Last Day in AMS - Sniff!!!

Well, today is our last day in Amsterdam. It's been wonderful.

Yesterday we took the train to The Haag and went to the Mauritshuis Museum, where the famous Vermeer painting "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" is hanging. They also have another Vermeer ("View of Delft") and a dozen or so Rembrandts. It was an amazing place. The Vermeers just glow with the light he has painted. They are simply indescribable.

We had Mitch's birthday dinner at a "New Dutch Cuisine" restaurant - a 6 course feast with 4 glasses of wine in a restaurant that was built in 1625. The walls were hanging with Rembrandt etchings (supposedly). Wow! All I can say is that the "New Dutch Cuisine" is light years ahead of the "Old Dutch Cuisine" which seemed to consist of boiled meat and potatoes in a crock pot!

And nothing is all that expensive. I think we've been conditioned by the prices in Paris and Italy to pay through the nose for everything, so even if things are relatively expensive for here, we still think it's cheap. And I LOVE the "No Tipping" policy. If you think the service is exceptional you can leave a few Euros, but otherwise no one expects a tip. And there are no tip jars conspiculously (or otherwise) at the cash registers at the coffee shops. Wonderful!

Today I already went to talk to my stamp dealer who is gathering up some stuff for me that I'll pick up later. We are going to go to the Jewish Historical Museum and the Portuguese Synagogue, and then Mitch and I will go our separate ways - he to shop, and me back to the stamp shop.

This afternoon we'll have to pack - sad.

Oh well, time to run.........