Before discussing Amsterdam I want to say that we are in Detroit, and it is 6:41pm in real time, but my body is currently existing in 12:41am time. I am sorry if my words end up incoherent.

Yesterday was our second entire day spent in Amsterdam. We learned a lot about Jewish culture by visiting a Portuguese synagogue, the Joods Historisch Museum, and the Anne Frank House. I loved looking at all of the historical books and tapestries that were on display, and enjoyed listening to the meaning each had to the culture and lives of those who participate in the religion. The inside of the synagogue was beautiful. Even though I did not take any pictures, The Anne Frank House was a wonderful museum to visit because it provided a humanistic take on the pain and misery caused during WWII. Looking at the marks on the walls that represented the heights of the children really hurt my heart.

On a lighter note, the Dutch translation of “sea salt” makes me very happy.

Yesterday was our first full day in the beautiful city of Amsterdam. It is absolutely incredible seeing so many people using bicycles as a main form of transportation opposed to the usual sight of cars and buses. The sidewalks are lined with endless amounts of parked bikes, both chained to fences and strewn randomly on the ground. It is important to make sure no one is coming through the bike lanes when you cross because they will not slow down for you! There are also a large number of houseboats that are located in the maze of canals that go through the city. Some of the most beautiful are the ones covered in potted leaves and flowers. The plants add nice colors to the edge of the water.

We visited the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. I could have spent an entire day looking through the Rijksmuseum due to the endless amounts of intricate art. In the time we were given I valued quantity over quality, so I looked at more pieces rather than looking in depth at only a few. One of my favorite paintings from that museum was “Carafe and Dish with Citrus Fruit” by Vincent Van Gogh. The simplicity of the painting is refreshing. It focuses on a simple moment by emphasizing the emotions through its use of color and composition. The brushstrokes of blue hues at the bottom of the painting pose are gorgeous and allow for visual variety compared to the rest of the painting.

A few of my other favorites are below:

Yesterday morning we were graced by the presence of a Belgian local who shared information about the culture of both the city and the country we were visiting. She answered all of the questions we presented about music, social issues, and other items of discussion. The most interesting thing she said was that people, including adolescents and young adults, listened to a lot of jazz music. She also gave us a tour of the city so that we wouldn’t feel so lost when we had time to ourselves, which was incredibly helpful. The more we walked around the more I wanted to learn a bit of Dutch, rent an apartment, and live there for a few months.

For lunch most of the group went to a fancily decorated waffle restaurant. The walls were painted green with gold accents, and a chandelier hung from the ceiling. I am not a huge fan of breakfast foods, so while everyone else ordered waffles I had a bowl of some delicious spaghetti. However, the small mocha I ordered did come with a tiny waffle! I love the sugar cubes that come with the coffee so much more than the pastel splenda packets that are offered back home.

After lunch we split into smaller groups and roamed around the city to buy chocolates, souvenirs, and other various items. There was a bit of snow on the cobblestones, and a mist hung over the buildings, which turned the city to a beautiful silver. The streets were filled with shoppers weaving in and out of the road as bicycles sped by. I was able to explore a secondhand bookstore which was something I had hoped I would be able to do. It had at least five floors filled with books written in Dutch. I love writing and reading poetry, so I picked up a few small poetry collections so that I can try and translate them when I have time either on the trip or back in North Carolina.

Later on some folks and I went and got dinner at a very nice restaurant. It was a lot of fun, and we had the nicest waitress! I didn’t take any pictures of the evening though.

Today we explored Gent, the city we have been staying in for the past few days. We went to multiple museums, visited a few churches, and ate lunch at a fancy lil’ restaurant. At that restaurant I drank some coffee out of a really cute mug, and the sugar they gave were in cubes, which I have never seen before. We were going to go to a restaurant for dinner for some classic Belgian waffles, but the place ended up closing for the night at 5:30pm, so plans had to be adjusted.

My favorite part of the day was the last art museum we went to. It contained pieces of the Ghent Altarpiece that were in the process of restoration. There were so many rooms in the museum that each time I thought I was turning to go back to the lobby, I ended up in a completely new place with all new pieces of art. But if I had to be lost anywhere, I am glad it was there. A few of my favorite artworks are pictured below.

 

 

Today we explored Bruges, an incredibly beautiful city! It has been my favorite thus far. I loved seeing of of the swans drifting through the canals, the stone bridges arching over the water, and the chocolatiers lining every cobblestone street. My favorite part of the day was visiting a cafe during a bit of free time. I wish we could have spent more time enjoying the quiet ambience of the coffeeshop and sipping on hot chocolates, but we were on a bit of a time crunch, and had to drink the beverages faster than they could cool. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the shop or the drink, but my phone died pretty early on in the daytime, so I was not able to take many photos of any of the evening activities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Groeninge Museum there were many beautiful paintings. Two that I am to report on are Pieter Pourbus’s portraits of Jan van Eyewerve and Jacquemyne Buuck. These paintings hung side by side in the museum and were filled with symbols. The dog in the portrait of the women is commonly represented as a sign of fidelity and faithfulness. Neither of the people are looking directly at the viewer, which can be seen as non-confrontational. Our tour guide slyly joked that their lack of eye contact makes it look like they’re “on drugs,” which was amusing. The ages of the two when they were married are also written above their heads; the woman is nineteen and the man is twenty-nine. Two other paintings from the museum that I really loved were Portrait of Sylvie de la Rue by Franciscus Joseph Octave van der Donckt and Portrait of a Bruges Family by Jacob Van Oost.

Each student was given a piece of art from the Fine Arts Museum in Brussels to find, observe, and contemplate. My selection was “Virgin and Child with St. Anne and a Franciscan Donor” by Hugo van der Goes. I did not take a picture of the physical copy of the painting due to the strictness of some security guards in art museums. Even if they allow photos to be taken, like this museum did, I still tend to shy away from using a camera. A photo of the painting is inserted above in order to better connect to the painting via the internet.

It was not a hard painting to find, as it was one of the first to be viewed on the main floor of the museum. It was a lot smaller than I imagined it would be, and shared a wall with another work that had a similar style. However, the lack in size did not mean a lack in detail. The natural landscape of the background is very serene; the leaves are clearly marked, the cracks in the boulders are realistically shadowed, and even the mountains and their small presence in the very back are painted as if they were just as important as the natural viewpoints more towards the front. My personal favorite detail of the painting is the book on the left side with its pages blowing in the wind.

The people of the painting all look a little strange. Their postures are very stiff, and the baby is oddly proportioned. The portrayal of the baby vaguely reminds me of how baby Jesus was painted during the Byzantine Era as a rather small man than a soft newborn. Each person appears to be gazing peacefully in their own specific direction. The scene is very calming to look upon and was a lovely painting to reflect on how of the components work together to elicit this feeling.

 

Hello, my name is Haley Searcy and I am pursuing a degree in Sociology. While I do not know specifically what I would like to do after college, I want to help people and be creative in my future job. Over the years I have been lucky enough to travel to France, Italy, England, and Canada, and am thrilled to be adding Belgium and the Netherlands to my list of adventures abroad!

In this art history class I researched Henri Matisse’s Bathers With A Turtle. We won’t be able to view this painting during the trip, but we will be able to look at other works we studied through readings and discussions on The Monuments Men. One of such pieces of art I am excited to see and learn more about is Bruges Madonna by Michelangelo. I am also looking forward to touring all of the beautiful cities we will be visiting, especially the one that will be a canal cruise of Amsterdam!