Roman Catholic:

By now we were tired from walking and sweating because of the heat wave in Amsterdam. We decided to try one last, apparently Catholic, church. We ended up at St. Francis Xavier Church (The Krijtberg), run by the Jesuits, certainly Catholic. We caught the end of Mass and took a picture of the spectacular interior:

 

After Mass, we joined the rest of the Old Folks on a trip to Rijks Museum, hoping at least to see some of Rembrandt's paintings:

We had also hoped to see the Van Gogh Museum but were too late to make reservations. The lunch at Rijk's museum was a hit:

Next, we paid for listening devices to tour the museum and tried to find the Rembrandt paintings. It was impossible to find the paintings as we listened to the narration, so we found a bench to listen to the descriptions then sought out the paintings. It turned out that the museum displays a total of about 20 Rembrandt's interspersed among other Dutch Masters. Some of the paintings were tough to view behind security glass and throngs of tourists:

  It was a disappointing experience except for chancing upon a Van Gogh self-portrait:

We wandered back to the hotel along the canals and took a few pictures by some incredibly well-preserved homes...

... followed by dinner back at the hotel: