Hello people of the world! Today we explored the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. Both museums were very interesting. We went to the Rijksmuseum first and I was very suprised at how big it was, it was huge! These museums keep getting bigger and bigger!!! The paintings were also very big which I think is crazy, how can someone paint something that it three times their size? Seems impossible to me, which makes it even more amazing when you see it completed and whole in person. We had a guide for a good part of the Rijksmuseum and I liked him as well, he knew a lot about the background stories of the paintings. We didnt go to every exhibit just the highlights, The Night Watch, The Milk Maid, and The Citrus series, and others by artists such as Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Kalf. After we saw The Night Watch we were free to explore the rest of the museum on our own. While a couple of friends and I were wandering around checking out some paintings one painting in particular caught our eyes. It was called The Massacre of the Innocents by Cornelis Cornelisz. It is a representation of the biblical account of the genocide committed by Herod the Great, the Roman appointed King of the Jews. According to bible in the book of Matthew, Herod orded his soldiers to execute all young male children that were in the vicinity of Bethlehem, so as to eliminate any threat to his crown. The scene int he painting depicts these naked soldiers killing young children and mothers who happen to get in the way, along with discolored gray looking bodies that have already been murdered. I think because the painting was so morbid and grotesque we were interested in it more than the others and even more so after one of our teachers explained the background story. So, I would have to say that this was one of the coolest paintings I saw today at the Rijksmuseum.

Our next stop was the Van Gogh museum which I thought was sad, intriguing, and very personal. We looked into the life of Van Gogh, where he lived, his numerous paintings, his love life, his family, and his mental state throughout his life. I am not usually one for expressionisim or artwork that isnt necessarily “realistic” but I very much liked his style of painting. My favorite painting by him would have to be the sunflowers one or the painting of the shepards hearding their sheep at dawn. Both peices were beautifully painted and just pleasing to the eye. I would like to go back one day and study his life more in depth because today we just looked at the highlights.

Tomorrow we go to the Ann Frank house along with taking a tour through the city canals, I am super excited!!! Only two more days til were on a flight back home and I’m already going to miss being engrossed into european culture.

Til tomorrow,

Juliana Eike

Hi fellow bloggers and friends! This morning we sat down in the basement bar of the hotel and met with a native woman from Gent and asked her multiple questions about Gent’s culture. Questions like, whats sports were popular, the divorce rate and teen pregnency, the Ghent Alterpiece, biblical stmbols in art, popular music, and of course the best local places to get chocolate and waffels. I think she was very helpful that we had a secuded place to just sit down and talk rather than trying to ask questions and see the city at the same time. Also, I think she was very patient and knowlegeable about Gent and the surrounding cities. One of the most interesting things that Christine explained to us was how even though the country of Belgium is so tiny compared to the USA even if youre from the different city really close by the dilects are very different and the people view you different. Distance to them is not the same as distance for us. Overall, I really liked her and the information she shared us.

Fir the rest of the day we had a free day. Most of the people in our group went shopping or cite seeing but me and my roommate took a nap. We were really tired and we wanted to go out later that night so we thought sleep would be a good idea. We went back to our room and watched some tv. We watched skiing, a couple of game shows, and a really weird kid show about a clown. Most of the channels were in Dutch or Flemmish, but one of two channels were in English which was suprising to me. We woke up to go get some really good Belgium waffels but then we went back to the hotel for a while again.

 

Later that night my roommate, a couple of friends, and I went out to have dinner and ride the huge ferris wheel down the street from our hotel. We got food from a really good sandwitch hut. I had a salami and melted cheese sandwitch. It was really yummy. Then after getting some hot chocolate and coffee we went to ride the ferric wheel. I’ve never been on the ferris wheel before so I was really excited! There was no line to wait so we got our tickets right away and went to the front. After getting on we stopped halfway and went up and around about three or four times. I was never one to be afraid if heights but my roomate was pretty scared. It was funny, we had a good time. The view from the top was amazing, words cannot even describe seeing Gent from above.

This is our last day in Gent and tomorrrow we go to Amsterdam tomorrow and I’m super excited to see yet another beautiful old european city!

Until tomorrow!
Juliana Eike

Hello again everyone! Today was a great day we visited a couple of cathedrals and museums that were really quite interesting. Our tour guide was amazing, she was the best by far and honestly she was one of my favorite things about the day as well. You could tell she was really knowledgeable because she knew about sooo many things, this building, that building, this church, that house, it was really quite aweing to know that somebody is so passionate about their job and city where they live to show others around in bellow freezing weather all while keeping a huge smile on her face.

Also, another one of my favorite parts of the day was looking at all the different types of styles of aritechture throughout our journey im Gent. The styles vary depending on the century they were build in, I think my favoite was the Gothic style. We saw this at the first church we visited. It has very tall arched doorways and ceilings along with numerous small or large decorate statues displayed and intergrated into the sides of the building itself. Gothic style To me is gaudy, dark, and belittling feeling because its so large and tall it makes you feel insignificant when standing underneath it.

Lastly, my most favorite part of the day the seeing the Ghent Alterpiece! We studied this painting in class as far as what was used to make the painting and its wearabouts during World War 2 so my peers and I all knew a little bit about the painting before we saw it.  I am still amazing at how much detail is put into this hugeeee masterpiece!!! I mean it was breathtaking to see up close. I think my favorite panel is the one with the lamb on it, the center one on the bottom but the center top one is a close second because i really liked the gold detailing put into the clothes and fabric of the figures.

Keep on smiling,

Juliana Eike

 

Second dayyyyy!

Today was very fun for me (probably because I got a really good night sleep) !!! It started off with an amazing sunrise over the city. We toured multiple old historic churches on foot with amazing intricate stained glass, woodwork, and stonework. Our tour guide was really knowledgeable about the whole city, he showed us little nook and cranny places that almost felt hidden inside courthouses and courtyards, but they were really interesting.

After touring the city for a while we went to the Groningen Museum. I honestly liked the art in this museum way better than yesterday. First off, because the museum way smaller I didn’t feel as overwhelmed with how much art there was. Also, I really liked having a guide to explain the art in detail it helped my understanding and it was way more interesting. Also, I really like the different styles of paintings displayed such as  what would have been degenerate art in Hitlers eyes and the realistic versions of the crusifitions and other biblical scenes as well as portrsits. This museum is my favorite so far!!!

Today each student choose or was assigned something to write about that we visited today. I was given this painting by Gustave van de Woes tyne called The Last Supper which was created in 1927 via oil on canvas. The first thing I noticed about the painting was its size, it’s huge!!! You can see its tremendous size because in the picture im standingbright nextbto it and im onky 5’2″!! It is a representation of the last supper, you can tell by the bread and wine displayed on the table held by the figure in the middle who is surrounded by multiple other people. It’s different from the original last supper because of the enlargement and disproportionate features the features have, the hands and heads being the main ones. Also, it is very dark as far the the overall  colors used in the painting and the sad and solemn which leads the onlooker to believe they are weak, unpowerful, and possibly poor,  and because of this it would have been considered “degenerate” to Hitler and the Nazis. Fortunately, it survived the war and I was able to see it today.

Overall I thought today was very fun, even if it felt like we walked 70 miles haha, I really enjoyed the crypts, buying chocolate, seeing the blood of Jesus, and seeing the Bruges Madonna. Cant wait til tomorrow! Another blog coming soon!

 

Keep Smiling,

Juliana Eike

 

 

 

Hello again everyone! Today was an extremely fun day, eventhough I didn’t get much sleep on the plane so I was very tired most of the afternoon haha! The Fine Arts Museum was very big, I was amazed at not only the several different floors that were packed into the building but at the size of the artworks themselves. Some of them were huge! Each student had to find an artwork given to them by our teacher, in this picture I am standing next to mine. This painting is called La seine á la Grande-Jatte by George Seurat.  I really liked this painting because it felt very relaxing and peaceful due to the colors and the blurred allusion from the technique used by the artist. I liked the technique he used, paintingnumeroud dots instead of using brush strokes, because it was different and original. I very much enjoyed this painting because of what it represents which is a calm and quiet day relaxing by the lake.

Til next time,

Juliana Eike

Hi everyone! My name is Juliana Eike. My intended major at Appalachian State University is English with a Creative Writing concentration with a minor in Global Studies. After finishing high school there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to go to college, because I wanted to progress my knowledge on all things that I found interesting and I wanted, most of all, the opportunity to become an independent woman who is very responsible (I’m still working on that last part haha).

I have been outside of our county three times now. Once when I was really little, around one year, the second time was when I was seven, and the third time was when I was twelve. The first two times I went to the northern part of Germany to an island called F0hr to visit family. The third time however, I went along with my mother on her business trip. We went to Paris, France, Warsaw, Poland, and Frankfurt, Germany.

This past semester at App I took a class called Art, Politics, and Power where each of the class members picked a great artwork and studied it then made a video presentation on it. I studied a piece called Govert van Slingelandt and family; it was a family portrait created in 1657 painted by Jan Mijtens. It was a wonderful painting portrait of the family and I truly did enjoy researching it and life in the 1600s.

I am soooooooo excited about this trip! Starting tomorrow I am going to be taking pictures every two seconds! I think I am most excited about eating Belgium waffles and chocolate! On the other hand, I am also very excited to get the chance to actually explore and tour art museums because I have never ever been to an art museum, this will be my first time. You know what they say, go big or go home! Also, its one thing to study and talk in the classroom about these big masterpieces and their stories but to actually experience and see them in person I think will be awe-inspiring, and quite frankly maybe a little emotional. I am also very excited about traveling with this class, I really enjoyed each and every one of them as classmates and I hope our friendship grows over this trip to where it can possibly be a lifelong friendship.

Til next time!

Juliana Eike