Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum

This is one of the most famous buildings in Amsterdam and a must-see on every visitor's list: the Rijksmuseum. Our helpful Viking hotel host helped us get tickets online for our last morning in the city and, after a somewhat tense and rushed walk from the hotel (getting sleeted on as we went) we made it just before the entry time on our tickets had expired.

Overall, the museum didn't live up to our [admittedly quite high] expectations (for some of the reasons I'll explain). But we were still glad that we spent the time there. I mean, it's just a place you have to see when you're in Amsterdam!

Because it was so cold outside, we'd dressed up in several layers (we also knew we had to make our way to the boat later in the day without going back to the hotel, so we had to have warm gear with us), not knowing that the ambient temperature in the museum was going to be a little on the warm side. This unfortunately meant I had to make an extra visit to the cloakroom check desk, which was very crowded.

The crowds were one reason that we ended up being somewhat underwhelmed by our Rijksmuseum experience. Another was the fact that it was very hard to find your way around the place; the maps given out at the information desk you see above on the left told you where rooms were, but not what was in them! 

And of course the most famous paintings—especially the Night Watch, which is supposedly the high point of the whole place—were constantly surrounded by hordes of not always the most considerate visitors. 

A personal disappointment for me was probably my own fault: I was expecting more Vermeers than are on offer here, and spent quite a bit of time wandering from one unidentified room to another looking in vain for them. However, they do have one of my favorites...

But, as often happens in great museums, what one was not expecting turns out to be what is the most interesting. As I moved past the large central hall where most of the paintings (and the crowds) were, I found all kinds of delightful items, and I was reminded often of one of my favorite London museums, the Victoria and Albert. Like the V&A, there were all kinds of quirky things on view here, from silver elephants...

...to incredible ceramic constructions...

The jewelry didn't disappoint, either...

And there was a library to die for!

So my advice to Amsterdam tourists would be: you have to go to this museum, so go as early as you can (the crowds got worse as the morning wore on), be sure not to miss all the rooms full of odd non-paintings (the doll houses, which I didn't get a good picture of, were a definite highlight), and, finally, don't overdress!