Amsterdam part 2.

Amsterdam! Its beautiful, so very different from Paris, which was nice to see. I loved the canals and quaint houses. Even the redlight district was great to walk through. "Big willies! Family discount!"

My sunday consisted of many musuems. Uncle John took me to the modern art museum even though he didnt get any of it, and i must admit, a lot of it was very strange.  We then went to the Van Gogh museum, missing the massive cue with the museum cards. It was amazing to see his original paintings, especially paired up with his influences and precursors. They also had a temporary exhibition on about Picasso in Paris from 1900-1907 which was ironic but good to see. We then headed to the Rijks museum  which had many dutch artists and history from Amsterdam. Rembrandts massive paintings where here and they were amazingly detailed. Unfortunately its a strict no photos in all these museums. After that we went for a walk through town and to Rembrandt house which was amazing. You could see where he worked, slept and ate. The place was actually pretty big suprisingly enough, I'd love a place that big!

The local "coffee" shop.

This is a very famous work by Bruce Nauman that was in the modern art gallery. We decided it suited amsterdam very well.

The I amsterdam sign!

After skipping the line for Van Gogh, D'uncle wasnt impressed with waiting to get into Rijkmuseum.

Flowers are so cheap here!

Floating flower market!

Nice parking.

A little houseboat for sale. I'm pretty sure dad could handle that.

A great piece of artwork in the music theatre.

After all this discovering we headed back to home base for awhile to recover from all the walking. I think I broke my uncle from too much walking!  We headed out for dinner at a nice noodle house, and then went on a lovely nighttime cruise of the canals. It was very interesting to learn about the canals, and the monuments and the apartments. I really had a very lovely day.

The next day was my last in Amsterdam for the meantime. In the morning Uncle John took me to Anne Frank house which was very interesting to see. Its mindblowing to think of what happened back then. And how bleak the place they lived in for years was. I also got to see her diary! Amazing. We headed through town again and I got to see a bit more.

The skinniest house in Amsterdam!

This boat do a very well trained turn into the loch on the left.

After that we headed back to home base for lunch and Uncle John went to work, so Carol took me out for some last minute look at the shopping before I had to catch my train back home. We went to the local high street for a bit before heading to the more independant stores. We found a great little vintage store that I found vintage shoes and a dress for very cheap! I will definately be exploring that area again later.

No problems with the train home, and I met Michelle for dinner and a movie that night.

Amsterdam part 1. Keukenhof

This weekend I went to Amsterdam to visit my uncle and Carol who were kind enough to have me stay. I took the train direct from Paris Nord to Amsterdam which was very handy. After I got in we went for dinner at a cute restaurant around the corner from Uncle Johns apartment, the food was very nice. We then sat and drank on a bench while watching the canal. It was lovely.

On saturday the weather was amazingly good, about 23 degrees, so they took me to Keukenhof where the fields of tulips are. The place was so beautiful and the weather was beautiful.

Here are some of uncle Johns and Carols photos.

Pretty park.

D'uncle love.

Windmill!

See, I'm on a bike, proof.

And I didnt even fall in.

All the way to amsterdam to sit in a Kangaroo chair.

Giant tea pot!

I also got married...

And then my feet grew quite a bit. It was an adventure.

Here are a bunch of my photos if you are interested.

A puppy stroller!

Strange reflecter things on their heads...

Nice clogs.

I found dad!

Keep a look out for the rest of the weekend, this just had beaucoup de photos.

It was a wonderful day, we had hot ham rolls with mustard and poffertjes which are like mini pancakes. We walked ourselves silly, returned home for awhile and eventually headed out for a very tasty meal of tapas and a giant profiterol. Om nom nom.

Art Paris - Just Art

So last thursday I went to an art fair that was on for the weekend. I heard it was a big thing and though I should check it out. Little did I know its actually a massive thing, and there was so much good art here. All the galleries in Paris are represented by a stall with pieces from their collection, or the current solo show. I was overjoyed and took many photos.

This is how my head felt the entire time...

I was glad to see such a diversity in mediums.

Cord wrapped around a mold.

Pencil sharpenings covering a branch from a tree.

Cherry Blossoms, buttons on nails hammered into the board, very effective.

A portrait of Van Gogh, made from miniature painitings of flowers.

The venue was the Grand Palais, which was beautiful contrast to the art work.

I found love in Paris.

Lego art!

This was really cute, made from wire and ricepaper

Mauro Perucchetti - Glass jelly babies.

Mauro Perucchetti - Giant drugs.

Mauro Perucchetti - Shiny pigs

Philippe Pasqua - Skull, butterflies and paint.

Philippe Pasqua- Giant stone carving.

Philippe Pasqua - Car art.

Wim Delvoye- tattooed pig skin.

I saw so much and took so many photos, that I think my art gallery folder will be well bulked up. More shots on my facebook if you are interested.

I also found another exposition of art and design in the tuileries gardens, but it wasnt as interesting, being more traditional decorative art. I also got an angelia hot chocolate on my way home which was lovely and thick. I'm enjoying doing the long walks through paris.  That night Michelle and I met up and went to our friend Erins house for pasta and girlie movies. It was a fun night. Pity about having a french test the next day.