My day began dreary as I set upon my trek all the way to Amsterdam. It makes for some impressionistic photos though:
First goal of the day: the Rijksmuseum. Its collection includes the Nightwatch of course, but also a large number of paintings by Dutch masters like Vermeer, Ruysdael, some Van Gogh.
It was busy though. This week's a holiday for all children up to highschool, so there were lots of families who decided that today was a good day to stand in this hour-long line:
It was the line for people who didn't have a ticket yet. Neither did I, but with the magic of 4G internet on my phone I ordered my ticket online (I have a creditcard) and within minutes I could walk in. Because screw waiting, I have the technology.
Not as busy as the Louvre, but definitely getting there.
But on to the more important stuff: art! I rarely go to museum and I only knew a dozen paintings from the textbooks. Nevertheless I am open to art that I can "get", that communicates an emotion, a message. Fortunately for me, the Rijksmuseum has a temporary addition to the collection, called 'Art is Therapy'. Next to paintings, you may find giant post-its, on which philosophers give you direct food for thought related to the painting. While I really enjoyed the grand works like the Nightwatch, the Milkmaid, the Delftware, some of the postits were much more thought-provoking than the paintings. Here are two notes on paintings I particularly liked:
It really made me look differently at the paintings. I wonder if it may have a similar effect on others here. Do you reflect on art? Do you think art can be a meaningful method of exploring your thoughts?
The museum wasn't the only reason I write this trip report though: the First Official-ish Intercontinental Hubski Meetup! mk and b_b happened to be in the Netherlands this week, so we met up at the Leidseplein to get some lunch. We talked about a lot of different things. Sadly, a seemingly short time later mk and b_b had to catch their train back to Rotterdam (which we then missed by 2 minutes). It was great to meet you guys. I usually keep my internet life and real life separated, so this has been a new thing for me. Hopefully when I'm in Calgary I'll somehow get to see you all again, who knows. One last pic, I didn't get the group photo so you'll have to wait for that. Also, did you guys manage to get to the dinner boat on time or did it leave the harbor already?
Now off to sleep, quite tired from this day!
It was great to hang out with you, veen! However, it was far too short. Good conversation though. I am sure we could have had much more. We made the boat! As I guessed, it sailed at 8PM. We grabbed a taxi, and got there before people had even started to board. Definitely let us know when you are in Canada, especially if you venture east. A Toronto meetup would be great, and it's a place well worth visiting.
I would have loved to have been there. Great photos throughout this thread. How long were you guys able to hang with veen?
I think that Alain de Botton of the Philosophers' Mail was responsible for the captions on the Rijksmuseum pictures. I went to the Stedelijk (only had time for one museum and it was the only one we knew that did not have ticket attendants because I was using a second hand museum pass) and I was surprised to find that people were taking photographs of the paintings. As far as I can remember, this is not really done in British art galleries. Some pictures of Amsterdam and the Museumplein area:
Hopefully when I'm in Calgary I'll somehow get to see you all again, who knows.
Everything is close-ish in Europe. Canada is a whole other story. Calgary is pretty far from Detroit, Michigan, but it's only a province and few mountain ranges from Vancouver where forwardslash lives. When you're in Canada, you might tour around a bit and get within throwing distance from Michigan.