06/16/04

The day after touring Keukenhof, we decided to go into Amsterdam and look around.  We visited the Rijksmuseum, one of the world's best art museums, and home of 20 Rembrandt masterpieces.  Since the museum was undergoing renovations and only about one-third of the collection was available for viewing, we didn't spend as much time as we had anticipated.  That left us just enough time to tour Amsterdam by canal, which is by far the best way to see the city.  Amsterdam lays claim to many things - art museums (the Rijks and the Van Gogh museum are the most famous), the Anne Frank House, a famous red-light district, among others.  It has also been called the "Venice of the North" because of the many canals, which used to serve as the main transport routes in the city.  The canal houses face the water,  and average about 6m (18ft wide).  During the Dutch "golden years", the home of the wealthy could be as large as 12m (36 ft) wide.  These days, property is so expensive that most of the houses are owned by banks or companies, which then rent out apartments for people to live in.