Museum van Loon

In February a group of us took the tram into the Dam to visit the Museum van Loon. The located in a canalside house alongside the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam. The museum is named after the family van Loon that lived in the house from the 19th century. This magnificent private residence was built in 1672 by the architect Adriaen Dortsman. The first resident was painter Ferdinand Bol, a pupil of Rembrandt. The interior of the house has remained largely intact during the last centuries and still evokes the splendor of the Golden Age. In the rooms, a large collection of paintings, fine furniture, precious silvery and porcelain from different centuries is on display. Behind the house is a beautiful garden, an oasis of quiet in the modern inner city. I won't post too many photos as it was difficult to get good shots of many items behind glass or in rooms with tough angles, but here are a few.

After visiting the museum, we wandered around looking for a place to eat and ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe. Yes, this seems very touristy - although the Hard Rock is *the* place to get a good old fashioned American cheeseburger - which we all miss living in Holland as the beef here is very different from home. Ben, our waiter, a student from California, was also the best - providing us all with the kind of attention and incredible customer service that simply isn't a strength in the Netherlands (sorely lacking!) And you can see from the pics that another member of the staff was quite taken by my hat :)