Amsterdam!

This was the trip that I came to Europe for. I knew I wanted to see Van Gogh's work and Rembrandt's work, and originally I thought that THE trip would be to Barcelona (silly me, I didn't research at all). But no, it turned out to be to Amsterdam. This weekend was fantastic for a plethora of reasons...The most notable being that we had a really good group. Originally, the trip was just going to be Lindsey, Kate, and me, but it grew to include the boys- mostly because Scott is just as nerdy as I am about this stuff. The six of us got along really well and with everyone pulling their own weight, we were able to enjoy the trip a lot more than some of the other excursions I’ve made.

Amsterdam is absolutely breathtaking. We didn't use any of the public transportation, a decision I'm thankful we made because it allowed us to walk around and really enjoy the city. The architecture is gorgeous and the people are about as friendly as Europeans ever get (and they ALL speak English!).  Add this to my "Places I want to live" list.

 I really loved the canals. 

However, I'm still not sure how I feel about the bicycles. It may be because I can't ride a bike. But because of the crazy bikers (think New York cab driver on two wheels), I now twitch every time I hear the haunting "riiiiing" of a bicycle bell in the distance.  Everyone rides bikes there, so you would think the bike lanes would be well marked. Right? right? Wrong. And the bikers didn't stop at all. I think we almost got run over on several occasions. One lady actually swerved around Rainey and crashed. At one point all six of us were crossing the street and... well, chaos ensued. We were running in different directions, Kate hit a tree... I'm sure it was interesting for any passers-by to watch. Oh, and Daniel's terror-expression is hilarious, by the way.

So, about the museums. The museums were the real reason why we (well, Scott and I for sure) went to Amsterdam. We went to the Rijksmuseum, which houses not only Rembrandt's works but also works by a ton of other Dutch masters. Rembrandt (1606-1669) was one of the major artists of the Baroque period. One of the main reasons that his work is so striking is the realistic portrayal of his life; he painted many self portraits, so many that they make up a visual autobiography of the artist. It is so interesting looking at his biblical scenes and how they contrast with those of pre-printing press Europe. His work, though very accurate, is also highly interpretive of the scenes they depict. This is not really something that could have appeared very easily in Europe before 1440.  Among the many masterpieces I saw was "The Night Watch" and "The Prophetess Anna Reading the Bible."

Lindsey in front of the Rijksmuseum

We also got to go to the Van Gogh museum, which houses over 200 of his works. It was.... wonderful. Rembrandt is my favorite because of his mastery and the context of his work and a bunch of other high-brow reasons; Van Gogh is my favorite because his work is fun and my paintings have turned out to look a lot like his. Van Gogh said in one of his letters that Emile Zola and Guy de Maupassant "paint life as we ourselves feel it." This is one of the most beautiful ways to view art, and it is so apparent that Van Gogh aspires to this in his work. Here are some of my favorites...

Skull of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette

The Boulevard de Clichy

Parisian Novels

The Old Church Tower at Nuenen

The Pink Peach Tree

Sunflowers

Wheat Field with Crows

Self Portrait with Pipe

I also had the pleasure of seeing one of my favorite works by Claude Monet.

Amsterdam is beautiful, friendly, cultured. Amsterdam is also filled to the brim with marijuana and prostitution. I was slightly nauseous for most of our time in downtown Amsterdam because of the sickly sweet and stinky smell that permeated the city. When we stumbled into the red light district (our one and only navigating mistake), I was horrified by the voyeuristic displays lining the dark and narrow alleys; I was even more horrified that families passed by these alleys on either side. Logically, it makes sense to have both vices legalized, so they can be regulated. But they still make me sick to my stomach.

However, such is the case with most things. You take the wonderful with the depressingly bad.

London, in mostly pictures

I will live there one day. 

Double-Decker and the London Eye

Parks :)

Big Ben

Her Majesty's Theatre, where we saw The Phantom of the Opera

There were the random moments...

WIN.

Our thoughts about the rain

Laughter, take 1

laughter, take 2

Abe? What?

It's only missing an 'e,' too!

Little bit of my childhood

In the tube

Virginia on Abbey Road

Kate being Paul

I love London, and our trip was wonderful (special thanks to Melody and Dave for giving some great suggestions). We actually got to catch up with one of the other groups that went to London on our first day. Seeing them was great, but it definitely made me appreciate our little trio; I think I would've gone crazy if I had to constantly interact with seven other people for over a week. They all seemed a bit stir crazy, too—though Lindsey and Rainey were just as sarcastic and cute as ever.

Lindsey, Virginia, and Kate on top of... Aslan?

Julia and Aslan

Lindsey and Me

Lindsey and the saxophonist

The Millennium Bridge- note the lack of Deatheaters

It was interesting walking around the city and seeing all of the political signs and such. In addition to all of the signs (see picture below) and tent city, there were also a rather large percentage of people wearing little paper poppies. The idea behind the poppies was that they were the only things that could grow during World War I; they've become this symbol for remembering fallen soldiers. It was rather beautiful seeing so many people walking around with these little red flowers pinned to their lapels.

tent city

 

"Remember, remember..."

Oh, Westminster Abbey.

Just as the Vatican is the great center for Catholicism, so is Westminster Abbey for English Literature.

I had what has been dubbed affectionately as a "nerd moment" which was actually more like an hour. I started crying and just couldn't stop for a good while. This beautiful, old place holds such a great collection of grandness that it overwhelmed me. I'm sure you all know that Elizabeth I, Bloody Mary, and Mary, Queen of Scots reside here. This is also where Poets' Corner is... I walked on the grave of DH Lawrence. I stood next to Chaucer's grave, next to Shakespeare's grave. And then, when I thought it was all over, I saw Sir Isaac Newton's and Charles Darwin's graves.

This has made my list of places to pilgrimage to again.

Also on this list is the British Museum and the Globe.

The Rosetta Stone

The Flood Tablet from The Epic of Gilgamesh (the oldest existing piece of literature)

The Globe

I loved being around English so much. I had forgotten how to act in a "normal" setting- how to interact with people who speak my language. It was interesting how similar Britain is to the states. I had grown rather accustomed to average grocery stores being about the size of a CVS or Walgreen's, and then BAM! British commercialism. It's so much like American commercialism. I kind of miss the smaller grocery stores.

London is a nice meld of European and American customs: the tube, the public attitude, the history sitting alongside the commercialism and confidence. I love London and I feel like it would be a nice place to live one day. I will live there one day.