For my last days in Amsterdam, I had such a fun time! I got a little sick while I was there, but I still managed to push on through and see so many miraculous things!

One of the places my class and I went to was the Rijksmuseum! I was especially excited to go there because the art piece I chose to do for my documentary project was there! Seeing the Landscape with Waterfall piece by Jacob Van Ruisdael in person was such a breath taking experience! It was bigger than I anticipated it to be and I could see the brush strokes of the painting on the canvas it was on! Of course I saw more important pieces like the Night Watch and the Milkmaid and the Jewish Wedding, but just being at the museum in general was such an amazing experience!

For the rest of the trip! My group and I visited the Van Gogh museum, the Central Station, as well as the Portuguese Synagogue and the Anne Frank House! The amount of history that city had was incredible! I also loved the food they served! I can easily say Europeans serve some really good food and if I could eat there every day I would! I also wish I could’ve stayed longer, this trip was the best one I have ever been on! I made so many new friends that I hope to have for the rest of my life, learned many new things that were very interesting, and visited places that I may or may never see again so going on this trip made me very happy!

To everyone who went with me on this trip, thank you for making this experience worth it for me! I hope to see you later!

Today, my group and I visited the city of Ghent, where we were able to see many structures and art pieces! While I found today extremely fun and informational, I think my favorite part of the day was being able to see the Ghent Alterpiece. While not all the real panels were there, I was still amazed to see most of the real panels together right before my eyes! And while the lighting in the room wasn’t very good for pictures, I’m still happy to know I was able to see it in person. And I was okay that they were not all completely together because I saw the other pieces at the Fine Arts Museum, where they were being fixed.

For a good portion of my freshman seminar class, we talked about the symbolism and the high quality of the whole piece in itself! The design, the details, the meaning of each and every little bit of it, and how it all tied together. I consider myself to be a pretty religious Christian, so when I saw the Alterpiece in person, I was in complete awe at the sight of it. I know many people who don’t consider themselves to be religious at all, but when they saw it, I could tell they were in absolute amazement by it.

Considering how old these series of paintings are, I am so amazed that they are still in relatively good shape. Despite the fact that the paintings were not together either, I was still glad that I was able to see all of them! And seeing them in person also made me really wish that the Just Judges panel was found because I could tell that that panel looked slightly different than the other ones. Hopefully, one of these days, the panel will be found and all the original ones will be together again!

Today, my group and I took a visit to the city of Bruges! We did so much while we were there and saw so many buildings and pieces of art that were important to our history! Places like the Church of Our Lady, the Chocolate Museum, and the Basilica of the Holy Blood! While any of these places would have been amazing to do a blog on, I was given the assignment to make my next blog post about the Jerusalem Church.

When I first saw it, I knew it was a church. However, it looked very different to me because the top was spherical instead of pointed like most churches. That’s because the architectural style was made in the style of many Israeli and Russian churches. Made in 1423 by descendants of Opicious Adornes, it is the only privately owned church in Bruges and you can only go inside if you have an admissions ticket.

While it was not one of my favorite places that I saw in Bruges, it was still really cool to see! It has such great history behind it and so does the rest of the city!

On the first day in Belgium, I visited the city of Brussels, where my group and I took a look inside the Musee Oldmasters museum. In the museum, they had so many pieces of art made in the 16th and 17th century. One of those pieces being the Assumtion of the Virgin made by Peter Paul Rubens. This painting was extremely beautiful to look at and gave me this great feeling of awe. I say that not only because the painting was in great detail, but also because it was probably 10 times my size. When I stood next to it, not only did I felt extremely tiny, but I also felt like Rubens painted it this way so we could understand the greater meaning of the painting.

If you take a closer look at the painting, you will see some people closing what looks like a tomb, but the tomb is not completely closed. You will see the expression of some of the people’s faces to be that of shock, bewilderment, and surprise. This is because there is a belief in Christianity that when the Virgin Mary died, her body did not stay on earth. Instead, she was taken completely, body and all, back to heaven with God. And because her body was no longer in the tomb, that caused the people to have the expressions on their face to be that of surprise.

This painting is also painted in bright colors to emphasize the happiness of the Virgin going back to be with the Lord. If you look closely at the Virgin and the angels, they are all surrounded by light and the Virgin is outstretching her hands as if she is going to embrace someone. The angels are also happy because they know the Virgin is good and that they are bringing her to heaven.

While I did not do this painting for my freshman seminar project, it was still nice to be able to behold it and see it in person!

Before going on the plane, it was very stressful! Going security made me very nervous because I didn’t know whether the people would let me go on the trip or not. I say this, because while I was in the line, a security officer asked me why I had taken out the wrong “tickets” and why I wasn’t prepared when I got up there. After explaining that I had never gone through the whole “getting ready to board a plane experience” before, I was let through and made my way to the scanner. After going trough the machine, my bag had been pulled aside for inspection. And during that inspection, not only did they have to check my laptop, but I also lost my toothpaste. Turns out that was supposed to go into my checked bigger bag.. oh well, I’ll just get more later!

After finally boarding the plane, that’s when my nerves and excitement started to kick in. I was practically jumping out of my seat, wondering what it would look like outside my window, thinking whether it was going to be a smooth ride or not, and questioning if my ears were going to drive me insane. When we finally took off, my breath was literally taken away! The view outside my window was amazing, I was comfortable the whole time, and the trip was overall amazing! Not once did I ever get afraid, and I enjoyed the experience all the way through! I absolutely can’t wait till I am on the plane to Brussels!

 

Hello, my name is Madisen “Maddie” Lahr. I am a freshman at Appalachian State University. For now I am undecided about my major, but I do know that I want to do something in the medical field, minor in Japanese, and hopefully travel with my occupation. I have not traveled that much in my life. I have gone to Disney World, Niagara Falls, Sanibel Island, and the Bahamas on a cruise.

For my project for Art, Politics, and Power, I chose to do my documentary film on Landscape with Waterfall by Jacob van Ruisdael, which I will see on my trip to Amsterdam. https://youtu.be/Skk7di6ytr4 On this trip, I am very excited to learn more about the importance of the artwork the monuments men saved and why it is a good thing we have it now. I am really excited to learn about the history the cities have undergone in world war 2.

As far as this trip goes, I am super excited about just simply going! I have never visited another continent, I have never ridden on a plane, never used foreign money or used a passport. I am excited to try new food and listen to music I’m not accustomed to. I’m excited to be around people who’s culture is different from mine and get stuff that will remind me of those places!