Amsterdam: "Art Is Therapy."

It certainly proved to be for the artist whose work I got to walk through this afternoon...

The story of Van Gogh is sad, really. He was my age (37) when he died. And like me, he was an Aires. Unlike me, he was a great artist. One who seemed to lack confidence, but who had tremendous talent.

For him...

The walk to the museum was a good 30 minutes, because of foot traffic. I witnessed on the walk, not one, but TWO incidents where pedestrians were hit by bicycles. In both cases, the pedestrians were ultimately fine and able to walk away... But - to be frank - it was their fault. In both cases, each wasn't looking where they were going and stepped right into oncoming bike traffic.

Eventually, through the touristy parts I navigated, and found myself at the entrance to the museum... Facing a really long ass line. But I was incredibly smart... I had pre-booked my ticket online, down to the time in which I would be coming into the museum.  So I got to bypass the line completely and walk in as though I owned the joint!

The museum itself isn't huge. But the collection is excellent. My favorite piece of all is this one...

Head of a skeleton with a burning cigarette. It shows Van Gogh's sassy side.

Most people, however, were fawning over this...

The sunflowers. If this were 19 years ago, I'd be doing the same thing. But I've long since outgrown my fascination with sunflowers. Though, the colors used in this to affect the light were beautiful.

After about an hour and a half, I left. The line to get in was even longer. It was chilly and grey out still. I stopped into a cafe for a cupcake and an espresso con panna...

The place ended up being a total tourist trap. The cupcake was stale and nasty. The espresso was good though. But I was clearly exhausted... As this happened after just a few sips...

That's when I know it's time to leave. I spill something.