Karsten had been demanding to go see Madagascar all week and Jana finally relented, although I'm not sure that Karsten really understood, or cared, that the movie would be in Dutch. So while Jana took her new bike to the movie theater, I headed to the Museumplein to visit the Van Gogh museum.
The walk to the museum district was much more pleasant this time. After five days of depressing rains, the day before had seen a break in the bad weather and it was actually sunny today. I stopped for a moment to wander through the park in front of the museums and take a few pictures.
The Van Gogh museum was impressive. With over 200 pieces, they have a good overview of the different phases of Van Gogh's life. The audio tour claimed to have commentary on over 90 pieces, which kept me busy for some time.
The first floor of the permanent collection divided his life into half a dozen or so different phases. The other floors contained a smattering of Van Gogh's works along with those of some of his contemporaries. There was also a small collection of pieces by English artists on loan from the Rijksmuseum while it undergoes restoration. There was also a temporary exhibit geared toward children featuring paintings of animals that seemed oddly out of place.
After leaving the museum, I wandered up through the Leidseplein to take some more pictures as I wandered toward the city center. I eventually stumbled upon the main shopping street and followed it out the the Muntplein tram stop, easy enough to find again when I was more in a mood for shopping.
