2019-04 - MoCo Museum and Keukenhof Tulips (the Netherlands)

Banksy of England 10 pound note

Banksy Mickey Mouse swalled by a snake

 My friends actually suggested that we visit a museum today, the Modern Contemporary Museum Amsterdam (MoCo). It should really be called "An Unauthorized Banksy Exhibit", as almost all of the pieces are by the artist Banksy; and, as noted on the Banksy website, he was not consulted on displaying his work. Banksy is well known for his street art. However, my favorite piece at the exhibit was a fake 10 pound note from the thousands that he minted, from "Banksy of England", with an image of Princess Diana. Banksy brought some to a festival; and, people were actually spending them as legal tender. There's also a great sculpture of a snake having swallowed Mickey Mouse.

Jean -Michel Basquiat

In addition to Banksy, there was one very nice Jean-Michel Basquiat painting at the museum, a room built out to look like a Roy Lichtenstein painting of Vincent Van Gogh's painting of his room, and a "balloon" sculpture by Jeff Koons. Otherwise, the museum had one minimal work each of Damien Hirst and Salvador Dali as well as a bottom floor dedicated new artist Daniel Arsham. The exit takes you outside to a few sculptures, including a rocking horse that encourages you to take a ride. Since the museum has only been open since 2016, it is safe to say that they are still building their collection.

different tulip varieties

In the afternoon, we rented a car and drove out to Keukenhof to see all the tulips. In fact there also hyacinths, daffodils, amaryllis, and tiger lilies on display. Keukenhof is only open for approximately two months every year, during which time it receives 700,000 visitors. Quite a feat for a park that charges 6 Euros for parking and 18 Euros per person as entry fee. However, the real reason that it is open for such a short time is that the tulips are only blooming during those two months.

unique tulips

We saw so many different varieties of tulips, which led me to ask 'what makes a tulip a tulip?'. Unfortunately, the lady at the information desk had no answer for me. However, the tulips in the Netherlands today are from a tulip that came from Turkey back in the late 1500s. We very much enjoyed viewing all the varieties of tulips and even climbing up on a windmill to look over a field of flowers below. Did you know that it takes 25 years to make a new variety of tulips? Or, that those beautiful multi-colored tulips in old paintings are actually diseased tulips? Definitely a fun visit.

Tulips that look like roses

More photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/jjdT4kjXjic9UNFG6

2019-04 - Van Gogh Museum and Zaanse Schans (Amsterdam)

Another beautiful morning in Amsterdam! Blue skies on my 30 minute walk to the Rijksmuseum, through it's arches to the Museumplein and the Van Gogh Museum. Currently, the special exhibits at the museum are the influence of Vincent Van Gogh on artist David Hockney and an exhibit of prints by Camille Pissarro. Sadly, there are no photos allowed anywhere in the museum. However, the two nicest pieces in the Hockney special exhibit were Van Gogh's "The Harvest", an idyllic farm scene; and, "Field with Irises near Arles", a bright outdoor scene with irises in the foreground and the town of Arles in the background. In the Camille Pissarro section, my two favorite prints were "Rain Effect", with slanting slashes across the plate creating the effect of a rain downpour and "Sunset", a one-of-a-kind monotype of a herder and her cows, with their long shadows stretched away from the setting sun. So simple yet so eloquent.

The permanent collection of the Van Gogh museum has three floors covering his life and paintings. Did you know that most of the paintings that Van Gogh is famous for were painted over a period of 4 years? Van Gogh didn't start drawing until he was 27 (and, his drawings on display are actually quite realistic). However, it wasn't until he moved to Paris in 1886 at the age of 34 that his paintings turned into the impressionism that he is so well known for today. Only four years later, Van Gogh took his own life, but, not before painting a plethora of works. The most famous work at the Van Gogh Museum is his "Sunflowers". In addition, there are pieces from artists that inspired Van Gogh (e.g. Millett) as well as from his contemporary fellow artists (e.g. Paul Gaugin, Edgar Degas). Be forewarned that the museum is packed with school groups and tour busses of people.

Pancakes at Upstairs Pannenkoeken

Today was the day of our special lunch that we reserved a week in advance. Upstairs Pancake House only has four tables. One of the specials of the day was a pancake with blueberries, local strawberries currently in season for two months and thick cream. It was all topped off with powdered sugar. Sheer heaven! Plus, they did tea right -- individual tea pots with lots of sugar and milk.

Model of Olam Cocao Factory

After lunch, we took the train to Zaanse Schans to check out their touristy windmill area. Upon arrival at the station, we were hit with a wave of smell, which we later found out was the smell of the Olam Cacao factory. We walked past several buildings of the factory, with no visible visitor entrance (shouldn't every cocao factory have tours and chocolate tastings?). Eventually, we arrived at a corner with a tiny little shop with chocolate paraphernalia a "free entrance" sign on the windows.  Inside, two retired workers from the factory explained that all the pieces in the store were from Olam. They even had a little viewing room where we sat and watch a short video on the chocolate making process. Plus, they gave us hot chocolate samples. Olam Cacao celebrated it's 100th year anniversary in 2011.

Watching the boat come in from the side of the lift bridge

Re-energized, we continued our walk toward the tourist village. As we were walking over a lift bridge, all of a sudden lights started flashing and a dinging began. Then, as we passed the seam in the middle, the arm dropped across the sidewalk in front of us! We got past it in time before the bridge slowly started rising in the middle for an incoming boat to pass through. 

At Zaans Schanse

Zaans Schanse itself is a quaint little historic village of shops and windmills. It's also a big draw for tour busses (you have been warned). However, we did get to try cheese samples, learn about the history of clogs in the Netherlands and find out what windmills used to do (cut lumber, grind spices, make paper, mill flour, etc). Steam power made windmills obsolete for most tasks. Zaans Schanse seeks to restore and keep windmills in working order through the tourist village. You can even purchase milled oil and paper. (Toilets on site costs 1/2 Euro.)

My day ended with more delicious food. The goat stew at Betawi's was a great introduction to Indonesian cuisine!

2019-04 - Anne Frank, Rijksmusem and Mystery City! (Amsterdam)

Great start to the day with poffertjes on the hotel's buffet breakfast! They are mini pancakes with sugar.  Even more delicious with the buffet's chunky applesauce. Plus, there were lots of cheese options on the buffet and even pots of tea.

poffertjes and applesauce

Our first stop this morning was the Anne Frank House. The building was actually Anne's father's business that sold spices and pectin. During WWII, Germany invaded Holland in 1940. In 1941, the Nazis began rounding up Jews and exporting them to work camps. Anne's sister's notice to report for "work" came in 1942. Because of this Anne's father decided that they all needed to move into hiding into the back of the building, with an entrance hidden behind a bookcase. Mr. Frank handed over his business to his employees. A few key employees kept the Frank family and four other friends hidden and brought them food. In 1944, the Nazis walked into the business, straight to the bookcase and removed all eight people and shipped them to concentration camps. Only Anne's father survived until the concentration camps were liberated by the Allied forces.

The museum and exhibit are arranged well logistically. While the rooms no longer have furniture in them, the rooms are so small that it gives enough space for the limited amount of visitors to pass through. In Anne's room that she shared with a neighborhood dentist, there are still cut out images on the walls that Anne pasted there. In the bottom of the museum,  you can see dioramas of the rooms with furniture. During the day, the eight people hidden there could not run the water and had to avoid all the squeaky spots on the wooden floors in order not to arouse suspicions from the other employees of the spice and pectin business. The entire exhibit is presented very respectfully; and, no photos are allowed. Tickets are available online only, starting two months in advance. Access through stories is via staircases, which becoming increasingly narrower and steepr. There are several staircases, each one narrower and steeper than the last.

The Milkmaid by Vermeer

Next, I headed to the Rijksmuseum, which is only a mile from the Anne Frank House. The building stands proudly across a canal. Then, the stoplight changes; and, bikes zip across the canal and through the archways in the museum's middle. A bit of a headache to go from one side to the other on two of the floors, as they do not go through. However, the Rijksmuseum was built to be the Netherlands' art museum in 1885. The big name Dutch artists with famous pieces here are Johannes Vermeer (the Milkmaid), Vincent Van Gogh (self portrait) and Rembrandt van Rijn (the Night Watchmen). There was just not enough time to go through all of the many exhibit spaces and see all of the artwork.

Small etchings by Rembrandt

Up close, this man's face looked like it was a photo

In addition, there is currently an exhibit of all of the Rijksmuseum's Rembrandts (must purchase a free entrance time when you purchase your ticket). It begins with tiny etchings the size of postage stamps of people, mostly Rembrandt himself, although there are also images of his parents. The etchings grow larger; and, Rembrandt also paints, from smaller portraits to religious images. While we often remember Rembrandt for his almost impressionistic use of paint, there are detailed and realistic paints that he did that almost look like photos of real people.

painted landscape by Rembrandt

Our final activity of the day was an outdoor "escape room" by Mystery City. It was unique in that we were given a map and a bag with different clues to decipher based on locations marked on the map. Definitely a good activity for the beautiful outdoor weather that we've been enjoying in Amsterdam!