a bit of green

After putting together yesterday's post of Dutch stamps, I realized I had a couple of unfinished draft posts from my trip to Amsterdam last year. So, for Monday Walks here is one we took in the quaint (but very touristy) village of Zaanse Schans. We gave the museum a miss (or should I say my travelling companion did...)

though, to be honest, by the time we had traipsed through the village and shopped and ate and gawked, we'd had enough for the day. Maybe next time we'll (or more likely, just me)  tour the museum and then head over to the restaurant for our coffee and some very good food (one doesn't always expect very good food at touristy places).

It was very pleasant to just stroll through this village with no cars impeding your way. Lots of tourists, though there also seemed to be many locals. It is free, after all. 

and people do actually live here as this dog was letting everyone who walked past know.



I like the openness, but I'm not sure how I could ever get used to having thousands of people peering into my back garden (or my windows - I did try not to peer, but the temptation...)

Apart from the houses, there are also shops, a cheese factory, little museums where you can see such things as these artistic wooden shoes 

and windmills where you can see the inner workings of the only windmill still making pigments for paint.

There are several windmills - not as many as were here in the 16thC and 17thC, but still exciting to see. 

Thirty five years ago, I lived a five minute bike ride away from here, and I never tired of seeing these windmills. This was my first time back to Zaanse Schans since 1980.

art is therapy

Two of the museums form my summer trip...
I don't like taking photos of the art (and I like it even less when other people insist on photographing every piece that's on the wall...) so these were pretty much all I took

Below is the inside of Amsterdam's refurbished Rijksmuseum 

(with the Night Watchmen in the distance)

the pleasant and restful cafeteria and excellent giftshop (surely the best gift shop in any museum). the big yellow post it notes were part of an exhibit from Alain de Botton. This link takes you to an explanation from his Art is Therapy. I found these quotes as interesting as the art.

the garden at the rear of the Rijksmueum was always a popular oasis

In Glasgow, the floral Clyde (the mascot from the Commonwealth Games) still stood outside the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

in case you can't tell, he's meant to be a thistle

inside, you can see an intriguing installation by Sophie Cave of several dozen heads 
















each with a different facial expression

we were fortunate to have timed our visit with a noon hour organ recital

there were two large screens with one showing the organist's feet, the other his hands. pretty cool! 

I've never seen an organ in a museum before. this one was built in 1901 for the Glasgow International Exhibition and after the exhibition, was moved from the temporary concert hall to this Centre Hall. there are daily recitals at 1pm and on Fridays there are tours up close and personal in the organ loft. we were not there on a Friday, unfortunately.

 a few shots of two museum strolls for Jo's Monday Walk and something for Toby's WWDD

show who you are

  Back in September, there was a Fashion Night on PC Hooftstraat in Amsterdam. This is a street full of luxury shops, like Prada, Tiffany's, Chanel, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton... you get the idea.  This would be your chance to walk in to any of these stores and perhaps not feel out of place (or at least have someone acknowledge you while knowing you are not likely to buy anything). The street was closed to traffic and filled with fashionistas shopping, posing, eating and drinking, photographing...

some people watched from above in their apartment balconies, but the most fun was down on the street with the crowds and the offers of a glass of bubbly and some cheese or chocolate, or maybe ice cream

there was entertainment that included musicians and dancers. you can read a review of the night here

and people taking photos of the other glamorous people                                  

as well as a horse drawn carriage

I was quite fascinated by the footwear, but as it was getting dark and the feet were usually moving it was hard to get many good shots. none of these shoes look particularly comfortable.

In the end, I didn't buy anything although my cousin couldn't resist and managed to carry a bag or two. it's a short street, only about 3-4 blocks, so much of the time you saw the same people (especially those with the more outstanding fashion sense) walking back and forth...

I'm sharing this Monday Walk with Restless Jo

and Lesley's signs, signs

lost and found

While walking through the Vondelpark one morning 

I found this interesting looking fence surrounding a tree. it was decorated with cut out birds and the ubiquitous XXX symbol - the three St Andrew's Crosses of the Amsterdam Coat of Arms - and a website for vindhek.com






nearby was this large sign as an explanation

the fence surrounding the tree was a 'find fence' or a lost and found fence.  the sign says something along the lines of "find a lost object, add a found one".  if you find something that someone has dropped, you can hook it onto the fence.  if you've lost something, this might be a great place to look for it after you've done a thorough pocket and ground search.  what a great idea. honesty and trust, and so friendly!
but I wondered about the flags for 18 different languages (English, Chinese, Swedish, Italian, German, Greek, Norwegian, Japanese, Danish, Turkish, Frisian, Moroccan, Surinamese, French, Hungarian, Spanish, Russian, Finnish). I think the idea is to make the fence an interactive experience where you upload a photo onto some social media site and link back to vindhek.

anyway, as you can see there weren't too many objects on the fence on this particular weekend, 
several keys, though! 

I imagine that there would be many lost mittens, scarves, keys etc., in the winter as people constantly put their hands in and out of their pockets.  I wonder if any euros have been pinned to the fence??

oh, and as an aside, during my research once I got home, I discovered that the birds were special to Amsterdam - they are finches. in Utrecht the birds are robins, and in Amersfoort they are swallows. the birds also adorn the benches in the park. 

Apart from linking with Lesley's signs, signs
I am also linking with a new meme I discovered by Restless Jo for Jo's Monday Walk. Lots of new-to-me-blogs to discover from her meme, so pop on over to see what it's all about.

blending

Most of my photos that I took while away definitely were blog post based. I was asked what I would do with all these pictures by one of my travelling companions (who happens to be a professional photographer) and I tried explaining about my blog and the stories I could tell, but it didn't seem to be something he was very interested in. I, on the other hand, love the idea of sharing my interests through photographs, even if they aren't particularly magazine worthy.

One of my interests, you may have guessed, is architecture. There is a meme called Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors which I hoped was still active so I could share the many doorways and windows I found in Amsterdam. 

The infill buildings were fascinating to me. The precision required to build something new that fitted exactly into the space between the two neighbouring buildings would have been challenging, indeed!

These houses were found in the centre of Amsterdam near the train station and where there is massive construction ongoing for the new metro. I've had to look at this scene for a long time to decide if I like the newest addition. The mixture of styles is a bit jarring. Okay, quite jarring. And yet, in some way I don't mind it. I would have preferred clear glass, but it is better than building something new to imitate the old. There are enough authentically old buildings that any replication might look more of a mockery. And besides, each building (especially the canal houses) has its own style that is distinct from its neighbour.

This infill building seems to tower over its neighbours.

and the flat rooflines of these buildings below make them seem more chunky than if they had some kind of peak.

I am

There are three of these signs in different locations in Amsterdam 

(I wanted to get a t-shirt with this printed on it, but in the end, I waited too long and couldn't find my preferred colour in my size.)

this smaller sign was outside the Hermitage Museum. I believe it gets moved to 'playfully' appear at various places around the city.

and this one, behind all the happy sunflowers, greets you at the airport.

 I had to get up awfully early to get a photo of the big one outside the Rijksmuseum 

and even at 6:45 am there were tourists wandering about!!

usually, there are  people sitting and/or climbing on all the letters

something for signs,signs

a room with a view

I spent a week in Amsterdam.

this was my hotel. the arched window on the top was my room

this is a better shot of the whole hotel that I ripped off the internet because the trees obscured my photo. it was way more charming than anything a big Marriott could offer.

I was quite pleased with my room. It was a large single with a small wet room as a shower/toilet. Apart from the nuisance of 80% of the floor getting wet whenever I had a shower, I rather liked the simplicity of the design and not having to get into a bathtub or claustrophobic cubicle.

It also had those cool windows that opened fully, unencumbered by screens. The headboard of the (lovely and generous 3/4 size and not a standard twin) bed, however, got in the way of my flinging them open in a dramatic fashion. Probably just as well, really - I'd likely have cracked my skull open on it as they were never shut (it was far too warm in that room!)

The best part of the room though, was the view.

Here was my first photo taken within minutes of arriving. 

Love the rainbow!

and over to the left..... the Rijksmuseum!

and, because you know I love to take the same view in varying lights... 

here it is again. (yes, I leaned out that window every day and took a shot of the rooftops)

I miss having someone making up my bed every day for me.