Category: Europe

IT ALL STARTED WITH A KISS

6/15/2015

I’m not sure why I’m sticking my neck out to write today’s post.

Well, that’s not entirely true.

The subject moves me tremendously; which is to say I may ramble on incoherently about art and look the fool, but I’m nonetheless compelled to share that which speaks to me (now that I finally have the time in my life to listen).

I know just enough about art and art history to know I’m been culturally challenged for most of my life. I could use my dominant left brain as an excuse, but my right brain refuses to throw in the towel despite the classic fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants approach. The more I try to talk about (or around) art, the more apparent it becomes that I essentially know next to nothing when it comes to the subject.

See! I’m doing the incoherent ramble thing already!

Whatever!

Despite my cultural shortcomings and my ramblings, I’m living proof that it doesn’t matter if you don’t “know” art. You’ll know if the art moves you; that’s what really matters. If it truly moves you, you'll want to “know” more about the artist; maybe even the artist's contribution to the history of art.

I discovered I wanted to know more when my own cultural revolution began. I wasn’t just moved by this pivotal painting; I remember being completely blown away. My right brain did cartwheels! And then my left brain said, ‘Wait. I need details!’

The beauty of it all? It started with a kiss.

EUROPE'S LARGEST SCULPTURE GARDEN STAGED FOR CULTURE AND CURIOSITY

6/8/2015

I admit it. She's got me beat when it comes to svelte and perky.

Ah, Shakespeare, wise bard of years gone by, you were so right to note, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”

And what a stage it was, one of Europe’s largest sculpture gardens. For once, I had a leading role.

JUST YOU AND ME, VINCENT

6/4/2015

A rotating collection of 91 Van Gogh paintings and 180 drawings are part of the Kroller-Muller Museum.

You were so determined to give happiness by creating beauty.

I floated on a cloud of exquisite happiness as I made my way through the second-largest collection of your paintings in the world courtesy of the Netherlands' Kroller-Muller Museum in Gelderland.

Granted, I wasn’t entirely happy with the throngs of fellow admirers obstructing my view. In a perfect world, . . .

LOST & THEN FOUND IN AMSTERDAM'S RED LIGHT DISTRICT

5/29/2015

Plenty of food for thought with new friends Vivian (in red) & Harry and dear friends Joan & Jerry.

“What?” Vivian bantered from across the dinner table. “You thought people only had sex at night?”

Long, long, ago, before I was a parent, then a grandparent, in a galaxy far, far away, where time and energy represented infinite quantities, I vaguely remember being a people. Yes, as I recall, people really are capable of spontaneous, glorious, heat-of-the-moment sexual encounters, day and night; when they're not juggling kids, housework, meals, and gainful employment.

So why do they call them ‘Ladies of the Night?’

I bet wise owl Vivian would know.

And how was I to know the ladies were still working Amsterdam’s famous Red Light District at ten in the morning?   Red Light Districts are not exactly my forte.

Of course, it’s not like we hadn’t been warned.

NETHERLANDS' ZUIDERZEE MUSEUM OFFERS A CHARMING STORYBOOK TALE OF DUTCH LIFE & MARITIME MIGHT

5/28/2015

The only place you'll find the Dutch airing their dirty laundry is at this historic living-history musuem.

I’d stepped into the pages of a charming storybook, where quaint little houses swathed in laundry and history imbued life into the not-so-distant past of the tiny Dutch fishing villages that once dotted the shores of Netherlands’ famed Zuider Zee (Southern Sea).

The story was classic Dutch, one of life in the lowlands of northwest Europe fraught with epic floods and maritime might that tested the mettle of a proud, no-nonsense people (tall people, too) who liked to profess that God may have created the world, but it was up to the Dutch to create Holland.

Like any good story, fact and fiction were inextricably woven into a charming, storybook tale.

LET YOURSELF GO IN HOLLAND'S KEUKENHOF GARDENS

5/12/2015

Seven million blooming bulbs covering acres and acres of one of the world’s largest gardens were creating a rousing riot of sublime color!

Earth laughs in flowers. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Seconds after entering Holland’s famous Keukenhof Gardens, I was swept up in the melee. Granted, I didn’t put up much of a fight, not with all the flowers shouting, “Let yourself go! You’re bound to bloom.”

ANTWERP: A WALKING TOUR OF BELGIUM'S PICTURESQUE PORT CITY

5/1/2015

I’m not a big fan of souvenirs when I travel, with the exception of those I can fit on a memory card. I’m not much of a collector of stuff. Experiences are my thing, the world my oyster, which just happened to work in Jimmy’s favor during a recent visit to the “diamond capital of the world.”

Yes, I actually passed on a chance to visit Antwerp’s famed diamond district in favor of a walking tour (actually, two separate walking tours; one for food, one for the sights, so today’s post is a smorgasbord of cultural and culinary delights!) through the medieval streets of Belgium’s second largest city. That doesn’t mean I still didn’t come across a few gems deserving of your attention.

ON FAITH & HEAVEN ON EARTH: ANTWERP'S CATHEDRAL OF OUR LADY

4/28/2015

The impossibly slender white-washed columns of the Gothic structure rose to dizzying heights, drawing the eye upward to soaring arched ceilings that defied gravity and left little doubt the connection between Heaven and Earth. But it was the brilliant light inside the enormous cathedral that truly rendered this majestic marvel of the Middle Ages a sacred place of worship.

I stepped into the nave of Antwerp’s magnificent Cathedral of Our Lady, drawn to the light and to the peaceful beauty of this World Heritage site, the largest Gothic church in the Low Countries.

BRUGES, BELGIUM OFFERS A CHARMING FAIRY-TALE VENUE

4/23/2015

The Dijver Canal is one of several that helped Bruges come by the title, "The Venice of the North."

I’ve always been a sucker for medieval towns (I adored Germany's Regensburg and fell in love with Austria's Salzburg); give me narrow cobblestone streets, stone footbridges, ancient city gates, an historic church gracing a charming town square and it’s a sure thing I’ll get lost in the magic; which is pretty much what Jimmy and I did several weeks ago, with good friends Joan and Jerry, during a day trip to Bruges, the capital of West Flanders in northwest Belgium.

Who knew a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site could guarantee such a fairy-tale experience!

HOLLAND'S KINDERDIJK A SERENE PICTURE OF THE PAST

4/20/2015

They were sentinels of the past shrouded in the early morning mist, a legacy befitting mankind’s ingenuity and fortitude when it comes to survival.

Perhaps it was the chill in the air that caused goosebumps to run up my arms as the World Heritage site came into view; maybe it was wonder and admiration for the Dutch, and for their foresight in preserving this charming testament to their determination to hold back the sea. Either way, in that moment, the destination had trumped the journey. I had to know more.

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