Museum Monday: The Diamond Museum

The reviews I read of the Diamond Musueum described it as more of a big exhibit than a museum which I thought could work well with the spirit of Museum Monday (short visits).  But I was a little concerned because we entered into a diamond polishing area, then walked forever (through some small exhibits, a gift shop and the world's lamest cafeteria.  Finally we got to the museum and I realized I had entered through the wrong door.

The museum itself was good, not great, meaning had I paid for entry I would have been disappointed.  We watched a short video on how diamonds are made and mined, M got to sit at a polishing table and  we saw a number of crowns on exhibit.  M learned:

1. Diamonds come from volcanos, and are sometimes washed downstream.
2. Diamonds aren't shiny when they are found
3. They are polished to make them shiny

Not bad for a 30 minute visit.  We also learned that vending machines aren't a good enough snack bar, but luckily the Museumkaart makes it possible to pop into any museum for free, so we decided to return to the Van Gogh museum for lunch since it was right across the street.  We were excited to see a new acquisition in the entry lobby:  Van Gogh's "the Bedroom" painted with characters from Sesamestraat (yes, that's the Dutch version of Sesame Street and the only noticeable difference is that Big Bird is blue).  If that wasn't exciting enough for a 4-year-old, when we entered the museum we saw Ernie, Bert, Elmo and Rolf!  They must have been there for the unveiling, and we must have missed the unveiling by about 5 minutes.  Even though he isn't a huge Sesame fan, M was pretty thrilled.