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Just in Time for Spring, Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum is Back in Business

Take a break from checking out the tulips if you’re heading to Amsterdam this month, as it’s finally time for one of the city’s most famous museums to reopen to both travelers and locals. It’s been under the knife for around ten years—at a cost of nearly $500 million–so we’ll assume all the upgrades and updates are totally worth it. That being said, if the Rijksmuseum wasn’t on your Netherlands itinerary before, it certainly should be now.

Not surprisingly the museum is home to all kinds of Dutch masterpieces, and they now all look better than ever in their recently refreshed home. Rembrandt van Rijn's The Night Watch is probably one of the museum’s most famous pieces, and it’s one of few paintings to hold onto its original spot in the museum. Sounds like a lot of the other paintings and pieces have been shuffled around to new spots during the Rijksmuseum renovation, as they have been displayed alongside related items—like furniture and ceramics as well.

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Foreign Grocery Friday: Boxes of 'Hagelslag' Sprinkles in Amsterdam

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

Hundreds and thousands. Nonpareils. Jimmies. Sprinkles.

Whatever you call them at home, these little, decorative bits of colored sugar go under the name of Hagelslag in the Netherlands. It's not a pretty word, but surprisingly Hagelslag makes for a delicious breakfast sprinkled over buttered toast. For the full how-to on this, check out our earlier explanation of the dish. For now, let's just focus on the sprinkles themselves and the fact that they are an awesome souvenir of a visit to Amsterdam.

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A Peek Inside the High-Speed Train Lounge at Amsterdam’s Centraal Station

Who knew that Amsterdam had such a sleek first-class lounge at its Centraal rail station? If you’re carrying an international first-class ticket on the NS Hispeed, Thalys, ICE International, Eurostar or TGV trains, you’re granted access into this little hotbed of red to while away the time before you board.

The lounge has some amusements including international papers and magazine, TV screens tuned to the news, and sockets to plug in your laptop, along with free WiFi. You can also rent a meeting room if need be.

The décor is predominantly Holland flag-red (yes, we did make that up but that really is the color) with some dark wood and grey thrown in as well. There's a variety of seating options for plopping yourself down, too: sofas, tables and chairs, or a bar area.

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KLM is Gonna Get You Laid All the Way to Amsterdam

We’ve been squished, squeezed, and smooshed into all kinds of economy seats during our long haul travels, so when a new business class product comes along we get pretty darn excited. It’s not just because it makes flying for long periods of time that much better, but it gives us something to dream about when we’re crammed into the coach cabin.

This week it’s KLM revealing some big news, as they’re planning a revamp of their World Business Class seating options. These days it seems like everybody and their moms want lie-flat seats, so KLM has decided to get in on the fun as well.

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Amsterdam Travel / Netherlands Travel / Museum Travel / → All Tags

First Stop on a Gloomy Amsterdam Day Should be the Museum with the City's DNA

Can a museum take on the mammoth task of finding a city’s genetic code? Well, the Amsterdam Museum has done just that by launching its Amsterdam DNA permanent installation in 2012. It’s an interesting exhibit, yes, but on top of that, it’s really kind of cool.

The Museum has traced the city’s history over the past 1,000 years and figured out what has made the city tick over all that time of development – the good, the bad, and the ugly. What they’ve come up with is this: the city has four genetic markers that gauge its progression through time. The first is its indomitable spirit of enterprise, secondly tolerance and freedom of thought, then civic virtue, and, finally, creativity.

When you first head up to the ticket counter, you are given your own personal DNA code (which looks like a QR code). With it, you scan your code to start films in your own language, activate your personal DNA analysis, and make and view online after the fact your civic-guard photo.

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Neighborhoods to Know and Go: Amsterdam's Noord

If you want to get away for a bit from the hordes of cyclists in the main tourist areas of Amsterdam, a ferry ride across the river IJ can do just that. The city’s Noord (North) neighborhood is the oldest and largest in Amsterdam, yet you don’t hear much about it. We think that’s going to change.

Formerly a shipping and industrial area, it’s becoming the cultural and creative center of Amsterdam with its mix of canal cottage villages, parks, architectural mix and the recently-opened EYE Film Institute. New condos are starting to appear on the waterfront and yet, if you’re looking for some early work of Rem Koolhaus, that’s here too.

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Snap a Plane Photo That's Not so Plain, and Win $2,500

If you happen to be traveling to the Caribbean island of St. Maarten near the end of March from the 18th to the 23rd, you might be able to earn some cash from all the pictures you'll be snapping. $2,500, to be exact.

We've told you before about the infamous Maho Beach at Princess Juliana Airport—perhaps the most intimate airport in the world for those who aren't catching a flight. The St. Maarten Tourist Office is hosting an aviation photography contest for both amateurs and professionals to see who can capture the best "aviation action" over the island. First place will win $2,500, and judges will select six photos to be put on display in the arrival hall at Princess Juliana.

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Movie Travel / Film Travel / Amsterdam Travel / Netherlands Travel / → All Tags

Keepin' It Kubrick at Amsterdam’s New EYE Film Institute

Movie lovers rejoice! Amsterdam opened its new spaceship-like EYE Film Institute Netherlands in April of this year in the city’s developing north neighborhood, across the River IJ from Old Amsterdam.

With a goal of promoting film as art, the museum’s collection spans decades of filmmaking brilliance and they hold one-offs of some of the world’s earliest films once thought lost. This collection has even been named as part of UNESCO’s "Memory of the World" Register.

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You Can’t Fail with Amsterdam’s Rijsttafel

You’re in Amsterdam and looking for somewhere to go for dinner with a little local flavor. Would you think of Indonesian? Probably not, unless you know your Old World history, and yet Indonesian food is as authentic to Amsterdam as are those Dutch clogs found in tourist shops.

Back in the day, the Dutch East India Company traded throughout what is now known as Indonesia, and for 300 years or so the area was a Dutch colony. As people migrated back to the mother country they brought with them the Rijsttafel, easily explained as the gringo version of the Indonesian feast, Nasi Padang.

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The Adventures of Travel Cat: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Kitty cats. They rule the internet and, whether we realize it or not, pretty much the world too. Ever noticed how cats sometimes stake out the coolest spots in a city? This new feature—Travel Cat—focuses on exactly that. Submit a photo to be featured by tweeting or Instagramming it to us (details below).

Travel Cat spotted in: Amsterdam, Netherlands

This week's Travel Cat is from Jaunted reader Sharon Pierson, who says of this cutie cat:

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The Newbie Traveler in Amsterdam: Red Lights and Locked Bikes

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled to Europe? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties just embarked on a trip to hit most of the cities for the first time. He's walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler.

There are a few things that most of us already know about Amsterdam:

· The Red Light District is full of scantily clad women dancing behind glass.
· The coffee shops serve something a little stronger than regular coffee, but more mellow than decaf (if you catch my drift).
· It's where Anne Frank wrote her beautifully heartbreaking diary.

It turns out that there's a lot more to Amsterdam than the three items listed above. Like, for example, did you know that in Amsterdam it's legal to use the bathroom in the street? Ok, that's not technically true, but it's also not entirely false. See, while walking around Amsterdam you're bound to run into a strange-looking spiral metal enclosure that always seems to be wet on its tiled floor.

When I saw the first one of these near my hotel I thought it was a piece of art. I was incredibly wrong, however; these enclosures are actually outdoor bathrooms open to the public, though I assume mainly for men as there are no seats and you're only supposed to go "Number 1" in them.

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KLM Consistently Kills It on Facebook

The London 2012 Olympics may almost be over, but before we look on to Sochi 2014, we must award the gold medal of Facebook airline/Olympics tie-in content to KLM.

Not only does KLM consistently kill it across their social media, but they've inched ahead of other airline Olympics ads through the magical combination of creativity and airplane porn in these two images, comparing the peak performance positions of actual Olympic athletes to their own aircraft. The hidden message? That KLM, like Olympians, is at the top of their game.

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