September 21   

Hermitage Museum Amsterdam, an extension of the Russian branch. The current exhibit focuses on the art of the Nabi group in Paris around 1900. Nabi is Hebrew for prophet. The group included Pierre Bonnard and Maurice Denis who were inspired by the color and effect of light in the work of Gaugin. One large room was a recreation of the music room in the Paris apartment of Russian industrialist, Ivan Morozov. Large murals by Maurice Denis were way too pink and sweet for my taste. On the upper floor there are small salons much like those at the Rijksmuseum with a few paintings in each. There are sound effects that accompany some of the paintings. Not sure how I feel about that. A little contrived, perhaps? There was a strange pairing of two of my favorite artists, a small, surrealistic Odilon Redon and a pretty Fantin Latour floral still life. Three very nice genre paintings of his family by Vuillard stood out but my favorite  in the collection was by Pissarro’s son, Lucien. Depicts an African hunter and three zebra painted with gold accents. All in all, not a very noteworthy collection for me. Boat back to the hotel and dressed for dinner in a good restaurant. All three near the hotel were fully booked until 9:00 so we bought a baked chicken, salads and cookies and had dinner in the room. Obviously we are not foodies and do not prioritize food during our travels. 

September 22

Down day due to aches and pains. Paul went to Central train station to buy our tickets to Brussels to transfer to London Eurostar. I spent the day watching television in bed. I hate to waste a day of sightseeing but one day down prevents more days down with my knees and back. There are a number of British and German programs on hotel cable. I especially like Two Hairy Bikers, two rugged guys from the British midlands, I think, who travel around the British Isles collecting regional recipes and products. They go back to their kitchen and cook and they’re really good. Later in the evening we went to a Chinese restaurant in Leidesplein. Paul had crispy duck with mushu pancakes and hoisin sauce. Really good. I had hot and sour soup and Kung Pao Chicken. Thought I’d try again. They got it right this time. Later, in our room, we opened the windows and watched clouds roll across a full, Dutch moon. Lovely.