Van Gogh at the Kroller Muller Museum in The Netherlands

Playing tourist in your own country is often times so easy. Of course I knew about the statue garden and the modern art museum Kroller Muller, but I had no idea the museum houses a very large set of Vincent Van Gogh paintings, including one his most famous works and some of his early beginnings. Yes, even Vincent had to start somewhere, and some of it is downright funny to look at.

Most visitors to the Netherlands won't make it to this place, it is in the middle of the country, in a nature reserve, which means you will want to drive there. Arnhem is the largest, somewhat known city (WWII - a Bridge too Far) near the park and museum.

The Museum

You can find the usual details on their website (in English). We actually spent a large portion (5 hours) of the day at the museum, enjoying the outdoor statue garden, eating at the restaurant under the canopy and lastly checking out the inside with the Van Gogh collection. As always, the museum gets busy in the early afternoon. So leave after the peak traffic to get the museum before lunch. From Amsterdam, assume 1:15 to 1:30 hours of driving. From the south, it will take you a little longer with Maastricht being close to 2 hours away.

Food

The restaurant is quite good. Don't expect a very long menu, but some good lunch options, some good snacks, coffee and tea and of course other refreshments. Since the restaurant - we visited in summer - is outside, it is a nice place to sit and enjoy the park. So, add this into your visit and just relax and enjoy looking at the art and the people mulling around.

Don't Miss...

If you are into architecture, do make sure to visit the Rietveld pavilion. It is deceptively simple, but quite amazing. And if you are lucky "Attention" or "Kijk Uit" is open and you can walk up the stairway to heaven, with some cool views at the end. Just beware, it is a long way up. And down.

You can't miss monsieur Jacques, you'll walk right by him to the main entrance, but give him some time. He is totally cool.



You also won't miss Cafe Terrace at Night (here you go, just in case)... but spend some time with some of his early work and you can look at a design study for the Potato Eaters as an example of unique works. His Cypresses are amazing, and some of those are there too.

Well worth the visit when you are visiting the Netherlands!







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Walking tour through Maastricht

Image
I might be slightly biassed, but Maastricht in The Netherlands is one of my favorite cities. It has this combination of looking good, serving great food, is small enough to be still a low stress city. On top of that Maastricht is very easy to get to and very international with some typical touches of the province of Limburg. In short, time to go on a walking tour of Maastricht. Travel like Just Been There A day trip, arriving by train and walking around can look like this: Arrive by train Walk along the city wall and go through the "gates of hell" or Helpoort Visit the "caves" (more on the quotes later) - Maastricht Underground Walk back and enjoy a set of old city wall and related buildings, including the "Poortgebouw" on the river Jeker to end up at 't Vrijthof At 't Vrijthof, visit the St Jans Church and the St Servaas Treasury Next visit the Dominican bookstore and then on to City Hall Optional, on the east bank of the Meuse river visit the Bon...
Read more

Sydney - Great food around Central Station / Chippendale

Image
 On a recent trip we stayed in Sydney, and because the public transit is so good, we decided to pick a location a little off the beaten path. So not around Darling Harbor, The Rocks, or close to Circular Quay. Instead we stayed just off Central Station in Chippendale, right across from the University of Technology Sydney. Travel like Just Been There A few days in Sydney can look like this: The Bridge, Opera House, The Rocks - try to catch the market on a weekend, Darling Harbor and much more... Take the ferries to Manly as it is a great boat ride and the beach is nice (special tip below for those shoppers amongst us) Enjoy the great food, which is the main topic of this post Just Been There Art Look at or buy art inspired by this trip. If you like this trip, but can't go, or you too have just been there, this unique art may rekindle fond memories of your own trip. Click the image for a link to the online store. Note: you will be leaving this site and connect to the artists site. Bu...
Read more

Las Vegas - Food Destinations in strip malls off the Strip (Hidden Gems!)

Image
A quick post on some exciting food destinations we found and tried off the Strip in Las Vegas. Don't let these strip malls scare you away. Off strip, in strip malls doesn't mean chains and blandness. We found some real great breakfast, lunch, and dinner places.  Ichiza's Partial Menu Here goes... Breakfast - German Bread Bakery Yes, found another one, and while this one is not in as cool a location as our find in Tehachapi ( read more here ). This bakery has the classic rolls (brötchen) and lots of other goodies. If you go for the brötchen, consider stopping by Smith's and get some jam or any other things you like on bread. Makes for a classic German breakfast.  Smith's does have a Starbucks, so if you want to do your picnic breakfast, stop by there. It is in the same complex.  Note, there are two locations, the other location is south of the airport, in Paradise. Breakfast option II - Sambalatte This place is wonderful, it is a very cool coffeeshop. Check out the u...
Read more