Amsterdam: Day Six – Goodbye

This was our final day in Amsterdam. When we planned this trip we left this day open because we knew that we would find things that we wanted to do that we didn’t know about previously and we did. Keltin called this day “Boatday” because of the museums we visited.

Houseboat Museum

We found out about the Houseboat Museum during the canal tour. This is a tiny museum but it did discuss a number of things:

• The history of houseboats – at one time they were a very inexpensive way to live and now they are one of the most expensive.
• Requirements, laws, and ownership of houseboats in Amsterdam today.
• The history of this particular houseboat.
  • It moved cargo and housed a family of four in the very front.
  • It was used by an artist as a houseboat but not in the current state.
  • It was renovated to the way it looks now (I love the 70s colors and patterns).
  • It was turned into a museum.

If you visit Amsterdam and have a free hour, this is a good museum to visit. I’m pretty sure these houseboats are the original tiny houses.

National Maritime Museum

The National Maritime Museum of Amsterdam called to us because of the replica ship. We also found out about this museum on the canal tour. The name of the replica ship is the Amsterdam. The original Amsterdam sank off the coast of England on its first voyage. The replica ship was built in the 1980s

This museum does actively discuss the East and West India Trading Companies and how they were both complicit in the various slave trades around the world and other atrocities. Just because we don’t talk about something doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, these things happened. The actions of these companies helped The Netherland’s reach its Golden Age.

This museum does have some neat exhibits as well. The golden boat below was used by the Dutch monarchy. If I remember correctly it was last used in the 1960. The museum has some fantastic maps from all over the world, yes, many are defiantly from the East and West India Trading Companies. In my longer video you can see all the model ships. I’m not normally a model ship fan but they have so many with so much variety.

One of the other exhibits I really enjoyed was about a Dutch man that solo circumnavigated the globe in a sail boat. A lot of the exhibit was pieces of equipment that he used on the trip but what I really enjoyed was the film. He recorded a lot of like self reflective diary videos and I’m not sure if they were edited before or after his death but they were beautiful either way.

Check out more of the Houseboat Museum and the National Maritime Museum in my video below. The video is queued to start at Day 6. Goodbye Amsterdam, it was a great time and I’d love to go back and see the tulips. Save travels.

More Amsterdam

• Airport Shenanigans
• Welcome to Amsterdam
• Amsterdam: Hotel and Walking Tour
• Food in Amsterdam
• Amsterdam: Canal Tour and A’dam Lookout
• Amsterdam Street Art
• Amsterdam: Anne Frank Tour and TinType Photography
• Amsterdam Bookshops
• Book Review: We had to Remove this Post
• Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum

Thank you KW Photography for allowing me to use your wonderful photos!

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