Amsterdam to Lisse

 We have had another excellent day today. We allowed ourselves a bit of a lie in and met for breakfast at 9:30. Last night we decided that as it was only a short drive to our next destination we would visit another museum in Amsterdam.

 Instead of walking like yesterday we went by motorcycle. We decided to visit the MOCO museum. The museum of modern art.  Such a fantastic museum. We were both blown away and I was unsure whether to be optimistic or depressed about the future of mankind after a couple of hours in this place. There was the most amazing display of Banksy street art  and his comment was it is the only place where public money was used to display his works instead of to remove them. 


Liked this quote a lot. (R) 

There were several other notable artists on display like Warhol. All of which caused us to pause for thought even after all these years. We need more artists to highlight the political scene. Of course there were some artists I hadn’t heard of but the message of satire and hope for the future shone through. 


An unexpected highlight shone a light on mental health from in my mind an unlikely source, Robbie Williams. He had a memorable quote displayed among his art works. “ just off to have a nervous  breakdown, does anybody want anything”.

Time well spent and I have to come out on the optimistic side. 

As long as there are artists able to shine a spotlight on dark stuff we will be ok. 

View from the top floor. 

So we set off optimistically for the short ride to Lisse. Unfortunately optimism will only get you so far. Within a few km’s we were on the side if the road putting on our wet weather gear. Then the heavens opened. It absolutely pissed down all the way to Lisse.

 There isn’t very much in Lisse but it is the heart of tulip country. We passed through field after field of tulip fields but unfortunately we are out of season so we have to imagine how spectacular this place is in the spring. 

After a snack in Lisse we headed to an advertised place for Dahlia’s but we are a bit too late for them, also it was closed. We did see a few along the way and a field of flowers. 




Our hotel for the night is on the outskirts of the town and only about a km or so from the beach. We checked in and Reijo and I had a beer before we all set off to explore the beach. Even though it is off season there were still a few people about and the cafe bar was also open. 

We walked a little way along to a very nice beach and I just couldn’t resist taking a dip. I have decided to record all of different seas I have swam in and try to add to the list whenever I can. 



I only saw one other person entering the water so I am taking the credit for encouraging him. 

Back to our hotel for drinks and dinner. A very satisfying day and a fitting farewell to the Netherlands. 

The hotel in Autumn. 




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