Day Seven of London, Amsterdam, Paris

This was a day late, sorry, ran out of time last night.

Wednesday

We woke up this morning and had scheduled a tour of old town Amsterdam with a guide from the "Airbnb Experiences" tab. We weren't sure what to expect, but figured at around 40euro, no matter how bad it was, it couldn't be a waste of money. Well, I'm happy to report it was fantastic!

We met with Florentin outside a pancake shop near the main train station. It was windy, so we went around the corner to describe what we would do and what we would see. He was absolutely charming and so funny. He is actually from France originally, but met his American husband in London. He walked us through the streets showing us the oldest house in Amsterdam, the red light district (right across the street from the old church), and a host of other interesting places in the old city. He had handouts to illustrate his stories, showing us old maps and indicating where we were standing on those maps. It was so enriching, I don't have a single complaint. After 2 hours, we made his way off to his next session and we started looking for food.

Our tour had ended in a very touristy part of the city and we knew no matter where we went, it wouldn't be "authentic." We passed a pastry shop and decided to take the plunge. We both ordered a ham and cheese croissant and a dessert pastry. As we sat eating, we kept watching the college age kids wandering in, most high out of their minds, looking for pastries. It's a little embarrassing that that's how our country is represented in such an amazing place, but it's been that way for a long time, so let it go, I guess.

After we finished eating, it was close to 2p, so we headed to a bus stop. If there's anything I will say about Amsterdam travel, the public transportation is WORLD CLASS. Everything is clean, efficient, easy to understand, and user friendly. It's what public transportation is supposed to be. We hopped on and headed to the Moco museum (which is not a museum for boogers, contrary to its name). Moco stands for MOdern and COntemporary Art. We arrived as the rain began to drizzle, but nothing too crazy.

The Moco is in an old house building, in the Museumplein area. With the Rijksmuseum dominating the area (it's a freaking castle, basically), the Stedelijk Museum (a massive cube of concrete and glass) and the Van Gogh Museum (a circular tube), the Moco is a conventional house that doesn't look like much. What it contains, however, is extraordinary. The class of the displays are unmatched in its area of expertise. Warhol, Basquiat, Haring, matched with the avant garde of today. Really, really impressive stuff. I don't always connect with modern art, the curation on this collection gave plenty for a stodgy old guy like myself to enjoy.

The highlight of the current showing was the Banksy: Laugh Now exhibition. Banksy made his name doing street art and graffiti before moving into the curated art space. The depth of this collection was something special. Art from his entire body of work was there, starting back 25 years and moving to the present. Pieces I had only seen in photographs were on display. The collection ran across the entire bottom floor and into some of the second floor rooms. The rest of the rooms were filled with world class modern art. I cannot recommend this museum more. AND it was free on the Iamsterdam card, which is a great purchase (also covers your public transportation).

When we finished the Moco, we had an hour and a half or so before we would wrap for the day, so we decided to hit up the Stedelijk, which was nextdoor. It's the grown up version of the Moco, with a focus on design and modern art. I won't lie, after walking out of the previous museum, it felt very stodgy, heading into what was a fine museum. The collection at this museum was, again, top notch. There were several of my favorite artist Mark Chagall, a jewish artist from the early 20th century. I'm always on the lookout for his work when travelling. With the light fading and our feet hurting, we hustled through the collection and onto the tram back to our apartment.

- Dan