I'll Be Ready In Five Minutes: Last Day In Amsterdam!

On our last full day in Amsterdam, I came to terms with the fact that I had really fallen for this city.

One of my favorite things to do was to walk along the canals, admiring all the architecture, and just generally taking it all in...

I especially love the big tree-lined boulevards...

We finally made it to the infamous sign!

But it was quite bustling, so we only managed to commandeer one letter at a time...

I is for Ian!

Why so serious...?

M is for Mischief Managed!

The Rijksmuseum!

The building itself was beyond gorg, I could hardly wait to go inside!

Ian snappin some pics...

The museum houses countless art and historical treasures from Amsterdam and The Netherlands. Upon first entering, we encountered some beautiful Dutch landscapes...

What is a Dutch landscape without a windmill?!

(and some cows...?)

This was my favorite little cannon from one of the Weapon Rooms...

And the main event - Rembrandt's Night Watch! I included the first picture so you can see how big it really is...!

As Ian earnestly asked, "So why's this such a big deal?" :)

Rembrandt painted this work in the mid-1600s, the height of the Dutch Golden Age, and it is most known for its huge size, brilliant use of sunlight and shadow (also known as chiaroscuro), and for conveying movement and motion at a time where military portraits were known to be very static.

The Night Watch is at the opposite end of this hall, and there are small galleries that jut off to the sides...

In one of the galleries, is another work by Rembrandt - the Syndics of the Draper's Guild, most known for the startled appearance of all the Syndics and their outward gaze toward the viewer...

Also in one of the side galleries, Vermeer!! Love. A few months ago, Girl with a Pearl Earring (Vermeer's most famous painting) was on view at the de Young here in San Francisco and Alanna and I ran to go see it. It's normally housed in Mauritshuis, another museum in The Netherlands, and I remember thinking, When the heck am I ever going to be in The Netherlands?!?! Ha! And then here I am! Life is so funny :)

Some very traditional Dutch "breakfast still-lifes", riddled with symbolism and vanitas...

And a beautiful stained glass window...

On the floor in one of the rooms was a tiled band of all the astrological signs, so I snapped a pic of my man, Leo...

I seriously love Dutch people! Look at these guys just having a grand old time!

A crown of mine that somehow got misplaced into this little box...

Some pretty delftware...

A little portrait by Rembrandt....

That I mostly loved due to its writeup...

How funny is that?! A "warning against immoral conduct"? Look to me like she's just minding her own business, trying to read her book while these two guys are trying to get after it... no? She's got her hand up like, Ugh get away you creeps!

Then there's this guy...

After the museum, we were totally starved, so we popped into a little cafe that had been recommended to us called Renzo's...

Those sandwiches may not look like much, but oooh my GOD, they were beyond. They were so good that we contemplated getting another to take for the train ride to Paris the next day... to this day I have no idea why we decided against it... #RookieMistake

Downstairs is an entire little deli and you can take your food upstairs to eat!

Are cats not just the funniest little things??

This little guy could have taught an entire yoga class with all the stretches he had up his sleeve...

A great (big) quote about traveling - my favorite thing to do EVER...

On our walk home, we came across a live rendition of the Night Watch...

What else was I supposed to do, but hop on in there?!

Later that night, we got a bit gussied up for our last dinner in Amsterdam :(

Ian had done his standard foodie research and chose the perfect place, De Belhamel, which if I remember correctly, translates to "naughty little boy", ha!

When you first walk in, you are faced with a gorgeous, turn of the century- styled bar...

Then our coats were hung and we were promptly seated and fed some salads to get started...

We had the most beautiful view of the canals from our table...

For our mains, I had an incredibly prepared white fish in a white wine sauce with some roasted veggies...

And Ian had lamb!

Dessert was my faaaave - a creme brulee!

Way too soon, we looked around and realized we were the only two people left in the restaurant and decided that was our cue to get all bundled up again and head out...