Gavin McDermott

I finally left the UK again, and went to Amsterdam by train from London (4 hours, direct!).

After stepping through many layers of Amsterdam weirdness, the Van Gogh Museum was a (timed) treat–I’d thought the timing was a pain, but it did make sure that the exhibition wasn’t too packed ever.

The Rijksmuseum was really quite spectacular, too… although there were a few_Mona Lisa_ moments, with crowds gathered around say, the Night’s Watch.

And then missing out a rather wonderful Claude Lorraine

I also really enjoyed the Dutch art around their naval successes (including a bit of a flagship nicked after the Battle of the Medway!)

Oh, and the ancient library was rather magnificent, too