{"id":13205,"date":"2016-01-20T11:20:54","date_gmt":"2016-01-20T11:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/?p=13205"},"modified":"2016-01-26T12:57:13","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T12:57:13","slug":"dutch-masters-and-stroopwafel-blackmail-amsterdam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/dutch-masters-and-stroopwafel-blackmail-amsterdam\/","title":{"rendered":"Dutch Masters and Stroopwafel Blackmail – Amsterdam"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rijksmuseum\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I can’t quite decide what position I would put Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum<\/a> into in my list of top ten art galleries of all time, but it would probably have to be in the top three – after Louisiana<\/a> and Tate Britain… \u00a0We spent the best part of a day there recently during a trip to Holland’s capital city.<\/p>\n

Successfully and enthusiastically navigating a gallery with children isn’t always plain sailing, so when initiatives are offered to keep them interested, take them and run I say…<\/p>\n

\"inside<\/a><\/p>\n

The female contingent of the Raphael family adores a good gallery<\/a> (as you may well remember), and Mr R has been gradually trained in appreciating them (aka being dragged around without complaining) over the years, but Small Boy has yet to completely enjoy this particular area of the finer things in life, and has to be persuaded, i.e. blackmailed. \u00a0 As it turns out, he is easily blackmailed with a family ‘multimedia mystery solving challenge<\/em>‘ laid on by the museum, and stroopwafels (Dutch caramel waffles as if you didn’t know). \u00a0Actually, it would probably be difficult to find someone who wasn’t blackmail-able with stroopwafels…<\/p>\n

\"rijksmuseum<\/a><\/p>\n

Anyway two mystery solving teams of two formed, we split up and immediately went in opposite directions; whereupon I realised that a) one of our teams had to be going in the wrong direction, and b) it was going to take forever to get mystery solving with a miniature Sister Wendy in my group. \u00a0 I am not going to give much of the important part of the actual quiz away because that could well spoil it for you, but solving clues on little mobile devices takes you around huge chunks of the Rijksmuseum, and includes the close inspection of a few stunning Dutch Masters such as Rembrandt’s The Night Watch and Vermeer’s Milk Maid in the main gallery (all the while secretly getting the uninterested interested in what they are seeing), and down to various other packed rooms with many other artefacts in it’s underbelly.<\/p>\n

\"family<\/a><\/p>\n

\"rijksmuseum<\/a><\/p>\n

Bear in mind the following:<\/p>\n