An entry in the TFS Travel Journal.
Milton prepared for the wake-up-and-ride of the next week by working out in the tiny, compact exercise room in the hotel. (So small that they limit attendance to 5/hour).
We then relaxed in the room until forcing ourselves out into the frying pan around noon. We browsed the outdoor-goods store next-door to the hotel since it had a big Helly-Hansen sign, and we now like HH and all things Norweigan. Bought a few more socks after our experience with the $100+ laundry bill in Stockholm (thank God for Tevas), then set off for the museums. We realized that we’d rather dine first, so we consulted the Bible (Fodors) and headed for Yakazoto, a sushi place in the Hotel Okura. Turned out to be a bit more walk than we wanted, but we persevered and were rewarded with not only a lovely Japanese hotel and lobby (with a Japanese grocery and Japanese bookstore in the lower-level shopping arcade) but also a top-notch sushi lunch and blissful air-conditioning. Aside from the usual sushi (though they were out of many favorites) we also enjoyed a big bowl of noodles in broth w/the other white meat.
We taxied to the Riksmuseum, one of the best lighted museums we’ve visited. While it was, of course, great to see the best collection of Dutch Master paintings in the world (love those pastoral landscapes!), what was equally memorable were the many remarkable pieces of furniture, mostly large cabinets, of beautiful wood, mostly oak, artistically carved and with beautiful inlays. Also notable was the collection of Delft ceramics, all white with the traditional Delft blue. Some of the items seemed to have more detail than a photograph, and showed an amazing capacity for depth and perspective, and the room of 17th century dollhouses in fascinating detail. We then rushed the two blocks to the Van Gogh museum to get a dose of his landscapes before spending a week with our own observations. You learn something new every day: Van Gogh, though dying at 37, left over 900 paintings and 1,200 drawings, and , boy, they’ve got a lot of them here! We saw many familiar ones, and also many not particularly memorable.
We sweated, uh, strolled home in time for Wendy’s 5:30 (and first of the trip) manicure and pedicure appointment, while Milton booked an 8:00pm massage in the hotel. The remainder of the evening was spent in vacation mode of reading and relaxing before tomorrow’s deluge of activities and personalities.
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