Second day in Amsterdam.

The second day after a multi-time zone trip is when it really hits, at least for me. I always feel kind of borderline lousy all day. Not enough to hole up in the hotel room, but enough to get in the way of total enjoyment of the experience.

As an aftermath to my walking this morning, I should point out that as nicely scaled and attractive as this town is, it's an impossible place to walk. I can handle the brick sidewalks; they're uneven but there's rarely anything to trip on. The problem is that in many places they are simply too narrow. Combine that with the fact that both bicycles and motor scooters ride whichever way they want on the street or the sidewalk if they so choose, regardless of one-wayness, and there's simply no sure way to maneuver. It's not so much of a problem if you're walking by yourself, but you simply can't walk side-by-side with someone with any level of comfort.

That's a problem because I am here with someone and we walk around a lot together. Today we went to the Rijk Museum. All the signs make that one word but the museum itself seems to separate them. I don't get it and I don't care. The language here is opaque. I know English is ridiculous too, but they just use so many damned letters to spell anything here. It seems incompatible with the whole Dutch aura, which is to take it as it comes and make money off it, whatever it is. They're traders, but I guess they have their own language so as to have something incomprehensible to foreigners, all of whose languages they understand. It's a ploy, clearly.

We took the bus there, which was quick and easy and we liked what Ronnie referred to as the "time-out chair."

Last time we were here, the museum was under renovation and they had a kind of "greatest hits" thing in what felt to me a small and kind of cramped place. The actual museum as a whole is huge and rambling to the point of being unamangeable, kind of like the Louvre, where you can't get from one place to another without having to backtrack. The other thing is that there's nothing international about this place, even though it's one of the world's great museums. It's all Dutch. If you don't like Dutch painting, do not any under any circumstances go there, because there ain't nothing else. There's plenty of great Dutch painting, don't get me wrong, but don't expect to find a Monet or DaVinci or even Rubens, who can't have been from more than 100 miles from here.

Anyway, we saw what we wanted to see and then walked back, first on one of the most crowded, tackiest shopping streets I've ever been to. I was surprised to find a couple of places where we'd eaten last time visiting still there, as was the sports bar where we watched the famous Zinedine Zidane headbutt game with a huge crowd of French and Italian football fans. Which reminds me, the other thing I learned today at the museum is why all their athletic teams, soccer and Olympic most notable, where orange. It's because of William of Orange, whom I presume never wore anything orange in his life, but who led the rebellion agains the Spanish that led to Dutch independence. So there.

We escaped that street and headed back for the hotel, where we did some more sedate shopping and had lunch. Then back to the room for a nap and then suddenly it was time for dinner.

Dinner was at a trendy-type place with DJ and a guy occasionally accompanying him badly on a keyboard. Not really sure what the deal was there. The food was uneven but it was fun. It seemed like everyone there knew each other. Then back to the hotel to wind down for bedtime. Off to the botanical gardens tomorrow. Should be amazing.