I heard about the Vermeer exhibit at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam back in November and asked our travel buddies, the Hellmerichs and the Brandt-Meyers if they were interested. A resounding YES followed, so after another prod in January we settled on dates. At that time there were many days and many times open, so we picked mid-March hoping for not awful weather. I got on the stick and bought tickets and found a hotel in the area that wouldn't bankrupt us (Amsterdam can be "dam" expensive!), and got a discounted group ticket for the train. All done and done quickly. Then the exhibit opened in February and suddenly everyone in the world had to be there and before the first weekend was over, every ticket was sold for the entire show! We congratulated ourselves heartily for being so clever.
The last time I was in Amsterdam was on a layover in 2009 with Hunter and Hannah. We took the train to town and visited Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, so I am not sure that really counts. Before that? A day trip in 1999 to pick up a clock. That doesn't really count either. Before that? 1996. It has been a while!
It's an easy trip over - one change along the way. Left Bremen Main Station at 9 and arrived at 1 PM, reading, snacking, needleworking, snoozing, talking along the way. What a great way to travel. We arrived in sunshine, though it was chilly. The Main Train Station in Amsterdam is a wonder.
The hotel was a 25-minute ride from the station (Amsterdam is big). Ilsemarie had arranged for us to have three-day passes for public transportation so she picked those up and we boarded the tram. Those Dutch are big on controlling!! You can only get on in designated doors and someone is watching that you have a valid pass and check in properly. You have to check in AND check out and someone is always checking that you do that. "Hey, you in the brown coat!! Go check in!!!" "Hey, lady with the gray hair! Check your ticket!" They mean business. Checking out is your responsibility, but of course no one forgets that, otherwise your ticket says you are still on the tram until....forever. That can get expensive and fast.
Speaking of controlling, the Dutch are also big on keeping the city under control. Signs downtown tell you that there is no drinking of alcohol on streets, and no "wild" peeing. I don't know what the penalty is, though....
Our hotel. Not bad, clean and wonderfully situated for us. Three stars. I've decided that means a shower but no tub and no magnifying mirror in the bath. I did my make-up by Braille. But the neighbors!
OMG! On the next block began the row of the best of the besties - Hermés, Vuitton, Alexander McQueen, Tiffany, Ferragamo, Chanel, on and on and on. There was a Maserati parked in front of the hotel for two days. On the street!
Young folks and other fancy folks lined up to be allowed to go in, a few at a time. We demurred. (I can't see Armani without thinking of Doc Hollywood. Yes, that dates me.) All the shops were relatively small, but oh-so-exclusive.
Aside from checking out the surroundings, task No. #1 was finding a dinner venue. We opted for Indonesian since Amsterdam has been connected with them for centuries. And not far away was a Indonesian spot that had been there for 30+ years. Must be good! So we made reservations.
Still, we had some time to look around. Naturally, you notice bikes in Amsterdam. These are the "regular" ones - one saddle, usually a rack that can carry another person. They peddle preeetttty fast here and you need to keep an eye out.
Then there's the special bikes, often to carry kids in various levels of comfort and safety. Some are covered, some are open. There are ones for the daycare places where 8 kids can sit, with their safety belts, and be wheeled to the playyard. They're big and cumbersome and take up lots of room, but it's not a car! Really, there's no room for more cars in Amsterdam.
And Vermeer is everywhere. We resisted buying a Vermeer bike saddle cover. Not really hard to resist.
Hanging around.
Scenes along the Grachten (canals)
Off to dinner. It was a wide-ranging menu and they suggested the combination dinner that had 10 dishes per person. Noooooo. We ordered 4 for the 6 of us (to some head-shaking from the server) and there was still a bit left over. But is was yummy and quite different.
Long day - back to the hotel and getting ready for Vermeer!
Day 2
As usual, I had a bad sleep night, so I skipped the hotel breakfast and had fruit and a bit of leftover sandwich from the day before. It was just right. Unfortunately, I also was developing a really inflamed bunion. Yuck. Though I thought I had planned well ahead to accommodate my feet, it wasn't quite enough. Oh well, onward.
Checking in and putting away coats and bags was well organized and we got into the exhibition with no hang-ups. The staff were uniformly friendly, smiling, helpful, really nice all the time. There was an App to download so you could read the texts on your smartphone which was so good for me. We opted not for the audio tour - really, we had read and read and were prepared.
The entrance is an addition to the original building from the 19th c. - light and roomy.
And then, to the paintings - 28 of the 37 known Vermeer paintings are here. Three are from the collection of the Frick Museum in New York. Most other places who lent paintings have only one, maybe two. Everyone agrees there will never be such a gathering of Vermeers again. Negotiations for the loans took seven years. That's a long birthing.
The works were fairly widely placed, there was a rounded barrier before each painting, and patience allowed us all to get really close to each one. Some rooms had only two paintings, but (I think) no room held more than six.
I admit to being a bit emotional looking at the first paintings. So much anticipation was rewarded with a lot of pleasure.
The early paintings were traditional landscapes of Delft, his home, and mythological or religious themes, something all artists of the time would create.
Diana and Her Nymphs.
Of course, Diana is the goddess of the hunt and protector of animals. The detail with the dog is gentle and touching.
Religious paintings are often gruesome. Here Saint Praxides is squeezing blood from a martyr into an urn. It's still early in his career but his work with lights and darks are developing a style. It's interesting too that the background is less sharp than the foreground, like a photograph would be.
He only produced about two paintings a year. Frankly, that's not hard for me to imagine taking into account the amazing detail and the fine brush strokes of each work. Besides that, other things must have taken
some of his time - he was married and he and his wife had 14 children, 11 of whom survived. And he was still only in his early 40s when he died quite unexpectedly.
This painting is perhaps one at the beginning of Vermeer's story telling - Mary and Martha with Jesus. Those familiar with the biblical version will recognize the narrative. One sister serves his physical needs while the other listens to his message.
In this painting, Jesus' hand is in the exact center of the painting, heavily contrasted to the white background. So many shades of white!
So many things going on, so many details - and that is true in all of his paintings. There are stories there, in every painting, though we're always in the middle of the story. The endings are conjecture.
Lots of folks were positioning themselves so they could take a picture of whatever full painting. I was more interested in the little parts, but then I have had to look up the painting later to place my details!
Here's a full painting. The Procuress (that's woman-speak for pimp - not a nice person, not a nice word). The Madam has arranged the meet-up between the man and the woman and the coin that passes between them is about at the center, both of the picture and the story. But those pearls (circled in red)!
This is the sort of detail I just love. Pearls are sewn to a cloak, but one of the threads has broken and one pearl is missing. But each pearl is so clear and so bright but not too bright to take your eye away from the story. But the missing pearl ... was he careless? Did he not have the money to repair the piece? We'll never know.
Some experts have suggested that maybe, just maybe, the man on the far left is a self-portrait of Vermeer since many artists put themselves in a work just that way, but there is no solid evidence. He remains very much a mystery.
I was fascinated by all of the Oriental rugs in the various paintings and wondered if he used the same rug over and over. After looking at all my photos, I think not. But that was a time when products from Asia were very popular.
OK, you get the idea. Each painting is a lesson in composition and color and tension and story-telling. They are not called Old Masters for nothing.
He re-used props. This yellow, ermine-trimmed coat showed up in several paintings. The details of the pleats at the shoulder and the individual stitches at the hem are just wonderful.
This may be my favorite, maybe because it was the first I saw in person. This work belongs to the Louvre, and I sought her out in 1981 on my alone-trip to Europe. She was not easy to find! I had the map of the museum, but getting to the exact corner of the side hall where she hung was not easy. Finally, there I was, face-to-face with
The Lace Maker in a small alcove off a larger room. No one else was there. No one. I stood and wondered and enjoyed.
When you can look at it closely, you see that Vermeer has painted the individual threads the woman is working with. It's miniscule, and so detailed.
Sigh.
Enough. Go read more at the Rijksmuseum website. They have done an amazing job with all of this.
Pause - but not so long. We had a bit of lunch but then it was off to the van Gogh museum. Oh my Gogh! What a day!!
First, there's the self-portraits. And I think my man kinda resembles the great artist. No?
And our self-portrait with a larger-than-life poster of one of the sunflower paintings there in the museum.
It is by far NOT the largest collection of van Gogh paintings, but there are plenty. Again, I find the details fascinating.
Unlike Vermeer, van Gogh was frantic to do and do and paint and paint. At one point near the end of his life, he finished 70 paintings in 75 days. Prolific? Well, yes!
My feet were past done.
Unfortunately, I had a bit of an inflammation of a bunion so I needed more rest. We had an afternoon tea and headed back to the hotel for a pause before the evening program:
Nederlands Blazers Ensemble. Sounds like horns, but it was more than that. And weird and fun and clever and so very interesting. Though we sadly couldn't understand the Dutch that was on the screen, it was easy to understand the language of the music and we all loved it.
We were in the small chamber. The larger one is world famous for its decor and sound and local orchestra. This chandelier in the lobby suggested it was a Chiluly, but not. Nevertheless. impressive!
Started out normally enough. We opted to eat away from the hotel and went back to the bakery where we'd had lunch the day before. Great! Sandwich, croissant, coffee. Sitting around. Then I had a spell. Hard to explain but just like when my heart just decided to stop several times before I got the pacemaker 7 years ago. Kinda threw a wrench in the works. The paramedics saw nothing amiss so after a bit, we decided I wasn't going to die and Werner and I walked ever so slowly back to the hotel and just rested for a bit. That helped. Later we walked ever so slowly to the Vondel Park, just down the street.
At the Blue Tea House you can get some food and such. The day was so lovely! Mild and sunny, but I guess because it was still Friday mid-day, it was not so busy.
We got some tea (me), beer (Werner) a chicken sandwich (us) and some great fries! Really, up there with the best ever.
Still pale, but enjoying the fresh air.
Of course, it's a really nice neighborhood around the park, but it is not only here that the doors to homes and apartments are so interesting and impressive.
That evening, feeling pretty much OK, we joined our friends for dinner near the train station in the liveliest part of town. So many young people! And we all noticed that there were very few over-weight folks. Everyone walks, everyone bikes, everyone moves. Nice.
The restaurant was great and the food was not. What? The venue was lovely, the service was exemplary, but the food was so-so. Who cares? We had a lovely evening with lots of lively conversation. Naturally. lots of politics both local and international. Germans will argue with each other! It reminds me of a date Werner and I had at the very beginning of our relationship. Sitting at a nice place in Tallahassee and really going at it about politics. The waiter finally came and asked if we were OK!!! LOL. We both laughed and said we were having fun.
Saturday came, I felt perfectly normal (how embarrassing) and we had a leisurely breakfast and took a walk in the park.
Then back on the train, back to Bremen, back to the everyday after a wonderful and not at all "everyday" visit to beautiful Amsterdam. I would like to go back and spend more time.
She beckons.
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