Sometimes you just need to stop what you’re doing and go to the museum. Well, you may not. But I do.
I was determined to go and see the Rijksmuseum library which I keep seeing references to online. So I pulled myself together, put my coat on, and headed out into the wilds of the day!
I made it into the museum, followed a likely looking sign, then couldn’t find anymore signs to follow. So with the floor plan rolled up tight in hand I went up to a guide to ask him where I was mean to be. He complimented me on mijn Nederlands! With a grin on my face I headed on up to the Promised Land!
Only to be confronted by big red signs which prohibited photography. Oh well. I had a quick look around, resolved to come back to do actual research another time, and headed back out into the gallery to soak up the culture.
As I’ve mentioned before, the refurbished museum is immense and diverse! So it was nice to find myself in sections I hadn’t explored yet and just wander through admiring the artwork.
There really is so much beauty in the world. If only you stop to look at it.
I keep being reminded of how flat these here lowlands are too!
The simple pleasures bring a smile to my face.
So much beautiful sky.
My beautiful Damrak which I love so much.
And I found a Mondrian that I really like! Of course, it’s not Himself’s preferred style of Mondrian!
So much to see. Today was a good example that you don’t need to carve out a whole day to see everything, you can just nip in see a section, become rejuvenated by the art, and head back out again.
I need to keep this in mind more often.
ghoti industries 
Oooo imagine the fun research you could do there! Most difficult part would be picking a topic! Can anyone perform research or is it necessary to have a letter from an academic institution or other something similar? Some of the institutions here require such documentation for access to the volumes.
The Mondrian is particularly lovely 🙂
An approach like you describe — a quick jaunt — sounds like another good way to experience a huge collection.
I’m going to speculate wildly and say you may need authority to see the older or “special” books, but anyone can use the library 🙂
I need to go to the Rijksmuseum more 🙂 It makes me feel so inspired about the world!
Sounds like the museum has succeeded in its mission — bringing people in and bringing people back again. 🙂