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Today was cool and sunny AND warm and rainy in alternating 1 hour cycles. What crazy weather systems they have in the Netherlands! I was happy that I grabbed a lightly bigger bag to carry around because I used everything in it, including the umbrella and the hoodie and sunglasses.
We decided today would center around museums. We walked to the Museumplein which is headed by the Rijks Museum. Rijks sounds like "bikes" and is the main art museum of the Netherlands like the Louvre or the Met. (The Museumplein also has the Van Gogh Museum, but I'll get to that later.) The Rijksmuseum is under renovation until next year, so they've put only their most famous masterpieces on display in one section they've left open. This was perfect, especially for Mark, who loves museums but isn't fond of the long bouts of standing and leisurely wandering they usually require. In a condensed form, we were able to see hundreds of years of great Dutch artistry.
The Dutch paintings are so different from the art we've seen the past few summers in Rome and Paris because the Dutch rarely paint religious scenes. In the 80 Years War (1568-1648), the Dutch fought against Spain, which fueled anti-Catholic church feelings. Therefore, the rising merchant class became patrons of Dutch art rather than the Church. The resulting paintings are portraits of rich merchants, still lifes, and peasant scenes. The great Dutch painters were Rembrandt, Vermeer and Jan Steen, for example (and, later, Van Gogh). We saw Vermeer's Milkmaid and Woman Reading a Letter; Rembrandt's Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, The Nightwatch, and several self-portraits; many examples of Delft porcelain; two amazingly elaborate doll houses; and a couple of paintings we didn't know we would like as much as we did. We were both amazed by the painters' ability to realistically capture the glitter of polished metals (I loved Willem Claesz Heda's Still Life With Gilt Goblet) and to show many activities happening at the same time (see Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen's Explosion of the Spanish Flagship During the Battle of Gibraltar).
After the museum we ducked into a lovely Italian restaurant for pizza while it rained outside and then took a boat tour of the city canals while the sun shone beautifully. We strolled through Vondelpark and then to the Van Gogh Museum, which is open late on Fridays. The Van Gogh paintings are arranged chronologically so you can really see how he changed his style and experimented over the course of his short life. We did see the Sunflowers (there are only five of them in existance: three with yellow backgrounds and two with blue) and the Irises. We saw his room picture and the painting he started the morning he killed himself (but didn't finish).
We found a wonderful sandwich shop on the walk back to our hotel and were persuaded to buy a pancake (like a crepe) and fresh fruit and vanilla creme for dessert. It was wonderful! Sadly, we devoured this meal so quickly upon arrival at our hotel room we forgot to take a picture! We watched a BBC cooking show this evening. It was kind of like watching the guys from Car Talk visit people's mothers, help cook a family recipe (this episode was "showy foods") and then eat with their family. Only the food is...English. Seriously, they were eating "jellied pigs trotters"! Yack. (But it was funny!).
We saw a lot of other interesting things today, but Mark is already asleep and I'm tired, too. So glad to see our followers are reading! More tomorrow!
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Mark for those interested, the name of the BBC show is The Hairy Bikers: Mums Know Best.... oddly fascinating.
Fran Love love love your updates. I am so glad you didn't have to wait to get into VanGogh. Post cards!!!! I am so hungry at the moment even the pickled trotters sound good. What is that? No news around here Mauer is on rest for something or another but you guys still are doing well. Love your updates. Looking forward to what is up tomorrow.
Fran By the way I heard the Night Watch by Rembrandt it is actually not night. Did they say anything about that? Hope you are having a very fun day and weather is good.
MomT Sounds like a wonderful second day - even with the rain! Loved the pictures. I imagine the soft beds felt wondeful after your long day. It looks like our rainy spell is ended for a while & we're in store for some beautiful weather. Muppet has made herself at home & even enjoyed the attention of the kids when they were here on Friday. Going to Tyler's grad party in a little while - will see lots of family. Keep up the news - it's fun to read about your trip.