The ROM opened in 1914, and when I visited it was in the middle of another transformation. Plastic sheeting ran along one side of the mammal gallery, and one dinosaur was hidden behind a printed cover. Even half finished, the dinosaur and mammal galleries were some of the best displays I have seen.

A year later I walked into the Natural History Museum in London expecting something similar. Don’t get me wrong, it was great. But for display, the ROM won. Its galleries are airy and easy to follow, and the collection is stunning. I may be biased because I’m Canadian.

ROM Dinosaurs & Mammals at a Glance
🦕 What · The Royal Ontario Museum’s dinosaur and mammal galleries in Toronto — Dawn of Life, the Age of Dinosaurs in the Crystal, and the Age of Mammals.
🦴 Don’t miss · Futalognkosaurus towering over Chen Court, and Gordo the Barosaurus — one of the world’s only mounted Barosaurus built from real fossil bone.
🏗️ Renovation now · OpenROM (announced February 2024, targeted for 2027) is under way; some galleries and routes may be closed, and the museum stays open throughout.
🕙 Visiting · Open 10am–5:30pm, closed most Mondays; third Tuesday evenings are listed as free (open to 8:30pm — confirm on rom.on.ca).
💡 Tip · Walk it in time order — Dawn of Life, then the Age of Dinosaurs, then the Age of Mammals — and take the subway to Museum station.

Futalognkosaurus in Chen Court

Futalognkosaurus is a titanosaur, one of the long-necked giants, and it was discovered in Argentina in 2000. The ROM’s skeleton is a cast. Casting experts measured the original fossils and built a copy in plastic and fibreglass. According to the museum, the original is one of the most complete giant sauropods ever found.

Seen from above, the skeleton stands on a plinth lit blue at its feet, and the floor around it carries on as normal. People stand at the café counter below, and the long neck points up at the arched windows of the old building.

Dawn of Life: Before the Dinosaurs

On Level 2, the Willner Madge Gallery, Dawn of Life, opened in December 2021. It traces nearly four billion years of evolution, from the earliest evidence of life on Earth to the emergence of dinosaurs and mammals after the end-Permian mass extinction. This is where the story of life at the ROM begins.

The Permian room is built like a stage set. Skeletons sit on low platforms scattered with flat stones, in front of a painted forest of tree ferns that wraps around the real windows.

The sail-backed skeleton with the open jaws is Dimetrodon. It looks like a dinosaur and turns up in plenty of dinosaur books, but it isn’t one. Dimetrodon was a synapsid, on the branch of the family tree that leads to mammals. That makes it a closer relative of ours than of Tyrannosaurus rex. Its sign leads with the teeth: “Dimetrodon’s lethal jaws”.

Then the dinosaurs arrive. Coelophysis lies on a wall mount, set in dark rock, its long tail curving in a wide loop. The label calls it one of Earth’s earliest dinosaurs and points to its three-toed feet, which, along with its hollow bones, make it a theropod, the same group as T. rex. This one came from Abiquiu, New Mexico, and dates to the late Triassic, about 220 million years ago.

Gordo and the Jurassic Under the Crystal

From Dawn of Life, the route continues into the James and Louise Temerty Galleries of the Age of Dinosaurs, inside the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. Daniel Libeskind designed the Crystal, and its slanted walls of glass run behind the skeletons, so the dinosaurs stand against daylight and the buildings across the street.

The longest skeleton here is a Barosaurus nicknamed Gordo, and unlike Futalognkosaurus downstairs, it is made largely of real fossil bone. Its story is a good one. The bones reached the ROM in 1962 from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, then sat in storage, forgotten, for more than 40 years. In 2007 a new curator, David Evans, was asked to find a long-necked sauropod for the new dinosaur galleries. He came across a reference by the sauropod expert Jack McIntosh to a Barosaurus at the ROM and tracked the bones down in the museum’s own collection. Gordo is named after Gordon Edmund, the curator who brought the skeleton to Toronto.

Gordo’s head points towards the windows and its tail runs back over the people at the railing. A small child with a stuffed toy stood right underneath it, next to a stroller.

Beside Gordo, a Jurassic platform holds a smaller group under a sign giving the period as 201 to 145 million years ago. Camptosaurus, its name printed on the floor near its feet, leans forward with its head low. In front of it, a low, armour-plated skeleton crouches with its face almost on the ground.

Duck-Bills and a Dinosaur Under Wraps

Further in, the Cretaceous hadrosaurs line up. These are the duck-billed dinosaurs. Their crested skulls sit in a case at the front, each crest a different shape, from a rounded helmet to a broad fan. A small diagram on the label sketches a series of crest shapes. The crests changed as the animals grew. Behind the case, two mounted skeletons line up nose to tail. Most of what stands in this part of the gallery is the real thing: the ROM has six complete hadrosaur skeletons on display, many of them collected in Alberta.

Next to them, one dinosaur was missing. A printed cover with a drawing of the skeleton stood in its place, and a panel explained that behind it was Gryposaurus, an original fossil skeleton and the first complete dinosaur skeleton the ROM ever found and the first one it put on display. According to the panel, it was dug up in 1918 on an expedition led by William Arthur Parks, one of the museum’s founders, and it was covered to protect it during the renovation. The panel promised it would be back soon.

The Age of Mammals, Behind the Plastic

The Reed Gallery of the Age of Mammals picks up where the dinosaurs leave off and follows mammals from the mass extinction to the present day. Its biggest skeleton is a mastodon, a relative of the mammoth, with long curved tusks and a mouthful of bumpy molars. In front of it stands an antlered deer skeleton, and beside that, a smaller skeleton stained a rusty orange.

Plastic sheeting ran along one side of this gallery when I visited. The giant ground sloth still reared up on its stand beside two domed, armoured shells, and past it, across the floor, the ROM’s Tyrannosaurus rex, a full-skeleton cast, stood with its jaws open against the light from the Crystal’s windows.

The work under way was OpenROM, a renovation the ROM announced in February 2024. Siamak Hariri of Hariri Pontarini Architects designed it, and the plan reworks the main floor and the Bloor Street entrance. The museum stays open throughout, and the target for completion is 2027.

Bubbly Tips

• Start in Chen Court. Futalognkosaurus is on Level 1, and the ROM’s own dinosaur trail starts there before sending you up to Level 2.
• Walk the galleries in time order. Dawn of Life first, then the Age of Dinosaurs, then the Age of Mammals. Dawn of Life is laid out chronologically and ends where the dinosaurs begin, so the story runs in one direction.
• Pick up a Hike the ROM trail guide. The ROM publishes trail guides that string together its dinosaur, mammal and bird highlights. The trails include stairs, and accessible routes may mean an elevator or some backtracking.
• Check what’s open before you go. While OpenROM is under way, some galleries and routes may be temporarily closed. Gryposaurus was under wraps when I visited.
• Go on a third Tuesday night. The ROM’s schedule lists third Tuesday evenings as free, with the museum open until 8:30 p.m. Confirm the date on rom.on.ca before you go.
• Plan around Mondays. The ROM is closed on most Mondays and otherwise open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Holiday Mondays such as Family Day can be exceptions.
• Take the subway to Museum station. It’s on Line 1, and its platform columns, redesigned in 2008 by Diamond Schmitt Architects, are based on artefacts from the ROM and the Gardiner Museum.
• Photograph with the windows in mind. In the Crystal galleries, the angled windows backlight the skeletons. Shoot towards the glass for silhouettes, or turn your back to it for detail.
• Pair it with the Gardiner Museum. It sits above the same subway station, so the two fit easily into the same day.

Final Thoughts

The ROM was mid-renovation when I visited, with Gryposaurus behind a printed cover and plastic down one side of the mammal gallery. It was still one of the best displays I have seen, and a year later, the Natural History Museum in London didn’t match it for layout.

My favourite part was the awe on people’s faces, children’s especially, as they explored the galleries. Gordo spent more than 40 years in storage before anyone put him on show, so a few years of renovation is nothing. I’ll be back once OpenROM is finished to see Gryposaurus uncovered and the new rooms.

Until next time!

The post Dinosaurs and Mammals at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto appeared first on Bubbly Living.

The view was marvellous. Our suite looked out over the CN Tower and the towers around it, from the RBC tower on one side to the glass condominium towers on the other, with older brick buildings below. On a clear night, the CN Tower was lit up, and we could see it from both the bedroom and the living room. It was such a treat.

Shangri-La Toronto Deluxe Suite at a Glance
🛎️ What · A one-bedroom Deluxe Suite at the Shangri-La Toronto, 76 m² (820 sq ft), reviewed over a Christmas 2025 stay.
🚿 The standout · Two full bathrooms, each with a walk-in shower — plus a deep soaking tub — which is uncommon in a one-bedroom suite.
🌃 The view · City views over the CN Tower and downtown towers; lit up after dark on a clear night (views vary by room, so ask).
🛏️ Sleeps more than two · A king bed in the bedroom plus a queen-size sofa bed in the living room, good for families or sharing.
💡 Tip · Request a city/CN Tower view at booking, and compare a few nights — rates for this suite swing widely by date.

The Living Room

The suite measures 76 square metres, or 820 square feet, and the living room is spacious. There is a long cream chaise, a dark sofa that converts into a queen-size sofa bed, an armchair by the window, a writing desk and a glass coffee table. Two pieces of ink art hang above the sofa under their own spotlights, and a tall floor lamp stands in the corner. Sheer curtains run the full width of the windows, and when they are drawn back the city is right there.

From the chaise, the room opens out. A wood-panelled wall holds the television, the bar cabinet stands beside it, and a short corridor leads past a lattice door to the rest of the suite. As the light faded outside, the sheer curtains glowed blue.

On the coffee table, a stack of reading was waiting: NUVO magazine, the Fête Chinoise 2025 design annual and the book Iconic Dresses. It was a thoughtful touch, and a well-chosen one. NUVO is a Canadian magazine, published in Vancouver since 1998, and this was its Winter 2025 issue, with the actor François Arnaud on the cover. Next to a design annual and a book on fashion, it made the suite seem curated rather than simply furnished.

The suite also has a bar area under shelves of blue-and-white porcelain jars, with the coffee and tea set out on a green stone counter. The porcelain is a nod to Shangri-La’s Asian heritage, which runs quietly through the whole suite, from the ink art to the lattice door in the bathroom.

The Bedroom

The bedroom is calm and warm, with a tall padded headboard, reading lights on both sides of the bed and floor-to-ceiling windows behind sheer curtains. The bed was heavenly, so comfortable that I did not want to get out of it. Wood-panelled walls lead through to a walk-in wardrobe on one side and a bathroom on the other. A deep armchair with a patterned cushion sits by the window, a good spot for a quiet coffee in the morning.

The walk-in wardrobe has plenty of hangers and room for bulky winter coats, which in Toronto in December is no small thing.

Two Full Bathrooms

This was the real highlight. The suite has two bathrooms, and both have a walk-in shower. That is such a treat, and it is uncommon. A one-bedroom suite I once stayed in at a Ritz-Carlton had only a powder room and one full bathroom. Two full bathrooms make a suite like this work for families, or for anyone sharing, and nobody has to wait for the shower in the morning.

The master bathroom sits behind a wooden lattice door. Inside, it is clad in marble, with a long double vanity on a dark wooden stand, lit mirrors and a separate toilet area. The vanity, with its carved stand, drawers and an open shelf for towels, looks more like a piece of furniture than a bathroom fitting.

The master bathroom has a glass-enclosed walk-in shower, with the toilet behind a frosted glass door beside it.

There is also a separate deep-soaking bathtub, set into the marble with a hand shower on the ledge.

The guest bathroom opens off the living room. It is smaller, but it still has a green stone vanity, a lit mirror, green glass tumblers and its own walk-in shower beside the vanity.

The Little Touches

There is housekeeping, plus turndown at night, with delicious teas left for us. The hotel had also left a festive chocolate ornament, two painted chocolate spheres stacked like a snowman, in green and deep red with gold brushstrokes, with a mini hammer to crack it open. It was so festive and so thoughtful at Christmas.

A Glimpse of the Lobby

The lobby was gorgeous, classy and a perfect place for drinks or tea with live music. At Christmas, the Lobby Lounge had a grand piano by the tall windows, a long fire burning along a black marble wall, and a giant red “Wonders” chest overflowing with baubles. Snow lay along University Avenue outside, while a chandelier with pink shades glowed above the piano.

Bubbly Tips

• Ask for a CN Tower view. The hotel notes that views vary by room, so request a city view when you book if the tower matters to you.
• Look out after dark. On a clear night, the CN Tower is lit up. Cloudy evenings can hide it.
• Book a suite if you are travelling with family. Two full bathrooms and a queen-size sofa bed make the one-bedroom Deluxe Suite work for more than two people.
• Join Shangri-La Circle before you arrive. Members travelling with children get complimentary buffet meals for up to two children aged five and under at the all-day dining venues, with a paying adult, and half price for additional children aged 11 and under.
• Ask for a yoga mat. The hotel will bring a Lululemon yoga mat to your room on request.
• Time your tea. In the Lobby Lounge, a pianist plays during afternoon tea, from 3pm to 5pm, followed by live performers through the evening.
• Rates vary widely. Prices for this suite change a great deal by date, so compare a few nights before you book.

Final Thoughts

Our Deluxe Suite at the Shangri-La gave us everything we wanted at Christmas: space, quiet, a heavenly bed, two full bathrooms and the CN Tower glowing outside the window at night. The two full bathrooms are what set it apart from other suites I have stayed in.

A home away from home, with a view of the city’s most famous landmark thrown in.

Until next time!

The post Shangri-La Toronto: Inside a One-Bedroom Deluxe Suite appeared first on Bubbly Living.

Royal York Christmas at a Glance
🎄 What · The Fairmont Royal York’s two-storey Grand Lobby, styled each year as a festive showpiece — in 2025, an “enchanted winter estate” of a white-and-gold tree, giant nutcrackers and lit reindeer.
🍸 The centrepiece · Clockwork Champagne & Cocktails, the lounge at the heart of the lobby, under a big lit clock from the 2019 Rockwell Group redesign.
🎟️ Free to visit · You don’t have to be a guest — the lobby is open to all, and the annual tree lighting each November is free (2026: Wednesday 18 November, 5pm).
🚆 Getting there · Directly across Front Street from Union Station, with its own access to the PATH underground network.
💡 Tip · Go after dark, when the lights glow, and head up to the balcony for the whole room at once.

The Grand Lobby at Christmas

The Royal York really gets Christmas. There are decorations everywhere, but nothing tips over into too much. Everything stays classy.

For 2025, the hotel styled the Grand Lobby as an enchanted winter estate, with snow-dusted evergreens, illuminated reindeer and giant nutcrackers. A towering tree stands at the centre, decorated in white and gold, and white nutcrackers with trumpets flank it on both sides. The room itself does half the work: tall stone columns, white drapery framing the tree, garlands lit along every balcony rail, and clusters of tall glass light fixtures hanging overhead.

The tree’s debut is an annual event in its own right. Every November, the hotel switches it on at a free lighting ceremony in the Grand Lobby, with carollers, live music and a visit from Santa.

From the lobby floor, the tree is even taller than it looks from above. Seen through a screen of white branches, it towers over white ironwork gates and banks of white poinsettias.

The nutcrackers are the stars of the show. One peeked out between two frosted trees as I walked past, trumpet raised, with the balcony garlands glowing above it.

Elsewhere in the lobby, a gazebo wrapped in frosted greenery and white lights stood on a ring of fake snow, with the hotel’s monogram hung inside it. From the balcony above, it looked like the centrepiece of a snow globe.

Around the edges, white ironwork gates were set among the trees, with two glittering reindeer standing guard in front of them.

What I appreciate most is that the decorations change from year to year, so there is always something new to discover. I am already looking forward to Christmas 2026 to see how the Royal York reimagines the season, especially in the lobby.

Clockwork and the 2019 Renovation

The lobby was renovated in 2019, and they nailed it. The centrepiece of the new design is Clockwork Champagne & Cocktails, a lounge in the middle of the lobby with a big lit clock above the bar. It was an excellent addition. Champagne bottles line the top shelf of the brightly lit back bar, and on Christmas night every seat around it seemed to be taken. From the balcony, the whole room spreads out below: low sofas and armchairs around the bar, with garlands on every balcony rail and frosted trees along both sides.

Beyond the Lobby

The decorations do not stop at the Grand Lobby. A corridor off the lobby was lined with lit trees and glittering reindeer, so walking through it was like passing through a snowy forest.

At the front desk, a gold deer stood among urns of white poinsettias, with frosted trees and two more lit reindeer behind the brass railings.

Even the display cabinets were dressed for the season, with a white and gold nutcracker standing between stacks of gift boxes, a gilded sleigh and glass lanterns.

A Nod to the Crown

What I love about this place is its history, and its ode to British royalty. Among the trees and lamps, I found a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in a gilded frame. It makes the whole experience more regal, and it is a reminder of the history and heritage behind the building.

The building has a long list of credits too. At 28 storeys, the Royal York was the tallest building in the British Empire from 1929 to 1931. The hotel has also appeared in films, including Cinderella Man and Molly’s Game.

The lobby also has direct access to the PATH, Toronto’s underground walkway network. It is easy to spend some time here and then head off underground, out of the cold. The PATH runs for more than 30 kilometres beneath downtown, linking Union Station with shops, restaurants and other hotels.

Bubbly Tips

• Go in the evening. The lights, the trees and the nutcrackers are at their best after dark, when the lobby glows.
• Head up to the balcony. The view from above shows the tree, the gazebo and the Clockwork lounge all at once. Several of the photos in this post were taken from up there.
• Mark the tree lighting. It happens every November, it is free and open to everyone, and the hotel advises arriving by 4:45pm.
• Use the PATH. The hotel connects underground to Union Station and the rest of the PATH network, which is handy on a cold or snowy day.
• Arriving by train? Union Station is directly across Front Street, so you can be in the lobby within minutes of stepping off the train.
• Stay elsewhere and still visit. We stayed at the Shangri-La and still made a point of coming here on Christmas night. The lobby is worth the trip on its own.
• Check the new theme early. The decorations change from year to year, so check the hotel’s festive pages in November to see what the new theme is.
• Look for the Queen. Do not miss the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II among the decorations, a quiet reminder of the hotel’s long royal connection.

Final Thoughts

For Christmas in Toronto, the Fairmont Royal York’s Grand Lobby is my pick. It is grand without being stuffy, packed with decorations without being cluttered, and full of history from the portrait of the Queen to the clock above the bar.

Christmas 2026 cannot come soon enough. What a beautiful, festive lobby!

Until next time!

The post Christmas in the Fairmont Royal York’s Grand Lobby, Toronto appeared first on Bubbly Living.

One day means choosing. This itinerary picks one breakfast, one museum, one square and one boat, and keeps the walking short. Everything on it is somewhere I went myself, with my own photos from each stop.

One Day in Amsterdam at a Glance
⏱️ The plan · One breakfast, one museum, one square and one evening boat — kept walkable, with tram 2 to bridge the museums and the Dam.
🎟️ Book first · Van Gogh Museum (€25, online-only timed tickets), Rijksmuseum (€25), a canal cruise, and — six weeks ahead — the Anne Frank House.
🚆 From Schiphol · Direct train to Centraal in 15–20 minutes, about €6; a metered taxi is €50–80 and 25–40 minutes.
🖼️ Pick one museum · The Rijksmuseum (Rembrandt, Vermeer, the whole Golden Age) or the Van Gogh Museum (one life, start to finish). Only one fits.
💡 Layover rule · Worth leaving the airport with about 5–6 hours between flights; with 6–8, skip the museum and do Dam Square, a drink and a one-hour cruise.

Book These Before Landing

With one day, a sold-out time slot can sink the whole plan, so a little homework comes first.

The Van Gogh Museum sells tickets online only, each with a timed entry slot, and there is no ticket desk at the door. An adult ticket costs €25 and under-18s go free. The Rijksmuseum also charges €25 for adults, and booking ahead is strongly recommended there too.

The Anne Frank House releases its tickets every Tuesday at 10am Amsterdam time, for the week six weeks later, and they sell out within hours. I learned that the hard way. The tickets were sold out, and I never made it inside.

It is worth booking a canal cruise ahead as well, so the evening is settled before the day starts.

Getting In from Schiphol

Schiphol sits less than 20 kilometres south-west of central Amsterdam. I took a cab into the city. A metered taxi to the centre typically costs somewhere between €50 and €80, and the ride takes 25 to 40 minutes depending on traffic.

The train is cheaper and usually quicker. The station is directly beneath Schiphol Plaza, the shopping area before security, and direct trains to Amsterdam Centraal take about 15 to 20 minutes. A single fare costs around €6, and trains run around the clock, though less often overnight. Check the departure board before boarding, since trains to several destinations share the same platforms and not every train stops at Centraal.

On the way down to the platforms, look out for the KLM engine on Schiphol Plaza. It stands on legs in the middle of the floor, and children climb right inside it.

Morning: Pancakes in De Pijp

Start on Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat in De Pijp, the neighbourhood right next to the Museum Quarter. Bakers & Roasters, at no. 54, opens at 8:30am every day and describes itself as a New Zealand-style café with a heavy dose of Brazil.

I had the pancakes: a tall stack topped with sliced banana, blueberries and a dusting of icing sugar, with a strip of bacon on the side.

From De Pijp, Museumplein is a short walk west.

Late Morning: Pick One Museum

This is the hardest choice of the day, because only one museum fits.

The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands, home to Rembrandt‘s Night Watch and the Vermeers in the Gallery of Honour. It opens daily from 9am to 5pm.

The Gallery of Honour was packed when I went, with tour groups converging and queues at every painting. I made it from the first Vermeer to the last painting in under 20 minutes, and my only regret is that I did not stop to stand and stare. An early slot is the best defence.

Before or after, the Rijksmuseum gardens are free to walk through, no ticket needed.

The Van Gogh Museum, on the other side of Museumplein, is the reason I came to Amsterdam in the first place, and Almond Blossom is my favourite painting there. It opens at 9am every day, and the first slot of the morning is the calmest.

The choice comes down to scope. The Rijksmuseum covers Rembrandt, Vermeer and the whole Dutch Golden Age. The Van Gogh Museum tells one Van Gogh’s life from start to finish.

Afternoon: Dam Square

Tram 2 runs from the Rijksmuseum to Dam Square. The walk through the canal ring takes longer but passes more canals.

Dam Square is the old heart of the city, with the Royal Palace on one side and the Nieuwe Kerk beside it. The palace opens to the public when it is not in use for royal events, so check its website on the day. Across the square stands the National Monument, which commemorates the Dutch victims of the Second World War. The national Remembrance of the Dead ceremony is held here every 4 May.

Then sit down. ‘t Nieuwe Kafé occupies part of the Nieuwe Kerk, facing the palace, and its terrace was full every time I walked past. When I finally got a table on 1 May, we kept it to drinks and bar snacks.

My raspberry gin and tonic arrived with a separate bottle of Fever-Tree Indian tonic, and the square stretched out behind the table.

The café keeps daytime hours, so this works best in the middle of the afternoon.

Dinner on the Rokin

Dinner is a short walk south of the Dam, at FuLu Mandarijn, Rokin 26. It serves Sichuan food one flight up from the street and opens daily from 11:30am. I did not expect one of my favourite meals in Amsterdam to be Chinese, but it beat the Chinese food I have had in Montreal and New York.

Order to share. The dry pot prawns have real heat, and the honey mustard chicken was my favourite dish of the meal.

Evening: The Canals from the Water

End the day on the water. Evening cruises with Flagship Amsterdam leave from Centraal Station, the Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum. On my small-group tour on 29 April, I spent much of the trip looking for Rebecca’s houseboat from Ted Lasso. I never found it, because that houseboat was a set in a London studio, but I found plenty of real ones.

By the time the boat reached the Amstel, the gabled houses at the top of this post were lit gold by the evening sun.

Only Here on a Layover?

Leaving the airport means entering the Schengen Area, so anyone arriving from outside it has to clear passport control first. Canadians and Americans can do that without a visa.

The EU’s Entry/Exit System has been fully operational since 10 April 2026. Visitors from outside the EU have their fingerprints and a facial image recorded at the border on their first entry, so passport control can take longer than it used to. ETIAS, the EU’s planned online travel authorisation, is not running yet. As of October 2026 it has no start date and no applications are being collected, so any website asking for an ETIAS payment today is not official.

Schiphol advises arriving two hours before a Schengen flight and three hours before a non-Schengen one. Most layover guides set five to six hours between flights as the minimum worth leaving the airport for when passport control is involved. With six to eight hours, I would skip the museum: take the train to Centraal, walk to Dam Square, sit on the terrace at ‘t Nieuwe Kafé, take a one-hour canal cruise, then head back.

Schiphol has luggage lockers after security in the transfer area, plus a luggage storage service at Arrivals for bigger bags.

Staying the Night

If the day turns into a night, the W Amsterdam sits just behind the Royal Palace on Spuistraat, a few minutes’ walk from Dam Square. It spans two buildings, a former telephone exchange known as the Exchange and a former bank known as the Bank. Check-in is up on the rooftop, in the W Lounge, beside the city’s first rooftop pool.

Bubbly Tips

• Book a free security slot for the way back. Schiphol lets you reserve a free security time slot online or in the Schiphol app. On a tight layover, it takes one more variable out of the return trip.
• Board the right train. At Schiphol, a train to Utrecht and a train to Centraal can leave from the same platform minutes apart. Read the overhead board, not just the platform number.
• Beat the breakfast queue. Bakers & Roasters opens at 8:30am. On the same street, the morning after King’s Day, the wait at Flow ran past an hour, so earlier is better.
• Step off the cycle path before you stop. Amsterdam’s cyclists move fast, and the cycle paths belong to them. If you need to check a map, step onto the pavement first.
• Go to ‘t Nieuwe Kafé in daylight. Listings put its closing time between 6pm and 7pm. It is a daytime café, not an evening bar, so check its website before planning a late drink.
• Call ahead for FuLu on a busy day. We were seated without a booking on a busy Sunday, but to be safe, call the restaurant directly on +31 20 623 0885.
• Look for the orange crew. Flagship Amsterdam’s crew dress in orange and white, which makes the right boat easy to find at a busy dock. Arrive a few minutes early.
• Know the dates that change the Dam. King’s Day on 27 April fills the city with orange and crowds. On 4 May, the national remembrance ceremony takes over the square, and the Nieuwe Kerk has closed to visitors on that date in past years.

Final Thoughts

One day will not cover Amsterdam, and this plan does not pretend to. What it does is show both halves of the city: the Museum Quarter in the morning, the old centre in the afternoon, and the canals that join them at the end of the day.

If the layover runs short or the museum slot sells out, sit on the Dam with a drink and take the boat. That alone makes a good day in Amsterdam.

Until next time!

The post One Day in Amsterdam: Itinerary and Layover Guide appeared first on Bubbly Living.

That is exactly why Rembrandt fascinates me. He painted people accurately and did not try to idealise them. In a world where almost every face we see has been airbrushed, paintings of normal-looking people are alluring. I admire his candour.

What I only learned while looking at his early portraits in Amsterdam is where the flattery went instead. It went into the clothes. He did it to himself too. In the self-portrait at the top of this post, painted at 34, the fur collar and the beret do the boasting.

My photos of his work come from two cities, London and Amsterdam, and between them they cover his whole life. So here is Rembrandt from start to finish: the miller’s son from Leiden, one of Amsterdam’s leading painters, and the man who lost his house and his collection. That last part puzzled me most. How does a painter this successful end up bankrupt?

Rembrandt at a Glance
🎨 Who · Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669), the Dutch Golden Age‘s greatest painter — a Leiden miller’s son who made his name in Amsterdam.
👁️ His signature · Honest faces, expensive clothes — wrinkles and tired eyes left in, with the lace, pearls and fur doing the flattering.
🖼️ The masterpiece · The Night Watch (1642), at the Rijksmuseum, now restored in public view (Operation Night Watch, begun 8 July 2019).
📉 The fall · Declared insolvent in 1656; his house and art collection were sold. He died in 1669 and is buried in the Westerkerk.
💡 Where · The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (Gallery of Honour) and the National Gallery in London (self-portraits at 34 and 63, Belshazzar’s Feast).

Leiden: The Miller’s Son

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in Leiden on 15 July 1606, the ninth child of the miller Harmen Gerritsz van Rijn and the baker’s daughter Neeltgen van Zuytbrouck. Harmenszoon simply means son of Harmen. Hold on to that name. It turns up again in the Night Watch room.

His early paintings are already about people having a hard time. In Tobit and Anna with the Kid, from 1626, the blind Tobit sits in a torn red cloak with his hands clasped, looking up. His wife Anna leans over him holding a young goat. A small dog sits at his feet and a fire burns in the corner.

The museum’s label tells the story. Tobit’s blindness has pushed the couple into poverty, and his once expensive cloak is now in tatters. Anna has been given the goat as payment for her work, but Tobit accuses her of stealing it and prays to die. Rembrandt was about 20, and he was already painting old age without any polish: the wrinkled forehead, the straggly white beard, the worn-out shoes.

Four years later, in 1630, he painted Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem. The old prophet slumps against a rock with his head in his hand, while Jerusalem burns in the background on the left.

According to the label, Rembrandt painted Jeremiah himself with great precision and left the surroundings barely worked out. The detail goes where he wants us to look.

The next year he painted An Old Woman Reading. The light comes from behind her, so her face stays in shadow while the open book and her hand catch the glow.

The label says the wrinkles on that hand are painted so thickly they look almost modelled in clay. He gave the brightest light in the painting to an old woman’s wrinkled hand.

His Leiden manner was copied, and copied well. In London, the National Gallery now attributes A Man seated reading at a Table in a Lofty Room, from about 1628 to 1630, to an early follower.

The label says the painting is of such high quality that it was once thought to be by Rembrandt himself. The sharp detail and the strong contrast of light and shadow imitate his early Leiden style.

Amsterdam: Honest Faces, Expensive Clothes

By the early 1630s Rembrandt had moved to Amsterdam. In 1634 he married Saskia Uylenburgh, a relative of the art dealer Hendrick Uylenburgh. He built his reputation on portraits, and the Amsterdam portraits are where his honesty shows best.

In 1633 he painted Johannes Wtenbogaert, a 76-year-old Remonstrant minister who had once been court chaplain to Prince Maurice. Nothing is softened. The eyes are heavy-lidded, the beard is grey and the nose is pink.

The label adds a twist. The face is modelled more realistically than the hands, which may have been painted by a pupil in Rembrandt’s workshop.

In 1634 Rembrandt travelled to Rotterdam to paint a brewing couple, Haesje van Cleyburg and her husband Dirck Pesser. Haesje van Cleyburg has a round face, flushed cheeks and a half-smile. At first glance her black dress and plain white cap look modest.

They are not. The label explains that the millstone collar around her neck was a very expensive accessory and could take as much as fifteen metres of fabric.

Five years later came Maria Trip. Her father had made a fortune trading in iron and arms, and her portrait shows it. A lace collar falls over her shoulders in scallops, and she wears a pearl necklace, pearl earrings, pearl bracelets and a jewelled brooch. In her left hand she holds a folding fan.

The label points out that a Chinese folding fan was still a rare and precious accessory in 1639. Her face gets no such help. This is the pattern I only noticed once I had seen several of his portraits together. Rembrandt would not improve the face, so the flattery went into the lace, the pearls and the ruff.

Success, and a House He Couldn’t Afford

Back to that self-portrait at the top of this post. He painted it in 1640, and the National Gallery’s label says he presents himself as a wealthy and successful man, one of Amsterdam’s leading painters. He rests his arm on a stone ledge, and the beret is broad and soft. For once, the flattery is in the pose as well as the clothes.

He was also painting big, theatrical history pieces. Belshazzar’s Feast, from about 1636 to 1638, shows the Babylonian king turning in shock from a hand writing glowing Hebrew letters on the wall, while a woman beside him spills her wine.

He painted only a few landscapes, and the Rijksmuseum label says most of them are imaginary mountain scenes. Landscape with a Stone Bridge, from about 1638, is built from real elements but probably shows no specific place.

A beam of sunlight picks out a cluster of trees and the stone bridge, while storm clouds darken the rest of the sky.

In 1639, at the height of all this, Rembrandt signed a contract to buy a house on the Breestraat for 13,000 guilders, a sum he could not pay in full. He was earning a great deal of money, but he never paid off the mortgage, and that debt followed him for the next seventeen years.

The Night Watch, 1642

Rembrandt finished his most famous painting in 1642: a group portrait of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq’s militia company, now known as the Night Watch. The same year, his wife Saskia died. Of their four children, only their son Titus, born in 1641, survived infancy.

When I saw it, Operation Night Watch was under way. The painting sat behind glass, conservators in black Rijksmuseum shirts worked on a platform in front of it, and our tour group was squeezed into a room full of other visitors.

Look above the glass. The gilded frieze reads IN DE WESTERKERK, REMBRANDT, ZOON VAN HARMEN: in the Westerkerk, Rembrandt, son of Harmen. The Westerkerk is the church where he was buried.

Where the Money Went

So how does a painter this successful end up bankrupt? It was not one bad decision.

The art historian Paul Crenshaw, who wrote a book on Rembrandt’s bankruptcy, traces everything back to the unpaid debt on the house. He adds two more causes: Rembrandt’s habit of spending heavily on art for his own collection, and a run of disputes with his patrons.

His private life did not help. After Saskia’s death he never remarried, and his partner Hendrickje Stoffels received an official reprimand from the church in 1654 for living with him unmarried.

In 1656 he applied for cessio bonorum, a form of insolvency in which the city sold his possessions to pay his creditors. His house and his collection were sold, and he moved to a much smaller house on the Rozengracht.

A Franciscan Friar dates from about this time. It is a quiet, plain picture of an old friar in a brown habit, hood up, eyes lowered and hands clasped.

The National Gallery suggests it may be a tronie, a study of a character type rather than a portrait of a known person.

In 1660 his son Titus and his partner Hendrickje set up a business dealing in art, which protected him from further claims by his creditors. It is often said that he died penniless. That is too tidy. Historians disagree about how bad his finances stayed, and he certainly kept painting and kept getting commissions.

The Late Work

In 1662 the Amsterdam drapers’ guild had him paint its sampling officials, the men who checked the quality of cloth. The Rijksmuseum’s own description puts it simply: he remained popular. The Syndics shows five officials in black hats around a table covered with a red carpet, with the open sample book in front of them. Several of them look straight out of the canvas.

A year earlier, in 1661, he had painted himself as the Apostle Paul. The label calls it his first and only self-portrait in the guise of a biblical figure. He did not make the saint noble. He gave Paul his own face in his mid-fifties, with raised eyebrows, a creased forehead and grey curls escaping from a white headcloth.

The label makes the point better than I can. Like the other apostles Rembrandt painted in this period, Paul is a real, everyday person, and using his own likeness invites a direct bond with the saint.

Then the losses came quickly. In 1663 the plague killed Hendrickje. Titus married in 1667 and died the following year.

Self Portrait at the Age of 63 is from 1669, his final year. There is no fur and no beret this time. He wears a plain cap and a reddish-brown coat, his hands are clasped, and the National Gallery’s label notes that he looks quite frail.

Rembrandt died on 4 October 1669. He was buried in a rented grave in the Westerkerk, and the grave has long since disappeared. That is the church named in gold on the frieze above the Night Watch.

Bubbly Tips

• Look at the face first, then the clothes. In the Amsterdam portraits, start with the face and then move down to the collar, lace and jewellery. Seen in that order, the gap between a plain face and an expensive outfit is hard to miss.
• Expect a crowd at the Night Watch. The room fills with tour groups, and while Operation Night Watch is under way the painting sits behind glass with conservators at work. Check the Rijksmuseum website before you go to see what stage the work has reached.
• Leave proper time for the Gallery of Honour. The Self Portrait as the Apostle Paul hangs there, and tour groups queue at the big names all along it. I went through the whole gallery in under 20 minutes, and my only regret is that I didn’t stop to stand and stare.
• Know the Rijksmuseum basics. At the time of writing, adult tickets cost €25, under-18s go free, and the museum is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm.
• See the London self-portraits for free. The National Gallery’s permanent collection is free to enter, and both the self-portrait at 34 and the one at 63 are here. Find them both and compare what thirty years did.
• Visit the house he lost. The house on the Breestraat, today’s Jodenbreestraat, is now the Rembrandt House Museum.
• Pass the Westerkerk. Rembrandt is buried somewhere inside, though the grave itself is lost. The church stands right next to the Anne Frank House on the Prinsengracht, and canal cruises go past it.
• Add a day in The Hague. Another self-portrait from 1669, his last year, hangs in the Mauritshuis.

Final Thoughts

In 1639 Rembrandt painted Maria Trip’s pearls and lace, and signed for a house he could not pay for. Thirty years later he was buried in a rented grave. In between, he painted a blind man’s torn cloak, a brewer’s wife’s expensive ruff and his own ageing face, and he never once tidied up the people inside the clothes.

That is what keeps me going back to him. In an airbrushed world, his faces still look like real people.

Until next time!

The post Rembrandt: The Painter Who Put the Flattery in the Clothes appeared first on Bubbly Living.