Maybe with the right bikini...

Posted by Elizabeth. When I pictured Holland I imagined canals and green spaces, farmland and healthy attractive blond people on bicycles. All of that is certainly true but what I didn't imagine was a beautiful coastline along the North Sea.

We have spent the last 16 days in Haarlem just 15 min by train west of Amsterdam. It's a lovely town full of bike lanes and canals with a picturesque town square and an old fashioned windmill. We just loved it. Every day we rode into town or to the train station to hop the commuter train to Amsterdam. But yesterday we spent the day on the coast. Just outside of town between Haarlem and the sea (or zee in Dutch) is a national park full of sand dunes and wildlife. As expected there are ample paved bike trails through the park and a loop of about an hour and a half that goes through wonderful scenery and ends at the beach. Biking in Holland is easy because there aren't any hills. There were a few small ones over the dunes but we mostly rode at or below sea level. We saw bison, deer, tiny ponies and beautiful swans. There were wetlands and lakes full of birds. At the end there's a popular beach with an outdoor restaurant and a wide soft sand beach full of kids, parents and kites. 

Just down the beach is party central--a section of the beach about a quarter mile long that is made for the 25 year old Dutch model and her surfing boyfriend turned start up mogul. It's all comfy lounges with overstuffed furniture, bikinis galore and dance raves at the weekend. They were setting up for beach party that night and cars, mopeds and bikes were streaming into the area. We decided to skip the festivities. Maybe if I had the right bikini...

On the train headed back to Paris today. Can't get enough of that city. We have some big plans including a visit to the cat cafe, Versailles, a literature tour and a World War II tour. 

The Rijksmuseum

     Posted by Griffin. This week we went to the Rijksmuseum. The Rijksmuseum is the state museum of the Netherlands similar to the National Gallery. It is housed in a giant 17th century Dutch castle. The collection is organized chronologically, ranging from the Medieval Ages up to the 21st century.

     The first section of the collection was northern Medieval and Renaissance art. Much of this art appeared very similar to the Italian art that was in the Uffizi. This art is remarkably peaceful. The landscapes radiate harmony, the portraits  exude regalia, and the biblical scenes display piety in the upmost. The Northern Renaissance art is much more pious than the Italian, definitely no nude Venus here, or any gods for that matter. 

A ceramic parrot

     The next section was the collection of 18th century art. The 18th century was dominated by the Rococo, which began in France with Louis XIV and then spread throughout continental Europe. The ornamentation of the Rococo is impeccable. I personally find great delight in the frivolity of the Rococo. The shell curves and pastels combine for a dazzling effect. This section not only featured Rococo painting but also a lovely menagerie of porcelain animals collected by the Stadholder. Overall the collection of 18th century art is amazing and proves much more fun than any other time period.

The Night Watch by Rembrandt

     Unfortunately the 19th century works were closed so we went directly to the 17th century floor. This floor has the best collection of Dutch Golden Age art in the world. The collection contains masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Frans Hals to name a few. The Dutch masters have a very distinctive style, that lifts the best parts of High Renaissance and combines it with uniquely Dutch style elements. I enjoyed the masterpieces of Rembrandt and Vermeer, like The Night Watch, but one of my favorite paintings from this section was The Threatened Swan by Jan Asselijn (below). This painting is just so filled with life. The swan is in mid squak and Asselijn perfectly captures the bird. All of the art that I love is about life, and this painting, more than anything else, captures the ecstatic energy of life.

The Threatened Swan by Jan Asselijn

      The final section in the museum was the 20th and 21st centuries. This collection was wonderfully varied. It had everything from Art Deco vases to a collection of Yves Saint L. Personally one of my favorite pieces was Wombtomb, a giant coffin\vagina. This piece is both humorous, I mean it's a giant plushie vagina, and morbid. This piece is about the futility of life, how we are all destined to die, to return to the void from which we came. I also greatly enjoyed the collection of clothes by Yves Saint Laurent. While not as evocative as the art in the museum this collection was a fun walk through, and a great capstone for the end of a momentous museum.

Wombtomb by Ferdi

Yves Saint Laurent

The Riksmuseum is definitely one of the superior museums of Europe. The collection spans such a great period of time but the museum itself feels very manageable. The building itself is beautiful, very spacious. The exhibits are excellently curated, and it all really makes for a magnificent visit. 

Van Gough Museum

Posted by Griffin and Beth.

The exterior of the Van Gough Museum

Griffin on the building: I thought that the building was unremarkable. To me it feels like such beautiful art should have an equally amazing home, such as the Louvre, Rijksmuseum, or any of the other art museums I've seen so far. This building felt very utilitarian, like it was just a box for the art. Don't get me wrong, it was a fine building, a large central column made it feel uncluttered and spacious, but there was nothing special about it.
Beth on the building: I really enjoyed the layout of the interior. Very spacious and light filled. The three floors showed van Gough's progression from his early years until his death in 1890.

Beth and her painting

Beth on the Painting Workshop: As we made our way through the first floor we noticed a sign saying "free art class". They had volunteer artists setting up canvases on easels, for people to create their own still life. It was super fun and inspired me to take a painting class when we get home.

The boxes for Stendhal Syndrome

Griffin on Stendhal Syndrome: As we walked through the second floor of the museum we came upon what appeared to be three upright coffins. As we approached them we saw a sign on the side of one of them that read "For Stendhal Syndrome". We wondered what it was. It turns out that Stendhal Syndrome is a psychosomatic disorder that causes nausea, dizziness, fainting, and hallucinations when a person is exposed to beautiful art. The boxes are for people to climb inside to escape the art. We believe that Leo suffers from this disorder, and he is looking into a doctor's order to stay permanently away from beautiful art.
Beth on the Art: I liked that there were a lot of examples of van Gough's work from different time periods in his life. I felt like this gave a good perspective on the cannon of his work as a whole. I also liked that the museum showed how van Goguh's work was influenced by artists he admired, and how he influenced other artists, by showing works of other artists.
Griffin on the Art: I think that the art was amazing. The museum had a large collection of van Gough pieces, however they were missing a few key pieces that are currently on loan to the Munch Museum in Oslo. Van Gough's art is so deeply personal that it feels as if you can see him creating it. The visceral brush strokes evoke emotions that other art fails to do. Van Gough's work provokes introspection in a way most art does not.

Wheat Field with Crows by Vincent van Gough

Baking a cake!

Posted by Griffin. Today we baked a cake. Originally I wanted to make a cake from scratch but when we got to the store I realized pretty quickly that you can't just buy a few cups of flour. So we decided to use a cake mix. The selection was pretty sparse, unlike in the U.S. where you can get anything from a roast beef to cupcakes in a box. In The Netherlands it seems they only have one type of cake mix. The cake making took about an hour and a half, and it turned out delicious!  

The box and the mixed ingredients

Checking the cake

Beth checks the cake

The cake is out!

The cake has cooled

Cutting the cake

Ready to eat

Ride like you have somewhere to go

Posted by Beth. We're in Haarlem now which is a beautiful town just outside of Amsterdam. Everyone commutes on bikes in Holland. It's crazy. People in suits and heels going to work, parents transporting kids to school and back, grocery shopping and more. They mean business.

It's not casual tour around town biking. They've got someplace to go. That doesn't mean they are in a hurry. Quite the opposite. No one is speeding along trying to pass other people (except passing us because we are super slow! "Ride like you have somewhere to go" said Griffin to Elizabeth).

They all ride pedal bikes or three speed fat tire bikes with milk crates for baskets. Some parents have wooden wheelbarrow shaped carriers between the handlebars and the front wheel for carting toddlers (sometimes up to three kids). Often parents will have multiple children on their bike. Yesterday we saw a woman with an infant strapped on her chest (I swear she was nursing) and a toddler on her back. Nary a helmet in sight.

We all love the biking culture here. Bike lanes are everywhere so no one has to compete with cars. Bicyclists even have their own traffic lights. Because everyone bikes it's not contentious between cars and bicyclists. Did I mention it's completely flat here? We could ride all day and not break a sweat.