#41 Boston - Those Hungry Germans - March 17 2006
Can't take them anywhere, eh? Immediately upon my arrival here in Amsterdam Wednesday morning my translation skills were engaged by the staff of the Bilderberg Garden Hotel The place is under construction, you see, and the contractors are German with no Dutch or English language skills (go figure!). So here is the situation: The hotel gave them a breakfast, set it up for five people; two of them showed up, ate the 5-people portion, left, then the other three came and demanded more food. Now I had the pleasant task to tell them that there will be food for 5 people the next morning, but they better show up all at the same time, none of that splitting up nonsense. I must have been very good at this diplomatic venture - as a result of this the contractors and I have become instant friends and we high-five each other each time I come in the door.(http://www.gardenhotel.nl/uk/gardenhotel/).
The construction atmosphere has led to some lamenting on the part of my fellow conference attendees, one of whom compared his room to a crackhouse, which might have been a slight exaggeration. My room is wonderful though, and the hotel deserves a snazzy rating nevertheless. The only peculiarity maybe are the floor buttons in the elevator, which need to be rubbed (no kidding!) in order to be activated.
I arrived in Amsterdam two days ago to a very chilly but sunny day. Following a 3-hour power nap I headed to the city center to see what kind of tourist activities I could cram into the half day I had for myself.
First on the menu was the Rijksmuseujm (http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/index.jsp?lang=en), a venerable institution where the city houses treasures by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Caravaggio - you name it. Before you get to the masters though, the exhibit leads you through Holland's past as a maritime superpower. Among the highlights is a 4-meter (12-foot) ship model of a 79 Dutch Gun-of-War which was built in Visselen (Flushing) for William III, Prince of Orange. We learned about the Battle of Terheide, painted by William van der Welde), the Dutch East India Company (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company)) and Holland's hay days in the colonies. For someone who gets nauseous just by looking at a boat, I have this almost unhealthy fascination with boats and ships, so I was quite pleased in this place.
On to the masters - I always have had a strong passion for Dutch painters but I would not have counted Rembrandt among my favorites. Well, that has changed now - some of his astonishing work has definitely spoken to me - in particular "The Night Watch"(http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rembrandt/rembrandt27.html) and "Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem (http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/r/rembran/painting/biblic1/jeremiah.html), which young Rembrandt van Rijn painted when he was just 23 years old. Holy smokes!
My heart stood still though for the exquisite works of my most beloved Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Vermeer), who as they say"is known for his distinctive portrayal of light"". Four of his creations were on display at the Rijks - "The Kitchen Maid"and "Woman Reading a Letter" among them.
Honorary mentions have to go to Nicolas Maes, Henrik Avercamp's "Winter Landscape with Skaters" and, a new favorite, Frans Hals (http://www.franshalsmuseum.nl/index_en.html), who was apparently known for his more relaxed portrait style, something that was quite unusual in his days. Says the audio guide": "Grinning broadly was not the thing done for people with self-control...."
A separate side exhibit called "Really Rembrandt?" took a look at 13 paintings that were at one point or another assumed to be Rembrandts. Initially Rembrandt was thought to have painted almost 700 works (which seemed a bit much), but thanks to a series of investigations using techniques such as X-ray and pigment analysis, many of them were re-attributed to other artists, known and unknown, and now only 300 are official Rembrandts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt).
Leaving the museum, it was time for a little exercise, so I walked the streets of Amsterdam, passing some of the famous coffee shops (favorite: "Mellow Yellow"), a men's clothing store named "Sissy Boys" and of course, the famous flower market, where one could acquire not only six million types of tulip bulbs but also a fair selection of cannabis seed (not that I would do that...).
I then hopped on a boat (yeah, you better believe it) and joined a cruise on Amsterdam's famous canals, the Grachten (http://www.grachten.nl/indexeng.html). What a fabulous adventure! Our took took us past some of the 2500 houseboats the city hosts - they come in every style imaginable - from elegant chic to big bulky whaling boats to the ever-popular overgrown-weed style and even the "remnants of World War II" models. Driving along the canals past the old merchant houses of Amsterdam was spectacular, and made me fall in love with this charming place all over again.
The city dazzles with internationalism in particular when it comes to food - so far I have been to a Uruguayan steakhouse and a Indonesian-Tibetan place - both of them stellar. Actually there seems to be an addiction to steak going on, I have never ever seen that many steakhouses in one city, it's ridiculous!
The ride over the big pond needs to be mentioned as well - Northwest Airlines was super! The plane was brandspankin' new, the entertainment featured 30-some movies - sorted by comedy, drama, independent and shorts. Even better, everyone had their own remote control. With all these diversions, the flight went by in a jiffy and three movies later, we landed in Amsterdam!
OK, briefly to the weekend prior in Boston - mostly dominated by packing and the continuing tale of the mean landlord, but I also had to throw in a Half Marathon for Good Measure. In "The Run To Remember" (http://www.bostonsruntoremember.org/boston/index.html) more than 8000 runners honored 280 Massachusetts police officers who died in the line of duty. The weather held up nicely and thanks to Stephanie who kept me on track, I finished with a decent effort of 2 hours 7 minutes and 58 seconds, a pace of 9:46 per mile, similar to my first Half Marathon experience in October. It was a bit of a struggle and I gave myself the afternoon off from packing, and got nicely re-aquainted with my couch.
The weekend was finished off very pleasantly with a visit to the IMAX theater at the Museum of Science to see the movie "Wired To Win - How to Survive the Tour de France". Quite an interesting documentary which follows two riders of the Tour and explores how the brains of high-caliber athletes function.
Friends - I gotta go, the conference is in full swing - lots of science to absorb, people to meet. More on my adventures in Europe soon.
Cheerio,
pet:)
The construction atmosphere has led to some lamenting on the part of my fellow conference attendees, one of whom compared his room to a crackhouse, which might have been a slight exaggeration. My room is wonderful though, and the hotel deserves a snazzy rating nevertheless. The only peculiarity maybe are the floor buttons in the elevator, which need to be rubbed (no kidding!) in order to be activated.
I arrived in Amsterdam two days ago to a very chilly but sunny day. Following a 3-hour power nap I headed to the city center to see what kind of tourist activities I could cram into the half day I had for myself.
First on the menu was the Rijksmuseujm (http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/index.jsp?lang=en), a venerable institution where the city houses treasures by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Caravaggio - you name it. Before you get to the masters though, the exhibit leads you through Holland's past as a maritime superpower. Among the highlights is a 4-meter (12-foot) ship model of a 79 Dutch Gun-of-War which was built in Visselen (Flushing) for William III, Prince of Orange. We learned about the Battle of Terheide, painted by William van der Welde), the Dutch East India Company (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company)) and Holland's hay days in the colonies. For someone who gets nauseous just by looking at a boat, I have this almost unhealthy fascination with boats and ships, so I was quite pleased in this place.
On to the masters - I always have had a strong passion for Dutch painters but I would not have counted Rembrandt among my favorites. Well, that has changed now - some of his astonishing work has definitely spoken to me - in particular "The Night Watch"(http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rembrandt/rembrandt27.html) and "Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem (http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/r/rembran/painting/biblic1/jeremiah.html), which young Rembrandt van Rijn painted when he was just 23 years old. Holy smokes!
My heart stood still though for the exquisite works of my most beloved Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Vermeer), who as they say"is known for his distinctive portrayal of light"". Four of his creations were on display at the Rijks - "The Kitchen Maid"and "Woman Reading a Letter" among them.
Honorary mentions have to go to Nicolas Maes, Henrik Avercamp's "Winter Landscape with Skaters" and, a new favorite, Frans Hals (http://www.franshalsmuseum.nl/index_en.html), who was apparently known for his more relaxed portrait style, something that was quite unusual in his days. Says the audio guide": "Grinning broadly was not the thing done for people with self-control...."
A separate side exhibit called "Really Rembrandt?" took a look at 13 paintings that were at one point or another assumed to be Rembrandts. Initially Rembrandt was thought to have painted almost 700 works (which seemed a bit much), but thanks to a series of investigations using techniques such as X-ray and pigment analysis, many of them were re-attributed to other artists, known and unknown, and now only 300 are official Rembrandts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt).
Leaving the museum, it was time for a little exercise, so I walked the streets of Amsterdam, passing some of the famous coffee shops (favorite: "Mellow Yellow"), a men's clothing store named "Sissy Boys" and of course, the famous flower market, where one could acquire not only six million types of tulip bulbs but also a fair selection of cannabis seed (not that I would do that...).
I then hopped on a boat (yeah, you better believe it) and joined a cruise on Amsterdam's famous canals, the Grachten (http://www.grachten.nl/indexeng.html). What a fabulous adventure! Our took took us past some of the 2500 houseboats the city hosts - they come in every style imaginable - from elegant chic to big bulky whaling boats to the ever-popular overgrown-weed style and even the "remnants of World War II" models. Driving along the canals past the old merchant houses of Amsterdam was spectacular, and made me fall in love with this charming place all over again.
The city dazzles with internationalism in particular when it comes to food - so far I have been to a Uruguayan steakhouse and a Indonesian-Tibetan place - both of them stellar. Actually there seems to be an addiction to steak going on, I have never ever seen that many steakhouses in one city, it's ridiculous!
The ride over the big pond needs to be mentioned as well - Northwest Airlines was super! The plane was brandspankin' new, the entertainment featured 30-some movies - sorted by comedy, drama, independent and shorts. Even better, everyone had their own remote control. With all these diversions, the flight went by in a jiffy and three movies later, we landed in Amsterdam!
OK, briefly to the weekend prior in Boston - mostly dominated by packing and the continuing tale of the mean landlord, but I also had to throw in a Half Marathon for Good Measure. In "The Run To Remember" (http://www.bostonsruntoremember.org/boston/index.html) more than 8000 runners honored 280 Massachusetts police officers who died in the line of duty. The weather held up nicely and thanks to Stephanie who kept me on track, I finished with a decent effort of 2 hours 7 minutes and 58 seconds, a pace of 9:46 per mile, similar to my first Half Marathon experience in October. It was a bit of a struggle and I gave myself the afternoon off from packing, and got nicely re-aquainted with my couch.
The weekend was finished off very pleasantly with a visit to the IMAX theater at the Museum of Science to see the movie "Wired To Win - How to Survive the Tour de France". Quite an interesting documentary which follows two riders of the Tour and explores how the brains of high-caliber athletes function.
Friends - I gotta go, the conference is in full swing - lots of science to absorb, people to meet. More on my adventures in Europe soon.
Cheerio,
pet:)
posted by My Boston at
4:03 AM
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