Day 1 Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum
Today was our first official day of the course. We started it off with an orientation in the morning. After learning some do’s and dont’s we headed out to the Van Gogh Museum. I was quite excited about this trip since I can remember learning about Vincent Van Gogh in elementary school. I can also recall myself trying to copy his style during our art class. The ride to the Museum was very simple on the local tram. Before entering the museum we stopped in to the local Albert Heim; a very nice and convenient supermarket with great sandwiches and snacks. Above the supermarket was a grassy knoll where people relax and eat. This was where I was able to finally take in a good amount of the Dutch culture. Minus the obvious tourism, Amsterdam is a very calm and relaxed city. It’s fair to say the Dutch Golden Age had a true influence on the Dutch people’s future lifestyle. “ At that time the Dutch Republic was the only country in which freedom of conscience was enshrined in the law, resulting in the influx of refugees of all possible religious backgrounds.” ( Mijnhardt, pg.121) There’s plenty of various cultures here when walking among the streets. From Caribbean – Afro to Arabic and Latin, there is no lack of a sense of internationalism in Amsterdam. The people enjoy life, and you can feel their positive outlook on life just by seeing them mingle with one another and enjoy some time outside.
Once we entered the museum it was so evident just how proud the Dutch are of Van Gogh. Three stories dedicated solely to one man and his talent. The effort and quality of the museum is tremendous. Millions of people come to see his work every year here in this city. I enjoyed walking about the floors with the headset telling me various different facts and insights on the man that painted Starry Night, Potato Eaters, and Sunflowers. Seeing his actual works was amazing. He had such a deep passion for not just showing his artistic skills and design but he focused on interpretation. Van Gogh played with colors to set moods and temperature within his artwork. He also knew that mixing colors was not always the perfect approach, so he began placing colors side by side, creating beautiful bright details that converged into a full picture. I found his inspiration to draw farmers and the poor very intriguing. Van Gogh saw the farm life as a much more interesting theme than the more popular city lifestyle. The growing of crops and livestock was tied to nature. This aroused his artistic mind and he correlated farming to life and death.
After our visit to the museum we headed over to Lover’s boat tours. We took a splendid 1 hour boat ride through Amsterdam’s grachts. Headsets were also provided to us and we learned various interesting details about the Dutch community and architecture. It was a nice change of scene to sit and just breath it all in. Amsterdam is a very beautiful city. The Dutch style of architecture is so quaint. It was very nice to finally see such areas as Prinsengracht and Kaizergracht. There were so many lovely buildings and homes. It was very cool to know how old these building are yet they still stand so strong and are spread throughout the city. So far Amsterdam has given me nothing but pleasure and wonder!
Amsterdam to Brussels 