Dave and Vince

Dave and Vince

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This is the final weekend of an exhibition of David Hockney at the Van Gogh Museum. Hockney’s swimming pool works? His LA’s beautiful people themes? Nope, it’s all about his extensive investigations into landscape. We had experienced some of his multi-screen videography of Yorkshire when the deYoung in SF hosted an exhibit. But this was much more extensive and allowed a deeper exploration of how humans see.  Sadly, the Van Gogh Museum doesn’t allow photography (which may be why Andrew…

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Home of the Loons

Home of the Loons

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Ambling between the Museum van Loon and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCO) we came across an artistic disaster that belongs in neither. Yes, it’s The Night Watch redone in bathroom tiles. That in itself is not a bad thing. Who would not want to contemplate Dead Chicken Girl while soaking in the tub after a long day polishing a musket? But look more closely. Dead Chicken Girl no longer has a dead chicken dangling from her armpit. How can…

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Rembrandt’s House

Rembrandt’s House

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This is us with our best souvenir of this trip, a copy of one of Rembrandt’s etchings, printed while we watched in the room where Rembrandt made his prints. Thanks Eric! Today we visited the house were Rembrandt lived and worked for almost twenty years, until his bankruptcy in 1658. Luckily for antiquarians, the bankruptcy proceedings required a complete inventory of the contents of the house, and that record has allowed it to be restored to pretty much the state…

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Let’s Go Somewhere There’s Cheese

Let’s Go Somewhere There’s Cheese

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Let’s take that successful painting by a master of light and shade, and remake it in 3D broad daylight without any color, said nobody ever except the City of Amsterdam. Dear readers, I give you The Nightwatch 3D… … starring Dead Chicken Girl. But that was yesterday. Today we went on a coach trip though the Dutch countryside. Flat as a stroopwafel, cow-encumbered, goose-infested, criss-crossed with canals, and much of it below sea level. First stop was the Henri Willig…

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Many Museums

Many Museums

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Today was a four museum day, and at this point there are all blurring into one another, so I’m just going to do the highlights. My favorite was the Cromhouthuis (pronounced something like Crum Outhouse) a fine family house owned by rich merchants. None of the original contents are still there apart from a few glasses, but the house has been filled with a random mix of art and antiques bought and bequeathed from other collectors. They have antique silver……

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Treasures of the Rijks Museum

Treasures of the Rijks Museum

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Today we felt ready for a bit of culture so we headed for the Dutch national art collection at the Rijks Museum or as the Dutch call it, the Rijksmuseum. They have a particularly fine battle swan. The museum provided a commentary sheet calling attention to the care and detail with which the swan poop had been rendered. Ah, those Dutch Masters. They have a special offer on Rembrandt this month, with every single Rembrandt work in their collection on…

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A Day At The Zoo

A Day At The Zoo

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We spent most of the day at the Artis Zoo, which is only two blocks from the place we are staying. I fell in love with the southern ground hornbills, mostly because they are the only bird I have ever seen with eyelashes. There was also their song, a deep booming duet that echoed round the zoo. The first bird goes “HOOT hoot-hoot” and the second one replies “HOOT hoot-hoot-hoo-ho” trailing away into silence before the first bird takes up…

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Miracles

Miracles

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This morning we set off for the Begijnhof, the home from the 15th century to the 20th of a community of Catholic women devoted to good deeds. I would like to image that Begijnhof is Dutch for Penguin House after the black and white costumes worn by nuns, but alas in the 15th century the penguins were not a common sight on the streets of Amsterdam, and anyway these were not nuns. There are some interesting decorative details. The Virgin…

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Hobgoblins and Stroopwafel

Hobgoblins and Stroopwafel

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Today we had our first Stroopwafel. It’s a thin cinnamon flavored waffle, sliced in half with surgical precision, filled with gooey caramel, stuck back together, and then (for an extra €0.50) half covered in chocolate. Delicious. We also learned how to pronounce “Gouda” which sounds something like a cough followed by that thing you ride elephants in. That layer of protective wax is to keep the cheese safe from spittle. There are feral parrots here, the same Ring Necked Parakeets…

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Amsterdam

Amsterdam

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Amsterdam seems like a relaxed place. It’s not so much all the coffee shops selling pot (though that probably helps) but the fact that so many people bicycle everywhere. There seem to be lots of bikes for every car, which means less noise, no traffic jams, and less frustration for everyone. The buildings pay very little regard to verticality. They lean out over the street to grab a little extra floorspace, or snuggle up to their neighbors as if they…

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