Back in April I went out for a high tea meet up with Blondine and her gorgeous mom at the Museum of Purses and Bags. But there is actually more than that and it’s what I call hitting three birds with one stone visit event:
(1) We checked out the museum (which I will have to post separately after this as I took loads of pictures, as usual).
(2) Had (fashion) high tea, which in essence is an afternoon tea but the Dutch love to call anything fancy and tea—High Tea, thus. You can only have high tea or lunch here though if you buy a ticket to the museum. And they really have fashion high tea here which includes Chanel and Dior bags as chocolates in the menu.
(3) And this is a bonus: Saw Barbie celebrating its 50th anniversary at the purse museum this year! Well, this was last spring.
Let’s start with Barbie
I can’t really remember playing with Barbie in the 70’s although my younger sister did in the 80’s. What I can remember though was cutting off my doll’s hairs and dismembering their limbs. I sound like a naughty girl in training for a much devious bigger plan in the future, haha. I really do not know why but I have always thought I would experiment. What the doll would look like without a head, arms and legs. Thankfully I did not turn out a serial killer but a normal person who views the world sometimes with sarcasm.
So yes, when I was a kid I tend to destroy my toys, scribble the walls of the house with chalk and later on with crayons, tore all the pictures I can find, uh can you say, I was not an easy child to handle? I even remember letting my nanny run around in circles many times with a spoon in her hand (I had many who gave up) because I didn’t want to eat. I can also remember how crazy I was with Lego and the Game & Watch series of Nintendo.
Anyway, enough with that, Barbie it is. She just turned 50 but we will always remember her in her prime years when she had (or still has) a waist and limbs as thin as a stick.
The Barbie exhibit was only temporary though. And this is what is running around on the internet, especially in Facebook:
High Tea at the Period Room
Website: High Tea at the Period Room of the Museum of Purses and Bags
After the Barbie tour, we went upstairs (first floor) for the high tea, and when we took a peek at the period style tea rooms, we were almost speechless, but we managed to break the silence and blurted out—WOW! You know I do not mind having high tea like this every week, don’t you?
We quickly got cosy in our seats and started the high tea service. Blondine’s mom was giddy, she loved the atmosphere as much as we did and only has praises for the interior. We read about the owner of the mansion, the canalhouse they call it, in the hallway. There was a plaque with the history of the owners, the De Graeff family (who built it) and the De Bosch Kemper family (who later bought it).
The ground floor of the building is the store, coat room, toilet and where the exhibition of Barbie was. The first floor (yes, in Europe, the first floor is technically the second floor) is the museum café and the period rooms for the high tea and lunch. The second and third floors are the actual museum.
Next: The Museum of Purses and Bags
Visit Period: April 2014
Destination: Amsterdam Centre (Amsterdam – North Holland), The Netherlands
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Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)