I decided to spend the morning, after getting all packed up, at the Van Gogh Museum. If you couldn’t guess by the name, it is home to the biggest Van Gogh collection in the world. He was Dutch, hence the museum being here I assume.
He was mentally unstable and depressed most of his life; he’s the one that cut off part of his ear. He sadly killed himself at the age of 37 (maybe…there’s a theory that some kids accidentally shot him, and the mayor helped cover it up. Never trust the Government.). His work had started getting popular the last year of his life, but then became REALLY popular after his death.
Even if you don’t care about post-impressionism art, you’ve probably seen Starry Night, or Sunflowers, or some of his self portrait work.
Starry Night is in MOMA in NYC. The other one I knew was Cafe Terrace at Night, which is in another museum a few hours away. My favorite is Irises, so I was really happy to see that in person.
It was a nice morning (though I’m pretty sure the docent who gave my tour was disappointed in my lack of art knowledge).
Cars
They’re kind of funny here. The country is really trying to encourage electric vehicles, so if you buy one, you get free parking and free charging for two years. I saw a lot of them on the street, as well as a lot of older vehicles.
However, my favorite were these ridiculously small ones that looked like a life-sized play mobile toy.
Meanwhile, for “normal” cars, insurance companies paid to install these rails a few years ago. Too many people were forgetting to set their parking break (or driving after too much beer), and cars kept winding up in the canals. The insurance companies tried to get the city to install them, but the city said no – so the companies wound up doing it themselves, since that was still going to be cheaper for them.
Coffee Shop
So I’m not sure why, but here, a “coffee shop” is actually a store that sells marijuana and other drugs. They might also have some drinks and snacks – but the point is drugs. So if you want actual coffee, you need to be careful where you go, and you have a better chance if you search for “cafe.” I had read about it in advance so I knew, but not all my conference friends apparently got the memo.
They’re not like us
The hotel has an operating window. Like, it just…opens. To the outside. (Some of you may remember a similar mind-bending experience from Berlin, with their office windows).
It’s connected by a sensor to the rooms heating/cooling system – so if you open the window, the system automatically shuts down, like magic.
Their buildings are also all crooked. If they’re leaning forward, it is actually because of the hooks/lifts at the top of the building. They were built leaning slightly forward so as you pulled things up, they wouldn’t swing as much and hit the building.
If they’re leaning sideways, it is because their foundations are rotting under the water.
And when they talk about rigorous greening, they mean it. There were plants literally everywhere. It was pretty magical. Every residence that could had them in front of their doors, as did every office, every park, every everything.
I’m ready to head back to the states (early tomorrow) but it was great to see so many new things, and meet so many new friends.
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