the netherlands
The following morning was my flight to Amsterdam. So 30 minutes by bus to the airport and then I arrived with about an hour before my flight with a line that stretched so far, I was like there is no way I am making this flight. So went and pestered the woman at the self check out and got my bags checked and through security for my flight. Again I am really sorry Scandinavian airlines for my poor planning! So the flight uneventfully landed in Amsterdam, with no delays or bomb threats! It was quiet warm in Amsterdam but I gathered my luggage took a train to the city centre, chatted with a guy who was from, somewhere (all I remember is he had a home in Amsterdam, and his wife lived in Venice i.e. rich business man). Dropped the stuff at the hostel and then headed to a vegetarian restaurant called Bolhoed. No idea what the name means, but good food anyway! Then I was so tired I tried to go to bed at 11.30 but there was someone who was snoring already by the time I got there! I should also mention the irony of the hostel I stayed at in Amsterdam; apparently I wasn’t looking at the hostelworld thing some well because somehow I booked a bed in a Christian hostel. Fair enough to be Christian but in Amsterdam, the land of legal prostitution and marijuana? So a little bit funny.
The following day I made it to Anne Frank’s House, it’s really sad to be there, you get to walk behind the movable wall and into everyone’s rooms. Obviously not much was left over, but there were a few photos of celebrities that were attached to the wall that Anne put up to decorate the families homes. I also ventured into the Marijuana Museum; you can’t go to Amsterdam and not go there! It was kind of interesting to see all the little tid-bits of information they had about the cannabis plant. I already knew the fun little fact that Henry Ford, the creator of the Model T never wanted cars to be run on gasoline, he wanted them to be run on soybean oil and hemp see oil. I also marched my way into the Sex Museum. Lots of photos of 1890s pornography and Betty Page! As well as the interesting little morsel of knowledge I learned, that is that American’s are really the only people in the developed Western world that like anal sex! In fact the exhibition went so far as to say that American’s love anal sex! After that I went and saw some “socially acceptable” forms of entertainment including the FOAM museum (fotgrapfia of Amsterdam Museum) where I saw the same photographer as I did in Berlin about the victims of war photography. I also went to the “Centre Voor Photography Amsterdam” where there was an exhibition called something like “Photos of our Parents”. Later in the afternoon, after getting lost a few times, I made it to Wertheimpark and then back to the hostel to collect my luggage and to the train station to Utrecht to meet Nicole (girl I met in Prague). As I was going to Utrecht I found my pone hand not topped up and I could not contact her but I found a payphone and attempted to call her, but with no luck. So some very nice person let me use their mobile phone! So Nicole came and picked me up and we went into the city centre for the night. First I thought Nicole said we were going to ride bikes into town and I was a little bit nervous, but then she said no you need to hop on the back of the bike while I start peddling and sit there. So the two of us got on the bicycle, doing it the Dutch way on the bicycle. Nicole pedaling and Christie trying not to tip the bike. Utrecht at any time of day is beautiful, whether at night with all the people at the cafes or bars, everyone sitting outside as the Dutch summer can be very short. As soon as we got into town Nicole said “ohhhhhhhhh ice cream!” so I had hazelnut and tiramisu ice cream. Then more wandering around while we found a Greek place with a salad and rice for me. Later we went to one of her favorite bars and we sat outside in the beer garden with drinks and watched the people go by. While sitting there I asked Nicole, “do you ever run into people you know while you sit in the outside bar?” and who should appear not more than 15 minutes later but her ex-boyfriend visiting from Spain! So after our drive we walked back towards the bicycle, only to find the Miffy museum! So we peeked in the window and were both very excited by what we saw-so we both knew we needed to go to see Dick Bruna’s work. So after the bike ride home it was pretty obvious that the bicycle was done until it got more air in its tires. We both felt every bump in our bottoms! Upon arrival at Nicole’s home we both took showers and went to bed.
I was amazed at how late I slept; I didn’t get up until about 10am. After breakfast we left the house at about 11.30 and walked into town (as the bicycle tire desperately need air) The first thing we went and saw was Miffy Square, in Utrecht. We were both amazed at what shambles the square was in, cigarette butts, and litter everywhere! And poor Miffy had graffiti all over her. It’s a good thing we took photos from far away! After the square we headed to Nicole’s favorite coffee shop, alas it was full so we got some scones and a brownie bar for take away and went to a different coffee shop. The waiter at this coffee shop asked if I was visiting from France. I told him, no I am from the US but I had been out of the country for a while. So we sat and drank our cappuccinos and cheekily ate our treats, our strawberry scone and coconut brownie. After it was to the Central Museum, to see Miffy! The Central Museum had an exhibition about the Evolution of Technology and both Nicole and I were scratching our heads and it was a really confusing set up- and there were live chickens with no ventilation-yuck! So we went to the Bruna Huis and looked at the Exhibition and acted like children for the afternoon. Then we headed to get some food-we stopped and got some Turkish bread and tried to find some ripe fruit but we had no luck. So we rushed to her house and found were still running late for my train and still I missed it-so I had to take like 4 trains to make my train in Brussels, to France, but it all went well. One thing I noticed upon arrival to Brussels and Paris IS THAT Holland, Belgium and France all have legal prostitution. The directions given to me by my hotel were crap I asked the security guard in the train station and he did not have a clue, as I did not have an address. So i called the hotel and couldn’t figure out what the person was saying then I had the security guard call and he got the info for me, the tram/train stop they had listed was incorrect. He showed me how to get there using the Metro and told me I really should take a taxi and not really wanting to deal with the metro at that moment in time agreed and he took me to the taxi cue. So 5 minutes later, through the Red Light District we arrived at my hotel. The following day I found my other hotel and then went to Cimetre Du Pere Lachaise, where I saw Oscar Wilde, Eugene Delacroix, Ingres, and Jim Morrisons’ graves. Afterwards, I caught the Metro to St Chapelle, Palais de Justice, and the Conciergerie. St Chapelle is the chapel Louis XIV built for himself; it was built in about 6 years while Notre Dame was still being built. There is a lower chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the Upper Chapel has the most amazing stained glass you could ever imagine. It shows, I think the 12 books of the bible in each window. The concierge was also very interesting-many revolutionaries were held here during the French Revolution. It was also really sweet, because if you were held you could pay money to get a better cell, if you were slightly wealthy you could get a cot instead of straw to sleep on. If you were a lord or something you could get a private cell! I also saw what the cell of Marie Antoinette would have looked like-they think. The models in the cells were hilarious; the wigs were not on right or straight! Maybe they wanted to show that revolutionaries must have disheveled hair. In the afternoon I just sort of wandered around looking at all the funky independent shops until I found a café for a salad and a passtarie for some cookies-one with jam and hearts and one with chocolate, then bed early so I could get up for the Louvre!
May 28th, Monday, raining againL So I woke up early to pack and to get to the Louvre! I was out of the door about 8.15 and was in line by 8.50 and through security with ticket in hand by 9.15! I think the fastest famous museum time ever in my travel! Rather then write down all the stuff I saw, I am just going to put the map with notes in my journal-and hope it doesn’t pop out and get lost. Here a few notes that did not make it onto the map: Antonio Corradini (1668-1752) “Femmé Voilée” statue with a bucket over her head and copper water coming down with stones and silver balls between the copper. This statue was modern with the metal over the statue’s head it was a little bit bizarre to see. Gloria Friedman “The Contemporaries” 18 people in plaster with clocks, this piece was to show how short our time on earth is and how precious each moment is. There was some other stuff that, again I need to google in order to know why I wrote it down! The special exhibition I went to was Praxiteles, who is a Greek artist who created a lot of the Hellenistic statues that the Romans copied, and artists who were creating historical and allegorical paintings would use these poses to reference the statues and the Greek stories behind them. It was an amazing collection with 3 originals and then the Roman or more contemporary copy. The exhibition included one excavated statue from a ship that is 500 feet below the surface. After six and a half hours of the Louvre and being burnt out on art, I walked to Notre Dame to climb, what else but a tower! I believe it is close to 300 steps that I stepped before I got to see “Emmanuel”, the bell in the south tower (which is one of the largest bells in Notre Dame). The security guard started ringing a little bell and saying “it’s Emmanuel’s’ grandson!” Perhaps the real Quasimodo? I also took a photo of Esmeralda’s cell, the Concierges’ wife. I stepped inside the church one more time before I left. Somewhere around Notre Dame I misplaced my faithful umbrella that kept me dry from Italy on throughL Luckily I still had my raincoat! I was in rough shape running to first catch the metro to where I needed to catch my bus then running to find the parking lot where I needed to catch my bus in the rain with my two backpacks strapped to me like I am a pack animal! I got stopped by a red light to go and catch my bus and while waiting 2 French men decided to remind me that I was getting all we standing in the rain waiting to cross the street laughing and pointing and speaking in French, but oh well I couldn’t understand them so no skin off my back! During my time in the Louvre I saw one of my favorite paintings “Liberty Leading Her People to Freedom” by Delacroix. Absolutely beautiful-although I thought it would be bigger! Joking! The colors are so dramatic the flag and liberty the lightest things in the painting to show that this is the light in a bleak world for the French. The men’s faces show such emotion, a lot of them border on grotesque looking. I also saw the painting the “Grand Odalisque” which is a famous painting by Ingres. She is elongated and the colours slightly brighter then in the photos or slides. And of course Mona, I thought it was sweet how they let the children get so close to the painting and the adults with their video cameras are herded like cows through the line and you can not spend many moments starring at her, you would need to go through multiple times in order to view the painting. If DaVinci could see us he would be pointing and laughing at all the nimrods amazed by her and totally passing by other equally amazing paintings!
xoxo,
christie
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