I’m on my way to the city of the Netherlands, which is home to 150 international institutions and the “Girl with a Pearl Earring”. I am not alone, I myself come with me. Shall we begin?

A cold city in the north, unheard of, unspoken. It is 45 minutes from Amsterdam and 30 minutes from Rotterdam. After my undergraduate education, my long-term trip abroad, which I have been working on, making plans for, and covering many countries, begins to work as an intern architect.

The Netherlands has two airports: Rotterdam Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. My connecting flight from Istanbul takes around 3 and a half 4 hours. Our journey from Rotterdam to Den Haag is extremely short. In the future, I understand that it is extremely easy and fast to travel from any city to another city in this country. Transport networks, especially train travel, are comfortable, cheap and fast. A train leaves from Amsterdam every 15 minutes. At the same time, the existence of night trains is an opportunity to travel around the country. The cities are extremely close to each other.

Den Haag is located between Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The city is home to many museums. Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s famous work “Girl with a Pearl Earring” is located here in the Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery. World-famous cars are open to visitors at the Lauwman Museum. The works of graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher who lived in the 1900s are exhibited in the Escher Palace Museum.

A city of art; open-air markets, cafes, bars, markets, restaurants where you can taste dishes from different cultures… The main center of all these is Grote Markt.

Sorry, Is This Heaven?

You wouldn’t be surprised if I say that roads, parks, apartments, everywhere you can think of are covered with canals in a country where a quarter of its territory is under the sea. But every day, going to work, walking, sometimes doing yoga through a nature park, among the flowers that bloom with spring, some of them spilled on the water and some on the grass… This comfort is astonishing. Yes, you are in the city, in the village, it should not be so easy to be in the countryside. It’s a luxury you can’t have in many parts of the world. However, the people here do not use this opportunity very much, because the city goes into a fast sleep after work. The streets are empty, quiet, calm… The tall people of this cold city also prefer to stay at home on Sundays. Yes, by the way, the tallest men in the world are also in the Netherlands.

Both Old and New

I’m crossing a street. Like Amsterdam, it reeks of history. With their incredible sloping roofs and their mastery in using bricks, they challenged the climate and at the same time shaped their structures with pleasing details. Then I turn to a street that is surrounded by skyscrapers that I have never seen before. Some with dome-shaped roofs, some with different angles and up-to-date materials. “What happened now? Am I in a metropolis?” The harmony of this city does not make one ask the question. There is such a harmony between them; material, color… They become references to each other from somewhere.

Design Small; Architectural Details

It is a thoughtful, masterful city. Every place you turn your head is like a work of art. For me as an architect, it is a visual feast that is a source of inspiration and enhances my creativity; every step is like a new reason to be happy… Even the colorful doors and the seating elements located in the gardens in front of the doors are as orderly and detailed as the surroundings. I understand that these people know how to enjoy every moment of life. They can design small and reach big pleasures.

Welcoming people of many nationalities; this is a place that invites peace, order and nature… It is modern, innovative, old, new and impressive.

Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands , is a city rich in museums that will turn art lovers’ heads. Hundreds of thousands of visitors visit the city, which has the most prestigious museums in the world, every year and feel the art atmosphere of the city by stopping by the museums in the city.

The most visited museums in Amsterdam, which has dozens of boutique museums, are Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and Stedelijk Museum. Among these museums, the Van Gogh Museum is the 31st most visited museum in Amsterdam and the 31st in the world.

Need To Know About the Van Gogh Museum

Home to the world’s most comprehensive Van Gogh collection, the Van Gogh Museum is a building whose name is synonymous with Amsterdam. The museum, where you can see the works of the world-famous artist who lived between 1853-1890, is located in a modern building founded in 1973 and designed by Gerrit Rietveld.

In addition to his rich collection of paintings, drawings and letters belonging to Van Gogh, the works of many famous artists who lived in the same period with Van Gogh are also in the museum’s inventory.

He is a master at the Van Gogh Museum, where you can see the paintings, sketches (draft) drawings and hundreds of letters he wrote to his brother Theo Van Gogh. 200 paintings and 500 sketches of the artist are on display.

Since the museum, which can be visited in 2-3 hours at an average speed, hosts many visitors throughout the year, it is essential to buy the ticket on the website in advance or to buy a ticket for another day after arriving in Amsterdam in order not to wait in line at the museum gate.

Need To Know About the Van Gogh Museum

In the museum where the works of the painter born in 1853 are arranged in chronological order, you can witness what the artist went through in different periods of his life and how these moments affected his life and paintings. The design of the main building of the museum, which consists of 5 floors including the basement, was designed by Architect Gerrit Rietveld, and the design of the annex building where temporary exhibitions are held by Architect Kisho Kurokawa.

The Van Gogh Museum consists of two separate buildings, the main building and the annex. The works of painters who were contemporary of Van Gogh are exhibited on the ground floor and the third floor of the main building, which consists of 4 floors. Among the painters whose works you can see in this section are names such as Renoir, Rodin, Delacroix, Claude Monet and Edouard Manet.

On the first floor of the museum, there are works of Vincent Van Gogh whose construction date is known and which are separated according to the place where they were made. During the tour on the first floor, you can personally see the important events in the artist’s life and how these events affected his life and paintings.

Need To Know About the Van Gogh Museum

On the second floor of the museum, drawings and sketches of the famous artist are exhibited. There are temporary exhibitions in the annex building of the museum. Since the exhibitions in this section are temporary, you need to follow which artist’s works you can see on the museum website on the date you visit the museum.

Van Gogh Museum visiting hours and entrance fee

The Van Gogh Museum has different visiting hours at different times of the year. During the winter period, the museum can be visited between 09.00-18.00. In summer, it is open to visitors between 09.00-19.00. On Fridays, the closing time of the museum is 21:00.

Van Gogh Museum ticket costs 18 euros for adults. No fee is charged for visitors under the age of 18. I Amsterdam Card holders can visit the museum free of charge.

Official website of the museum: www.vangoghmuseum.nl

Van Gogh Museum is located between Rijksmuseum and Stedejelik and can be easily reached by following the signs at the Rijksmuseum exit. It is possible to reach the museum by trams 2 and 5 departing from the Amsterdam train station.