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John Osaki's Blog
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THIS TRIP IS NOT CURRENTLY SCHEDULED. Over the years, Walking Softly Adventures has developed and operated trips to a variety of destinations including this one, but not all trips are offered every year. Though this trip is not currently being offered as a scheduled departure, we can organize and operate this trip as a private departure. |
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Start organizing your private Netherlands art adventure here. |
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| Spend your days with original masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh and Mondriaan. Walk the same streets as these famous artists and see where they lived. Experience their homeland in depth, exploring the countryside, small villages and national parks as well as Amsterdam. Visit famous museums, including the Philips Wing of the Rijksmuseum, the Kroller-Muller Museum tucked in a national park, and the Mauritshuis and Frans Hals Museum both in 17th century buildings. If you travel in April, you can time this trip to catch the spectacular bulb display at Keukenhof Gardens, where over seven million bulbs are planted for a nine-week spring display. | ||||||||
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Day 1: Arrive Amsterdam Arrive at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, and travel to The Hague (Den Haag). Settle into your comfortable hotel for four nights. Day 2: Mauritshuis Museum and Delft Enjoy a orientation tour of The Hague. Arrive at the Mauritshuis for a guided tour of the Royal Picture Gallery where you view masterpieces of the 17th century by Rembrandt and Vermeer in a 17th century building. This is a “one-of-a-kind museum, one different from all others.” In the afternoon, travel to Delft where Vermeer lived from 1632-1675. Enjoy a guided walking tour of the old town and visit to the New Church (built in 1381). Continue for a guided tour of De Porceleyne Fles (Delft Blue Factory). In Delft, walk along the canals and past the houses that resemble those in Vermeer’s paintings. On one building you’ll see the initials of the Dutch East India Company, the trading giant of the 1600’s whose ships brought loads of exotic spices to Europe, as well as precious porcelain. These blue, white and red ceramics were so treasured that they triggered a race to see which country could be the first to unlock the secret of their manufacture. The blue and white earthenware made in Delft is famous throughout the world. Return to The Hague for the evening. Day 3: Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem Travel to Haarlem and enjoy a short orientation tour upon arriving in the town where Frans Hals lived. A guided tour of the Frans Hals Museum provides an extraordinary opportunity to view a huge collection of art by Frans Hals and other 17th century Dutch painters in a 17th century building. Continue through a classic Dutch landscape of dikes, windmills, fields, and cows to reach Den Zaanse Schans where you can watch pigment being ground in a working mill (named De Kat) as it was in Rembrandt’s time. Return to The Hague for the evening. Day 4: Keukenhof Gardens, Leiden Today, marvel at Keukenhof Gardens where seven million flower bulbs are planted each year (April departures). Then continue by private coach to Leiden (Leyden), where Rembrandt was born. Take a guided visit of the Lakenhal museum (which houses an early work by Rembrandt) and the Hortus Botanicus (Botanical Garden) which was founded in 1587, the first in northern Europe. A professor at the University of Leyden, Carolus Clusius, started cultivating tulips in 1593. Return to The Hague for the evening. Day 5: Gemeentemuseum, and Het Loo Palace A leisurely morning is followed by a visit to the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. Be sure to check out the Wonderkamers, specifically designed to introduce teenage visitors to art! The permanent collection includes the world’s largest collection of Mondriaan paintings, as well as important works by Monet, Degas and Picasso. The museum also includes one of the world’s finest collections of Delft ceramics. Travel east to Apeldoorn, and in the afternoon have a guided visit of Het Loo Palace built in 1685. Het Loo Palace is the former home of the Dutch monarchy. The gardens are also magnificent. Overnight in Apeldoorn. Day 6: Kröller-Müller Museum, Hoge Veluwe This morning take a short drive south to the Hoge Veluwe National Park near Arnhem. Although difficult to pronounce, Hoge Veluwe is a beautiful 13,000 acre nature reserve with a famous museum. Founded by Willem Kröller and his wife Hélène Müller, the museum has important paintings by Van Gogh and Mondriaan as well as French masterpieces by Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Signac and Seurat. Enjoy a guided tour of the museum. Outdoors, stroll through a 25 acre sculpture garden, Europe’s largest, and explore works by Maillol, Rodin, and a huge blue trowel by Claes Oldenburg. You can even walk into, under and on top of Dubuffet’s Enamel Garden, a vast white honey-combed sculpture. After lunch, relax in the park, pedal beneath the trees on one of the famous white bicycles. Return to Apeldoorn the evening. Day 7: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam Travel to Amsterdam, and upon arrival enjoy a canal boat cruise to see Amsterdam from the water; you'll pass by Rembrandt’s house and the Anne Frank house. Later, immerse yourself in the art of Vincent Van Gogh on a guided visit of the Van Gogh Museum. See selections from the largest collection of Vincent Van Gogh’s work, including nearly 200 paintings and 500 drawings. You can follow his short 37 year life in his art, from dark brown canvases of Dutch peasants to blasts of sun-drenched French sunflowers all painted in a brief nine year burst of activity. Settle in for two nights at a hotel in the Museum Quarter. Tonight you might choose to enjoy a traditional Indonesian meal (rijsttafel), one of the rich legacies of the Dutch East India Company. Day 8: Rijksmuseum and Rembrandt’s House Visit the Rijksmuseum which houses masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals, and Jan Steen--symbols of the Golden Age of Dutch art. Painted over 300 years ago, these canvases capture a time when ships connected Amsterdam with its colonies as far away as India, Indonesia, and America (New York was originally New Amsterdam). On display are Rembrandt’s Night Watch, Self Portrait at an Early Age, Old Woman Reading; Frans Hals’ The Merry Drinker, Judith Leyster’s The Serenade, and many more. Later, visit the Rembrandt House Museum to tour the house where Rembrandt lived for 20 years. Day 9: Depart Amsterdam After breakfast, transfer to the airport near Amsterdam for your onward connections. |
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All photos on this page by John or Amy Osaki |
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© Walking
Softly Adventures, Inc., PO Box 86250, Portland, OR 97286 |
