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I arrived outside the Rijksmuseum quite early this morning. I had a coffee and settled myself by the tulip pool as more and more people turned up. It was like the Tower of Babel with all the different languages. I couldn’t pick most of them, though I did notice a couple of Swedes. Then a clear, Australian voice said: “Another day of museums… Or something.” And I knew all was well.
Australians. They get everywhere. I wanted to turn around and say, “Good onya mate.” But, obviously, I didn’t. Mainly because I have caught myself speaking Swedish rather than English when talking to people. Obviously only simple things but, even so.
Something else I noticed today was that the cherry blossom was out, just beyond the Van Gogh Museum. There was a woman posing with a photographer and someone holding a reflector, aiming the sun at her.
Later in the day, I also discovered that the blossom in Stockholm has appeared. Lucky Lisa, Jack and Max who arrive tomorrow. Perfect timing.
But, back to today…I was outside the Rijksmuseum, waiting for Anthea, Lindy and John, in order to see the Vermeer exhibition. It’s why I was in Amsterdam. John had bought the tickets months ago, which was good because they are sold out until June. And the exhibition ends on June 3. A highly successful event, I’d say.
And what an amazing exhibition it was. 27 of the 37 paintings ascribed to Johannes Vermeer, extant in the world, all gathered together in order for people to take photos of and not actually look at. That might sound odd, but I personally witnessed at least two people doing just that.
One French chap waited patiently at every painting, slowly shuffling forward until he had a clear shot before taking the photo then instantly moving on to the next one. At least he was better than the people who got into trouble for being too close with their phones or pointing within millimetres of the paintings.
Vermeer was an amazing artist and, in order to truly appreciate his work, one has to stand before his paintings and truly look at them. Not through a digital lens, not through any kind of lens but just through the eyes. Even though, as both Lindy and I thought, his hands and feet were somewhat dubious. John just thought the exhibition was wonderful. I’ve rarely seen him so enthused. Anthea just said “You know me and art.” An assertion that left me mystified because I have no idea about her and art.
Regardless, my favourite painting of the entire exhibition didn’t have any hands or feet in it. It was a wonderful landscape. I love the way his dark, looming cloud casts a shadow over most of Delft, but a few streaks of sunlight highlight certain areas of the town. I particularly like the almost murky reflections in the water. I was mesmerised by this painting.
The reason it’s not properly taken from directly in front was because of the crowds. There were a lot of people milling around every painting.
Anyway, we strolled around and through the thronging millions for as long as we could before emerging into the light of another beautiful sunshine drenched Amsterdam. Which was destined not to last. It feels like every morning is brilliant and every afternoon is damp. Fortunately, when the rain came today, we were on a boat doing a Stromma tour of the canals.
However, after wandering around the paintings, before we did anything else, we felt a few beers were required to recharge the Weasel batteries. We stopped at the first place that had at least four empty chairs.
The photo above features the reflection in the window that John and I were facing. In fact, you can see Anthea and John’s reflections as well as the people across the road. And there’s me, to the left of John, my phone held out, taking the photograph. I’m quite pleased with this photo.
While we had beer, we didn’t have any food. Though, I have to say, I was quite intrigued by menu items such as typical Amsterdam onions. What is that? I guess I’ll never know. Unless I return tomorrow and have some. I’m not sure I’ll bother.
The boat tour was very good. It was difficult to hear the commentary sometimes because of the volume – the recording being quiet and the other people being loud. It reminded me of the French people we had on our second boat tour of the Seine, who would start speaking really loudly after the French bit was finished and as the English bit began.
Not that it was quite that bad. In fact, given the rain, it was an excellent way to stay dry for 75 minutes. Though I did think it was an expensive sleep for the woman near the back of the boat who barely kept her eyes open for the entire cruise. And, speaking of the other people on the boat, I was amazed at how many of them looked utterly miserable. So strange.
Leaving the boat, the rain had stopped and, after a bit more wandering, we finally ended up in a Dutch restaurant, which was surrounded by more pizzerias than you’d find in a typical Swedish town. And the food was excellent. As was the beer. As was the very young serving staff, who stunned all of us by the way they ran up and down the spiral staircase, laden with plates and not using the bannister at all. Truly scary.
The toilets, however, were far from scary with very apt signage.
So, all in all, an excellent day finished with a marvellous meal to round off this year’s Weasel Cultural Tour.
