the funny thing about this trip is that we were up super early in the morning (normally by 7+am) and we slept very early in the night too (normally ard 9+pm!).
so in some way, i was more rested during the trip than in sg.
lol, this is a departure from my usual trips where i just chiong!
so having a kid around really slow you down to take in the view and smell the roses. :)
it was pretty cold in amsterdam so we layer and layer for mr worm.
guess how many layers of clothings he had on here? 5!
lol, hubbi and i cant stop laughing at the "donut" around his hip with his clothes all tucked in.
our very big room.
we were good to explore the museum area as well as the red light district next!
doing the touristy thing.
next up, the rijksmuseum! where all the great dutch paintings are!
and after a quick discussion with the husband, it was decided that he will bring the boy for a happy slow waffles breakfast while i will go to the museum alone for a good 1.5hrs.
finally, can slowly look at paintings i like without distractions! :P
rijksmuseum - a substantial part of it is still under reno.
blessings in disguise? i can focus on the popular ones which are still on display while being able to manage them in 1.5hrs..
a very well-executed piece by Frans Hal. looks at the details.
with just white and black paint - very impressive
i don't particularly think of rembrandt as striking previously.
but i saw this painting by his and was struck by how life-like this hand of an old lady is!
and the way he paint the light and shadows really make the hand the focus of this painting.
and they have a few vermeer pieces!
his paintings were rather exciting to see. they are usually a snapshot of a rather serene or even placid moment.
but, they still speak volume.
the milk really looks like its pouring out of the jug, huh?
breathing life just with mere colors. :)
and only a stone throw from the rijksmuseum is the van gogh museum which houses a rather impressive number of works by the tortured genius.
look at the crazy queue. luckily, we have the iamsterdam card which allows us to take the shorter queue at the extreme right
no photography allowed inside. sigh.
i would have like to take shots of those that i like.
hubbi was more receptive to van gogh's work having seen some of his best previously at D'orsay and also when some of D'orsay's collections came to singapore for exhibition.
i like particularly a quote by van gogh which roughly means that beauty is always present in nature and he is just the extractor.
one of van gogh's more famous paintings will be his sunflowers pieces. he drew a few showcasing sunflowers against different color background.
when i looked at one of them here, and peering hard at the exquisite swirls of the sunflowers petals, i feel the sudden surge of emotions and my eyes threaten to tear!
like very 夸张, and i really dont know what comes over me.
but i do recall having similar feelings when seeing caravaggio and botticelli works..
sigh, i miss rome. :(
after all the cultural stops, time for a quick lunch before our canal cruise!
before boarding the cruise boat
every table has a city map so you know exactly which canal you are in. lol.
it was a relaxing hour plus cruise whereby we navigate through all the major canals in amsterdam.
after the cruise, we walked over to the red light district where the old church was located.
it has now converted to an exhibition space, not unlike the new church.
at the time we were there, the world press photo exhibition was on so we went in and take a look.
it turned out surprisingly interesting and we spent a good hour in it.
yz chose the moment to nap and we were more glad than anything. hehe.
inside, there are tons of photos where there is a story behind each of them where you can read.
photos take showcase current issues worldwide, be it social, environmental, political etc.
rather informative and eye-opening.
after that, it was our fav. past time! shopping and tea breaks while getting lost in the city centre! :)
dinner time @ cafe esprit! food is ok not fantastic but will do for the price and ambience
mr muscle with mac happy meal toys as biceps. LOL
this concludes our holland travel leg!
back to frankfurt for some leisure sight-see + shopping before jetting home to singapore!
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