I mentioned in an earlier post that I allowed my daughter, visiting from the US, to choose which small museums we would visit together on our day in Amsterdam. She chose the Huis Marseille Museum for Photography and the Brilmuseum (Spectacles Museum). I did not have high hopes for either one, ... Read More
Huis Marseille Museum for Photography
I was very happy when my daughter, visiting from the US, wanted to spend the day in Amsterdam, sightseeing with me. I gave her a list of museums I’d like to visit for my series on the smaller, less well-known museums in Amsterdam, and told her to choose two. My daughter, a graphic designer, chose ... Read More
The Dutch Resistance Museum
The following is one of my occasional series on small Amsterdam museums: “That was pretty interesting” is high praise indeed, when it comes from my 17-year-old son after a visit to a museum. The Verzetsmuseum—Dutch Resistance Museum—in Amsterdam is one of very few that have earned a "pretty ... Read More
Red Light Secrets: Museum of Prostitution
What I expected on visiting Red Light Secrets Museum of Prostitution was a presentation that titillates and that presents prostitution as a happy profession with practitioners who choose to become prostitutes. I expected that because I had read several blog posts by visitors to Amsterdam that ... Read More
Hash, Marijuana & Hemp Museum
It's not surprising that Amsterdam is home to a museum of Hash, Marijuana and Hemp, given its generally tolerant policy toward soft drugs. You’d think, given the somewhat subversive subject, that it would be entertaining to visit. It wasn’t. The main part of the museum (hash and marijuana) The ... Read More
The Sex Museum in Amsterdam: the cure for insomnia
The first thing you see on entering the Sex Museum in Amsterdam is a life size statue of Priapus, the Greek god of fertility, and he’s … well, let’s say he’s pretty turned on. The rest of the museum goes downhill from there. Unfortunately, if I want to keep this blog rated PG, I don’t have ... Read More
Body Worlds: Museum or Freak Show?
Warning: If you're squeamish, you might want to click away...but please share this post before you go! Body Worlds: The Happiness Project exhibit in Amsterdam is described on its webpage as telling: the amazing story of our own body and the impact of happiness on our health. More than 200 ... Read More
The Cat Cabinet: another quirky Amsterdam museum
The founder of the Cat Cabinet, Bob Meijer, named his cat John Pierpont Morgan. Why name him after a 19th century American financier? I don’t know. Born in 1966, J.P. Morgan received a special gift from Meijer every five years. On his fifth birthday, it was a portrait by Ansel Sanberg. On his ... Read More
Electric Ladyland: hippie heaven
Electric Ladyland in Amsterdam is definitely one of the weirdest museums I’ve visited yet. (Okay, the Toilet Museum in Suwon, South Korea, was pretty weird too, but this isn’t a contest. At least not yet … ) The museum claims to be the "first museum of fluorescent art." It certainly includes ... Read More
Is the Erotic Museum Amsterdam erotic?
The short answer to the question in the title is “No, the Erotic Museum Amsterdam is not erotic.” What is it? Thought provoking and sometimes disturbing. Why I didn’t go to the Erotic Museum Amsterdam before You may remember that I reviewed the Sex Museum some time ago, calling it “the cure for ... Read More
