Day #3: And it Started Out So Well

I feel like crying.  I've spent the last two hours trying to figure out how to recover the data on my camera data card and NOTHING.  Pretty much a whole day of shooting lost on top of all of the photos from yesterday AND all of my originals of Vienna.  Yep, it was a BIG data card and it's all gone!   I am pretty sure I backed up the Vienna photos, and I did download everything yesterday onto my netbook...but TODAY is all gone!  I was in the middle of shooting and it just stopped.   WAH!

Anyway, it was a super busy day today.  I got up at a reasonable time and headed out around 10-ish.  Took the 24 tram to Dam (square where the Royal Palace and Nieuwe Kirk are located), then switched to the 14 to head to the Anne Frank House.  Waited in line for an hour, but met a nice mom and daughter from Dallas and we struck up a convo about my upcoming move to Austin (the daughter went to UT).

The secret annex in the house was, as expected...dark, cramped and depressing.  It's crazy to imaging two families lived there for two years without really ever seeing daylight.  It was heartbreaking seeing the photos Anne glued to the walls in an effort to make things more cheerful.  The rooms are now completely cleared out with no furniture and the only personal effects of the family were the pictures, pencil lines showing how much Anne and her sister grew, a few books, and a game Peter got for his birthday.  There is a separate room with Anne's diaries and writings...as well as a couple of multi-media rooms playing interviews with family friends and Anne's father.  It was all very moving.    I *did* take a photo of the outside of the house (understandably, no photos inside) but we know where that went.

On the way back to the tram, I stopped in Westerkirk...which happens to be the place where my buddy Rembrandt is buried.  This is a Protestant church, so it's very different than the cathedrals I've photographed for you before, as it's very spare and plain.  No stained glass and a plain wood pulpit.  There were a couple of cool things...oh like Rembrandt's marker, a burning bush sculpture, and the organ...but I can't show you those.

Got back on the 14, which was re-routed due to construction...but it got me close enough to the Hermitage. I walked along a lovely stretch of the Amstel River and saw the famous Skinny Bridge.  I took loads of photos...erm...

Almost walked past the Hermitage...it's not a very spectacular building close up.  Got my tickets to both the Van Gogh exhibit and the Peter the Great exhibit.  I headed right over to see Vincent.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I found a new favorite Van Gogh painting Wheatfield With Crows  which is one of the last, if not the last, painting he did before his suicide.  Personally, it made me feel the sadness and despair that I believe he felt at that time of his life.  All of the paintings were amazing to see in person.  Seeing The Bedroom in person really blew my mind...the colors! OH the Colors! Of course, the most famous Sunflowers painting is there and I have to admit looking for a little "for Amy" hidden there...LOL.  Seriously, I had been familiar with pretty much 89% of the paintings there and it was awesome to see them in person and actually be able to see each stroke of the brush and the globs of paint.  I could go on and on...

At least there are no missing photos here as no photography was allowed. I did get a book in the gift shop along with a few teeny other items.

The Peter the Great exhibit was ok...interesting to learn about that part of Russian history.  This is when Peter dragged the Russian people kicking and screaming into European culture.  It was interesting how he learned many trades...including pulling teeth!  Nobody wanted to mention a toothache anywhere near the guy.

That half of the gift shop was a bit disappointing, no purchases there.

At this point, I was tired and hungry...so, time for the museum cafe stop.  I had a cappuccino and a piece of chocolate cake.  Chocolate cake was ok...it was hiding some raisins and you know how I feel about those creepy little things.  Coffee was yummy though.  As soon as I stood up to leave, the chimes rang to announce the imminent closing of the museum.  Hit the bathroom and headed out.

Walked a bit on sore feet along the Amstel some more until I got to my tram.  Next stop was my canal cruise.  I got there JUST in time to catch the next boat (they run every 30 min) and sat at the very back next to a quiet Japanese gentleman.  The rest of the boat...not so quiet.  I felt like I was in school when the captain had to pull over the boat to tell a group of teenagers to keep it down so that everyone could hear the information about the sights we were passing.

We went past a lot of houseboats, which are pretty cool and I shot a lot of lost photos of boats and cool houses along the canals.  We went past the Anne Frank house again, and went out into the harbor.  It was a little chilly, but the  boat was glass covered, which blocked most of the wind.  The camera card failed when we were about three quarters of the way through the cruise.  I did have a backup, but that was mostly full and only let me take two pictures.

Here are some of the cool houses along the canal.

And here is a bridge over a canal that we went past.  Note the bicycle.

We got done just in time for a bit of rain, which ended quickly.  I walked back to my flat as it was only a few blocks.  Decided to go to the grocery store and picked up a few things...headed back, cooked dinner and started to lose my mind trying to get my computer to read the photo card.

I have a couple of other cards I brought with, so I moved all of those photos on this netbook and will bring both cameras with me tomorrow.  Wish I had time to go in search of a new card...but it's my early day tour day tomorrow.