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Amsterdam
I arrived in Amsterdam mid-afternoon, to find Schiphol a crowded mass of upset humanity. By now, Great Britain and Scandinavian air space was closed due to the volcanic activity, and flights were being cancelled right and left. This meant lots of distressed and angry people wandering about the airport, and media people sticking microphones in their faces. So I stood in line for my transit card rather longer than would likely be the case normally, but then hopped the train to Central Station and from there took a tram that stopped right near the hotel.
My room was small, but had everything I needed, and there's a nice garden off the bar in the lobby, though I'm afraid the weather isn't really conducive to sitting out and enjoying it. The hotel is obvioiusly a couple of buildings thrown together at different times, with rooms at all kinds of different levels and a numbering system that seems designed to confuse. My room's at the tip-top, with various odd angles and a skylight over the bed.
I hooked up with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
skyring and his lovely wife, Kerri, for dinner. Back at the hotel, we met thecrrcookie and melydia, and sat in the bar for a bit drinking, talking, and watching the news - Schiphol, along with just about all the European airports, was closed.
The next day, we met a friend of Skyring's and went off to the Rijksmuseum. Although it's undergoing renovation, and much of it is closed, they have chosen the "400 best objects" (though I'm sure there is much debate about what was chosen) to put on display. And that was quite enough. Skyring's friend was incredibly knowledgeable, so learned a lot. Naturally, there were zillions of Rembrandts, Hals, Steens, etc., and I was confirmed in my view that the Dutch painters were masters of the still life.
melydia and I the went off to the Van Gogh Museum
while the others headed to the Historical Museum. Had lunch there, and then started at the top floor and worked our way down. There were a number of Symbolist works, including many Redons, and then an exhibit of works from the collection of Hendrik Willem Mesdag, who was a painter as well as a collector. His collection of Barbizon School works is the largest outside of France.
Then to the Van Goghs themselves, a thoughtfully laid out exhibit, showing the various influences on his work, and how it changed once he arrived in Paris. Works by other artists who flourished in the same period were also shown. I was completely bowled over by "Sunflowers"; no reproduction can ever show, even in the smallest way, how Van Gogh's technique recreates the texture of an actual flower. On the main floor were many works of the Barbizon School, which influenced Van Gogh in his decision to become an artist.
The Museum was also hosting a special exhibition, Gauguin: the Breakthrough into Modernity. When the World's Fair was held in Paris in 1889, there was, naturally, an art show, but Gauguin and other "modern" artists were not invited to exhibit. So they organized a show at the Volpini Café in the fairgrounds. This was a wonderful exhibit - again a concentration on context, what other artists were doing, how that influenced Gauguin, etc. Gauguin did a set of lithographs, called the Volpini Suite, in a marbled portfolio, and I remarked that it would be great if the Museum had a facsimile available, though considering the size I didn't know how I'd get it home. As it turned out, they did have a facsimile, but at €180, transport was the least of my worries, so I settled for a ceramic plate of the Leda & the Swan design, and a tote bag of The Flowering Almond.
Back to the hotel for a bit of a rest, and then the Bookcrossers among us went to dinner down the street at a place called the Médoc. I had a tomato soup served with crème fraîche and brown bread, followed by merguez - 3 good sized sausages. Then on to the Convention, which I wrote about here, so won't repeat.
Sunday, after the convention ended, I learned that my Monday flight had, indeed, been cancelled as the airports were still closed. I spend ages on the phone with Travelocity. The first guy I talked to was incredibly unhelpful; basically, he said I should cancel the reservation and go on line to find another flight myself. When I insisted it was his job to check availability, and to call me back, he grudgingly said that he would, but after forty-five minutes, still no call. I then called Travelocity back, and this time got a very sympathetic, polite and helpful guy. It wasn't his fault that Swissair couldn't rebook me until May 5!! So we did cancel and went to another airline, SAS, to get me home on Friday. I called my catsitter, emailed my office, and said, basically, "expect me when you see me!" The hotel was very accommodating. I had no trouble extending my stay for three more nights, and they gave me the same low, advance booking Internet rate I'd had initially, which they didn't have to do.
If one has to be stranded somewhere due to volcanic ash, Amsterdam is not a bad place to be. It's a very walkable city, with lots of the things I love: architecture, art, museums. So, as you will see in future posts, I found plenty to do for the next few days.
My room was small, but had everything I needed, and there's a nice garden off the bar in the lobby, though I'm afraid the weather isn't really conducive to sitting out and enjoying it. The hotel is obvioiusly a couple of buildings thrown together at different times, with rooms at all kinds of different levels and a numbering system that seems designed to confuse. My room's at the tip-top, with various odd angles and a skylight over the bed.
I hooked up with
skyring and his lovely wife, Kerri, for dinner. Back at the hotel, we met thecrrcookie and melydia, and sat in the bar for a bit drinking, talking, and watching the news - Schiphol, along with just about all the European airports, was closed. The next day, we met a friend of Skyring's and went off to the Rijksmuseum. Although it's undergoing renovation, and much of it is closed, they have chosen the "400 best objects" (though I'm sure there is much debate about what was chosen) to put on display. And that was quite enough. Skyring's friend was incredibly knowledgeable, so learned a lot. Naturally, there were zillions of Rembrandts, Hals, Steens, etc., and I was confirmed in my view that the Dutch painters were masters of the still life.
melydia and I the went off to the Van Gogh Museumwhile the others headed to the Historical Museum. Had lunch there, and then started at the top floor and worked our way down. There were a number of Symbolist works, including many Redons, and then an exhibit of works from the collection of Hendrik Willem Mesdag, who was a painter as well as a collector. His collection of Barbizon School works is the largest outside of France.
Then to the Van Goghs themselves, a thoughtfully laid out exhibit, showing the various influences on his work, and how it changed once he arrived in Paris. Works by other artists who flourished in the same period were also shown. I was completely bowled over by "Sunflowers"; no reproduction can ever show, even in the smallest way, how Van Gogh's technique recreates the texture of an actual flower. On the main floor were many works of the Barbizon School, which influenced Van Gogh in his decision to become an artist.
The Museum was also hosting a special exhibition, Gauguin: the Breakthrough into Modernity. When the World's Fair was held in Paris in 1889, there was, naturally, an art show, but Gauguin and other "modern" artists were not invited to exhibit. So they organized a show at the Volpini Café in the fairgrounds. This was a wonderful exhibit - again a concentration on context, what other artists were doing, how that influenced Gauguin, etc. Gauguin did a set of lithographs, called the Volpini Suite, in a marbled portfolio, and I remarked that it would be great if the Museum had a facsimile available, though considering the size I didn't know how I'd get it home. As it turned out, they did have a facsimile, but at €180, transport was the least of my worries, so I settled for a ceramic plate of the Leda & the Swan design, and a tote bag of The Flowering Almond.
Back to the hotel for a bit of a rest, and then the Bookcrossers among us went to dinner down the street at a place called the Médoc. I had a tomato soup served with crème fraîche and brown bread, followed by merguez - 3 good sized sausages. Then on to the Convention, which I wrote about here, so won't repeat.
Sunday, after the convention ended, I learned that my Monday flight had, indeed, been cancelled as the airports were still closed. I spend ages on the phone with Travelocity. The first guy I talked to was incredibly unhelpful; basically, he said I should cancel the reservation and go on line to find another flight myself. When I insisted it was his job to check availability, and to call me back, he grudgingly said that he would, but after forty-five minutes, still no call. I then called Travelocity back, and this time got a very sympathetic, polite and helpful guy. It wasn't his fault that Swissair couldn't rebook me until May 5!! So we did cancel and went to another airline, SAS, to get me home on Friday. I called my catsitter, emailed my office, and said, basically, "expect me when you see me!" The hotel was very accommodating. I had no trouble extending my stay for three more nights, and they gave me the same low, advance booking Internet rate I'd had initially, which they didn't have to do.
If one has to be stranded somewhere due to volcanic ash, Amsterdam is not a bad place to be. It's a very walkable city, with lots of the things I love: architecture, art, museums. So, as you will see in future posts, I found plenty to do for the next few days.