In a blur

Last week I saw a photo series in my newspaper. All the photo's were made with a Lomo, a cheap Russian camera. The photo's were all blurry and somehow I found that very fascinating.
I decided to shoot some photo's in this style as well, albeit with my Nikon DSLR. I can imitate cheap Russian camera's too!
My preferences for photography seem to shift each week now....I see pictures and feel like "wow, that stuff is cool, I'm gonna try it!". And so I end up with three different styles at once...

At the moment i like B&W, blurry, (ugly) buildings, weird compositions...

Bear with me please, I'm just exploring my new hobby!











And lastly: the moon!

Romania, Day 3 & 4

Poor Milla and Nik, after the gig in Braşov they had been up for nearly 24 hours! A rest at our Pension Sofie was well deserved. I wasn’t feeling to fresh myself, and I slept like a baby. I kept dreaming about dogs though, maybe that was because all night long dogs kept barking near the Pension!

We went for breakfast at 9 am and the fun started immediately. Nik and Milla are used to stuffing themselves full at breakfasts when they are traveling, so they can skip lunch. I was amazed at what Nik could eat so early in the morning! He downed like 3 or 4 eggs, massive amounts of bread, meat and cheese. Insane! It made me laugh so loud. The people working in the pension were also a little amazed I think, when they asked if he wanted eggs and his answer was ‘yes please, bring it on!’. Well, at least they complied to his wishes! This pension also served decent coffee, unlike the Ibis hotel. Man, the stuff at the Ibis hotel that they dared to call coffee was more like dog shit!

We packed our belongings after breakfast and walked to the train station. We bought tickets for the Rapid train to Bucharest. Well, we all knew what ‘rapid’ meant in this country by now. Mentally we prepared ourselves for a long stay in the train, but first, we went to explore Braşov! The city centre was really lovely, colorful, breathing history. The town hall/historic museum dates from the early 15th century and was very well preserved! Nik wanted to see the Black Church. It was closed but at least we could look at it from the outside. We also saw a building that reminded me a lot of the Efteling (a Dutch themepark with very peculiar architecture).

The townhall in Brasov

The Black Church

Detail of the Black Church


Me standing on the central square


An eldery man walking the streets in Brasov


Blue house!

All in all it was very relaxing to stroll around this nice little town, basking in the sunshine, chatting, laughing. We found a little shop where they sold ice cream. The woman behind the counter let us try all the different kinds before we decided what we actually wanted, so nice! For the first time in my life I had gingerbread ice cream and it was so lovely!

It was about time to head to the train station. The ‘rapid’ train was very clean and comfy and definitely went faster than the day before. I wouldn’t say fast by my own standards, but hey, different country, different standards. With only 10 minutes delay we arrived in Bucharest. The journey was a lot more pleasant for me because of the company. The three of us had so much to talk about that we probably annoyed the hell out of our fellow travelers!

We walked to the Silver Church from Gara de Nord, about 20 minutes walking. There was a hotel 50m from it and Nik and Milla managed to negotiate a price for me. You see, it was an expensive hotel, way above my budget. Nik and Milla hung up a story about me being such a nice and decent girl wahaha! So I ended up in this posh hotel for a decent price. The room was so nice looking!

The Silver Church was so crowded when we finally got there at 7:15 pm. Alcest had already begun playing. It was their first show and they were great! Nik and I really wanted to go up front for Agalloch. Nik, with his scary looks, plowed his way through the masses and I followed him. We got nearly at the front finally and enjoyed 45 minutes more of Alcest. The music is atmospheric, with loads of post-rock, soundscape influences. Sometimes I could sense a hint of Amesoeurs in it, but not often. I’m still sad how Amesoeurs ended, but it’s not for me to judge the personal reasons that were behind it.

Agalloch set up their stuff and around me I could feel the tension rise. People were pressing against each other, the anticipation was there! The show began with the ritual of incense and John holding up the deer hoof again, although it was only visible for those standing at the front. The show started and the crowd went wild. The girl right in front of me started headbanging, and didn’t stop until the show had ended! She had very long, black hair and every other second I would get it smashed in my face. I had to put up with that the whole show and I’m telling ya, if it wasn’t Agalloch playing I would have left haha!

The ritual

However, the headbanging girl became my ticket to stand really up front, because the girl standing next to her couldn’t take the hair in her face anymore and left! I quickly took her place all the way at the front. Even more hair in my face, but whatever. The only remedy was to start headbanging myself, and that’s what I did!

At the beginning there were some problems with the sound, John making agitated gestures to the sound peeps. It made me remember the first shows I saw in 2006, where there was also trouble with the sound! It makes John irritated if it isn’t good enough. I can understand his irritation, but for the atmosphere it didn’t matter at all. People were going crazy during the show, everybody was into it (at least, so it seemed to be at the front). After 30 minutes I looked at Nik and there was blood running over his face. Turned out he hit his head at John’s monitor! He split his eyebrow, but looked bad ass metal now.

The more time passed into the show, the more people were pressing against each other, headbanging. The crowd become one big living organism, apt to move with the music. I myself felt like I was drunk, stoned and in trance at the same time. I experienced this performance as very intense. As encore they played The Lodge (Dismantled) again, ending with the noise. Man man, people around me went insane! I was pressed up all against the stage, because people wanted to see Don and John crawling over the stage, holding their guitar up in the air, letting the audience participate. Nik and I had a great moment with John last year in Den Bosch, when he grabbed our hands and we just stood there for minutes in the noise. This time it was different, because unlike the show in NL (where Nik and I definitely were one of the more enthusiastic people) EVERYBODY wanted to participate here. Crazy!

John engulfed by smoke

John pressed the Bambi hoof in my hand all of a sudden. I held on tight to it, because people were grabbing for it. Later Don pressed his plectrum in my hands, but I just had to give it away to two Romanian girls next to me. They were pleading for it! I had started talking to them during the show and I felt I couldn’t be too greedy and keep all the stuff for myself. I had the Bambi hoof already! Don said goodbye to the audience by shaking hands and hugging people. It was over! Or so we thought.....The most unheard of thing happened. The audience was making so much noise and stampede, that the band played a second encore! Of Stone, Wind and Pillor! A great surprise for the fans that didn’t see the Braşov show.

Now it was really over....Milla had seen the show from the side and looked at Nik’s bloody appearance. It was quite bad looking, because it had bled so much. Nik said he didn’t feel much pain though. We went to look for the band again, because we wanted some pics with them with our newly acquired souvenirs. Nik had managed to get one of Aesop’s broken drumsticks. We told them what a great show it had been and Milla took some pictures. After that we just hung around a bit. We talked mostly to Jason. To my surprise Jason told me he also loved the Netherlands very much and that he and his family were really considering moving there! After Nick and Tyson, Jason also turned out to be a Holland lover. I was surprised and pleased. After seeing Romania my opinion of my own country has risen, I must say. And when people tell you they love your country, well, it’s good to hear! Especially when it’s not just because of the weed and the hookers, you know. After hanging around for some time, talking to the band and other people it was about time to say goodbye.

Tough moment, I hate saying goodbye. Especially when you are with people that you don’t see a lot anyway, and it has been such a great time. Jason and Aesop want us to come to the States and I hope we surely will. I’ll start saving anyway! Hugs for goodbye and off we were....

Jason, Don, John, Aesop, Nick, Tyson, Milla, Nik: I loved seeing you all, thought it was way too short and hope we will meet again soon!



----------------
After a really short nap in the hotel it was time to get going to the airport. My hotel called me a cab (Meridian company ftw, no crooks!) and off I was. For the last time I could marvel at the craziness of Bucharest. My taxidriver managed to avoid all the crazy holes in the road (some were pretty deep and dangerous) and delivered me to the airport for only 27 Lei. I’m converting it to Euro’s just now (I never bothered before) and see that it’s just 6,60, now that’s what I call cheap! Considering that just after that I ordered an espresso at the airport for frikkin’ 15 lei (= 3,70 euro) the taxi is even cheaper! Fuck.

Not much left to tell now. Flew back to NL. Managed to transport the Bambi hoof by checking in my backpack. Thank the gods I wasn’t flying with RyanAir or some other cheap ass air carrier that makes you pay extra if you want to bring more than just hand luggage. I was only carrying a daypack now because it seemed excessive to bring a suitcase for just 4 days. It saved me the trouble to hand in luggage and wait for it in Romania. But now, I just had to save the Bambi hoof! I was afraid that if I wouldn’t check in my bag it would get confiscated at customs. I mean, which normal person walks about with a part of a dead deer in their bags? I certainly would have thought such a person was a little insane. At Schiphol I checked the bag, and Bambi has made it to NL!

Boarding a Dutch train was a bliss after Romania I can tell you. Okay, the train was a little dirty because the cleaners are on strike (still!), but hey, at least it went 140km/h!

End of this epic tale of the journey to Romania. If I ever get to visit the country again, I would surely explore Transylvania more!

Utrecht in B&W

I'm starting to like B&W photography more and more. These pictures are taken with a new compact camera I recently bought: Panasonic Lumix TZ7. This compact camera is a handy addition to the Nikon DSLR I have, because it's much more convenient to take with me. For a compact camera, the specs are quite impressive. 10 million megapixel, 12x optical zoom, ultra wide angle lens (16:9) and it can also film in HD quality (720p) with stereo sound(!). The Intelligent Auto modus lets you snap pictures quickly without having to do anything about the settings. On paper, the ISO range goes up to 3200, but I noticed that at dusk the quality of the images isn't that great compared to my DSLR which has only ISO 1600 max. I put the camera in my backpack wherever I go now, it's really great!



I snapped the following pictures in Utrecht last Tuesday with this Panasonic and added the B&W filter in Aperture. I don't like the result on every picture, but I think this is because I cannot shoot in RAW with this little monster. Just experimenting though, I hope to become better soon. I will also start playing with an analogue camera soon, for fun :)

Intermezzo: From the Air

Before I continue to write about the epic tale of the Romanian experiences I would like to share these pictures I took from the plane back to the Netherlands.

Normally I'm not keen on sitting at the window because I have to pee a lot and have to bother people to let me through. However, I had never experienced sights as these!!

Enjoy!


Romania, near Bucharest still



Near Bucharest






The sky was so blue!



I almost felt as if I was flying through space! I also really want to know where I was flying at that time, because of the white patches of snow and forests. It looks magical!





The Netherlands, wet!


I didn't know my country looked this lovely from high up in the air.


Nearly landing!

Romania, day 1 and 2

It is time to start writing about how awesome the trip to Romania has been. I barely know where to begin though, because in these 4 days so much has happened!

I was excited when I booked this trip at the end of February, because it was a decision I made in a whim, but it felt right you know. I was already very happy with the prospect of meeting Milla and Nik again. The fact that I got to travel to Romania (a country that holds my interest, because I have a Romanian ex-boyfriend), and to see Agalloch only added to the excitement!

I met Milla and Nik in 2007, at the Agalloch gig in Vosselaar, Belgium. I remember it so well, because Nik kind of stands out with his ‘Satanic’ looks (but such kind eyes), and I thought Milla had such a cute Italian accent. I liked them instantly! I offered them a ride back to their hotel in Turnhout, and from that moment on we kept in touch. The next year they came to the Agalloch gig in the Netherlands as well and it was like we had seen each other yesterday. I love them! I went to London last summer with my good friend Misha to visit Milla; alas Nik was working his butt off on a Swedish farm, so I didn’t see him.

I was 19 when I last traveled alone (to Canada), so I was a little nervous to go alone again. I couldn’t help but be kind of skeptical of Romania’s safety level for a woman alone. Milla assured me that I would be okay, as long as I kept using my head. So with that advice, I decided to stop worrying, do my research and go for it! Traveling alone was kind of fun indeed, but I was very happy to finally meet up with Nik and Milla on saturday, just because I could finally talk with people. I have tried to chat with Romanian people, but I found out that most of them are quite reserved or even grumpy. Many of them also don’t speak English, so that didn’t help in this matter. Maybe I had bad luck, I dunno. I met two nice guys at the Ibis hotel I stayed the first night (friday the 19th), the receptionists. They helped me look up time tables for the train, and they even were interested in Agalloch!

The traintable at Gara de Nord

The next day I had some time left before the train departed, and I walked around a little. I was really struck by the amount of rubbish on the streets, how shabby the buildings looked and how many street-dogs were wandering about! Quite a shocking difference with the Netherlands, where everything is so clean and structured. I didn’t like Bucharest that much to be honest, but on the other hand I don’t think its right of me to judge the city. I have only seen the area around the Gara, and mostly those areas aren’t the best looking. I wish I would have had time to explore the city centre, but there just wasn’t any.

Two women at Gara de Nord
Little puppy I found on the street

Train
The train experience amazed me even more. The train was very modern and comfortable (although a little more space for the legs would have been nice), but it went painstakingly slow! I don’t think it ever went faster than 40km/h at best. I swear I won’t curse at the Dutch trains again! The speed and efficiency of the Dutch trains are godlike compared to the Romanian trains. The view was very nice though, I snapped quite a few pictures.

When I finally arrived in Brasov I was really happy to get out. I packed my scarf, gloves and a woolen vest because according to Weather.com it was -3 or even -15 in Brasov. That appeared to be bullshit, the weather was nice! Like Nick (Wusz) later said: "Weather.com lied to you!". I will never trust Weather.com again! Brasov is a nice little city, with a beautiful centre. I walked to the pension Sofie, with some help from the local people it was quite easy to find. The lady at the reception was very nice, and called me a cab when it was time to get to the venue. Nik and Milla were still on the train, theirs was even slower than mine!

At the Reduta Cultural Centre a crowd had already assembled. I had to get in line to get my tickets and saw Don already. It was so nice to see him again, we chatted a little then I got my tickets. Downstairs I saw Jason with two American friends of his. They were Nick and Tyson, I recognized their names from Facebook. They were completely awesome, sometimes you instantly like people and I liked them! It was so good to Jason again too!

The show was about the begin in 30 minutes and I was kind of hungry, since I had only eaten breakfast. Alas, there was no more time to get something to eat and we decided to just go in. This show was a seated one, which is kind of weird. All seats were already taken, so we just stood at the side. The band performed a little ritual, with incense (that reminded me of the Catholic church) they walked through the crowd, it smelled really nice! Accompanied by a sample from the song Pantheist, it was really a good beginning. The stage was completely set up for this performance and looked atmospheric.

The band entered the stage to start playing and the sound quality was amazing! They started the show with ‘Dead Winter Days’, as usual. Milla and Nik came in after one minute and it was all hugs and cheers of happiness! I was so happy to see them! They didn’t miss much of the show, which was lucky for them. They told me that their train was very slow, and had more than one hour delay.

Agalloch was playing really well in this show, they were concentrated and into it. It was such a shame that this was a seated gig. The audience was really silent! Between the songs I could whisper to Milla and she could hear me! Wtf! Normally, you shout out your lungs and your throat is hoarse after a show. That’s the way it is supposed to be! Only the photographers were allowed to stand in front and snap pictures all the time. Nik got tired of it and went up to them and started headbanging. A couple of others joined him, but then one guy of the organization came and said they had to go back! Later that guy turned out to be Doru, the one who had sold us tickets even though the show was sold out. He was a really cool and funny guy, but he said that this was an agreement between the band and the organization, which later Don said it was not. Anyway, no headbanging at the front in this gig...I found it really annoying that photographers got priority above anything else, the music is for the audience! All in all, I enjoyed the show immensely in a musical way, but not in an atmospheric way. Thank the gods we still had the show in Bucharest to go to the next day. That is the subject of my next post, because that show is too magical to describe in just a few words!

After the show of course Nik and I had a bunch of stuff for them to sign. I bought the new album the band had printed just for the two gigs in Romania (just 250 printed). John and Aesop were also happy to see us again. I cannot stress this enough, but it is so nice to see that the band appreciates us coming a long way to see them. We do it with pleasure, personally I do it because apart from their amazing music they are such nice people. Their hearts are true and I love them for making such grand music and being such cool guys! I find it impossible to put these feeling into words, I don't think even in Dutch I would be able to. When I am seeing the show I am truly happy. It is almost the same feeling I have when I am playing in my orchestras or going to a classical concert. Sometimes musical experiences stir something inside me that is dormant most of the time. It puts my mind at ease and it fills my heart with joy and love for everyone around me. Sigh, sometimes I think I should have been born in the 70ies, I sound like a frikkin' hippy!

After we had all of our stuff signed we took a few pictures with the band, chatted some more and waited for them to finish packing. They were going to the Music Cafe to hang out, but I was really starving by now. We went with them to the Music Cafe, but then decided to go back to a pizzeria that was still open. My god, I was so hungry and was really glad to eat something decent. I think I hadn’t eaten a vegetable in two days, somehow they aren't really into that stuff in Romania. My pizza had vegetables though, and I was happy with that. We were really tired and took a cab back to the Pension. Day 3 and 4 will be in my next post.

Nik, John and me

The band, Nik and me

Milla and Aesop
Don signs something for Nik

...

Just got home from Romania, where I went with Nik and Milla to see Agalloch
Quick summary of the trip: WAUW!
A real post will follow shortly, but I'm dead tired right now and my neck is hurting because of the headbanging last evening :D
I'm going to take a nap; later in the evening I'll post some more.

For now, enjoy this picture, taken after the show in Bucharest.

Boekarest: eerste indruk

Vanuit het vliegtuig zag het land eruit als een gigantische lappendeken van akkers, veel groter dan ik van Nederland gewend ben. De bergen van Brasov heb ik ook al mogen zien vanuit de lucht. We landden en toen begon het spannende gedeelte van de reis. Gelukkig was er een cash machine gelijk in de aankomstenhal, want ik had NIETS op zak (lekker slim); nog geen eurocent. Bij een klein hokje haalde ik bij een uiterst chagerijnige vrouw een buskaartje voor de bus naar Gara de Nord en die liet gelukkig niet lang op zich wachten.

De busrit was leuk om rond te kijken. Het ziet er hier nogal verpauperd uit, en het is superdruk op de weg. Ik herinnerde me ineens weer een stukje uit de Volkskrant van 2006, toen een verslaggever de manier van autorijden in Boekarest onder de loep nam. Van tweebaanswegen werden driebaanswegen gemaakt, en dat is nu nog steeds zo. In de bus heb je er niet veel last van, want je gaat met een sukkelgangetje, maar links van me werd er toch een partij gescheurd en gemanoeuvreerd! Natuurlijk gingen de mensen met een Mercedes of Volvo onder hun kont het hardst. Ook zat bijna iedereen te bellen tijdens het rijden.

De meeste gebouwen zijn van beton en zien er op zijn best vervallen uit, en op z'n slechtst alsof het ieder moment in elkaar kan donderen. Je kijkt je ogen uit, en ik kan het niet echt beschrijven eigenlijk. Na ruim een uur kwam de bus aan bij Gara de Nord en probeerde ik alvast wijs te worden uit de treintijden voor morgen naar Brasov. Voor zover ik er wijs uit kon worden gaan er maar grofweg 3 treinen per dag naar Brasov en wil ik graag de Intercity hebben. Die zijn het schoonst en het snelst. De traagste, goorste doch goedkoopste treinen zijn de Personal treinen.

Ik liep naar het Ibis Hotel en had daar gelijk een gezellig gesprekje met de twee receptionisten. Ze waren zelfs geinteresseerd in Agalloch! Ze probeerden met te helpen met de trein, maar zelfs zij konden er weinig wijs uit worden op internet. Als het goed is gaat er morgen een InterCity om 13:00 naar Brasov en zou ik gemakkelijk een kaartje moeten kunnen kopen.

Ik zit nu trouwens op een vrij snelle laptop in de lobby te typen. Wat dat betreft heeft het Ibis het altijd goed voor elkaar. Je kan gratis internetten, de kamers zijn schoon en groot, en het personeel is erg vriendelijk.

Ben benieuwd wat de dag van morgen brengen zal!

Cultuur, boeken en zon!

Soms zijn er van die dagen die gewoon zo heerlijk zijn!

De dag begon eerst niet zo best, want ik lag namelijk om 2 uur op bed toen mijn bovenburen ineens besloten harde muziek te gaan draaien. Dat is de laatste maanden wel vaker en ik heb al verschillende dingen geprobeerd: rammen met een paraplu of bezemsteel op het plafond, oordoppen, maar in bed blijven woelen tot het stopt en aanbellen bij ze en dan snel naar binnen glippen. Ik denk echter dat ik de lafaard tactieken als gefaald kan beschouwen en gewoon even overdag bij ze aan moet bellen om te vragen of ze willen kappen met die onzin. Buiten het feit dat ze vaak harde muziek draaien kan ik ook wekelijks meegenieten van een echtelijke ruzie, dat vind ik dan wel weer grappig. Ik begrijp nooit goed waarom mensen in een relatie tegen elkaar moeten schreeuwen, lijkt mij een teken dat het niet zo goed gaat. Anyway, toen de takkeherrie eindelijk eens ophield kon ik vijf uurtjes slapen, voordat de wekker ging. Het plan van de dag: samen met Misha naar Amsterdam om wat cultuur te snuiven!

Het opstaan was zo makkelijk nog niet. Mijn looptrainingen voor de halve marathon zijn gestart, en in de tweede week ben ik nog niet bepaald in vorm. Spierpijn was dus mijn tweede compagnon van de dag. Op de fiets naar het Centraal Station viel me al op dat de temperatuur vrij aangenaam was en dat stemde me blij. Ik scoorde even een bakkie pleur op het station, Misha bleek er ook al te zijn. We konden vrijwel direct op een Intercity stappen en het halfuurtje treinen was zo voorbij, we hadden zoveel om over te kletsen! In Amsterdam moesten we de juiste tram nog even op zien te zoeken, het blijft ook een verwarrende bende daar. Buiten het feit dat de omgeving van het CS een bouwput is, snap ik ook niet waarom de trams twee vertrekpunten hebben. Arme toeristen, die moeten er al helemaal geen reet van snappen. Het tramritje naar het museumplein was erg vermakelijk, want op de hele route reden we langs bouwputten: de Noord-Zuid Lijn heeft inmiddels het Damrak bereikt (de halve straat ligt open), het Paleis op de Dam is VOLLEDIG ingepakt ter renovatie (het lijkt net een gigantisch in grijs pakpapier verpakt cadeau), de verzakte huizen aan de Vijzelgracht liggen er nog even sneu bij (evenals de straat) en ga zo maar door. Oh ja, ik vergeet nu de verbouwingen van het Rijksmuseum en het Stedelijk museum. Nou ja, er is al genoeg over geschreven en gezeken, maar toch, als je het ziet kan je niets anders doen dan een beetje meewarig het hoofd schudden bij zoveel gebrek aan gezond verstand. Wie haalt het in zijn hoofd om zoveel belangrijke gebouwen tegelijk te renoveren? Over de Noord-Zuid Lijn wil ik het al helemaal niet hebben. U kent de grap al wel dat Cohen als premier een Noord-Zuid Lijn van Maastricht naar Groningen wil laten aanleggen, neem ik aan? Mooi, laten we snel verder gaan.

Het ongeschonden Van Gogh Museum was als een celibataire priester in de Katholieke Kerk, een rariteit! Wij wapperden even vrolijk met onze museum jaarkaart en togen naar binnen. Het was dinsdagochtend, dus vrij rustig. Wat verdwaalde toeristen en heel veel groepjes dames op leeftijd waren ons gezelschap deze keer. We gingen als eerste naar de tijdelijke expositie van Gauguin, die begon met een terugblik op de Wereldtentoonstelling van Parijs 1889. Daar zat Gauguin in een cafe met prenten die later bekend zouden worden als de Volpini serie. Hij was namelijk niet uitgenodigd om zijn werk te laten zien op dit evenement, maar dat liet hij niet op zich zitten. Samen met wat maten toonde hij zijn werk in dat kleine cafe. Het was echter te klein om grote massa’s te trekken, dus erg succesvol was die kleine expo helaas niet. De schetsen die hij daar ten toon stelde, brachten wel enkele van zijn bekende thema’s te berde, waarvan vooral de badende vrouwen beroemd zijn.

We liepen verder naar de rest van deze tentoonstelling, die maar een enkele ruimte besloeg. Sommige werken waren wel mooi, maar het maakte op ons geen overweldigende indruk. Ik kan hier slechts voor mezelf spreken, maar vergeleken bij Van Gogh, vind ik het kleurgebruik van Gauguin wat te mat naar mijn smaak. Ook de onderwerpen van zijn doeken spreken me niet zo aan. Dat hele gebeuren met die badende vrouwen, wat is daar toch mee? Nu ik dit (dezelfde avond) opschrijf, kan ik me al geen enkel werk meer voor de geest halen. Heel jammer, want qua stijl waren sommige dingen erg interessant. Blijkbaar geldt voor mij dat als ik het onderwerp en kleurgebruik niet zo waardeer, het werk dan gelijk uit mijn geheugen verdwijnt. Er was een werk in de zaal dat wel mijn aandacht trok, getiteld ‘Sorrow’, maar dat bleek juist van Van Gogh te zijn. We liepen naar de collectie op de eerste verdieping, lekker Van Gogh kijken. Ik wilde erg graag weer even mijn favorieten van de vorige keer zien: De Naaiende Vrouw, De Oogst, en Korenveld met Kraaien. Er was wederom genoeg te zien, ook op de tweede en derde verdieping. Langzaam aan begon mijn maag tegen me te praten, dus we gingen naar het museumcafé. Daar was het ineens ongelooflijk druk. Zo’n vijftig mensen zaten met een grote ronde sticker op hun borst geplakt ‘Museum Plus Bus’. Ik ben altijd blij dat ik geen deel uitmaak van zo’n georganiseerd gebeuren (behalve als het m’n orkest betreft). Ondertussen kregen zij wel lekker jus d’orange, koffie en soep, terwijl wij ons moesten laten aftroggelen voor enkele simpele versnaperingen.

We vertrokken na een klein rondje door de museumshop (Van Gogh gummen in roze, rood, blauw en wit; voor de liefhebber) en buiten bleek het inmiddels heerlijk weer te zijn! Zon, aangename temperatuur, de jas kon open! Het Rijksmuseum konden we ook niet links laten liggen. Er zijn maar vier zalen open, maar wel met alle hoogtepunten daarin gepropt. Zo stonden we dus ineens oog in oog met enkele meesterwerken van Frans Hals, Vermeer (er stond niemand bij het Melkmeisje!) en uiteraard de werken van Rembrandt (inclusief de Nachtwacht). Er waren ook veel portretten uit de Gouden Eeuw. Die vind ik altijd zo hilarisch, die mensen hebben zulke protserige kleding aan, maar kijken er bere-chagrijnig bij. Ja, er waren genoeg ‘Calvinistische inteeltkoppen’ te zien, zoals Misha het zo mooi verwoorde (hij had echt even een rits aan mooie one-liners). De mensen uit die tijd toonden hun materiële rijkdom graag, maar trokken er een hoofd bij alsof ze wilden zeggen: “ja eigenlijk mag al die rijkdom niet, dus ik zal ter compensatie kijken alsof er een emmer stront naast me staat”. Alleen Rembrandt wist met zijn geniale belichtingstechnieken toch altijd wat van portretten te maken.

Nu hadden we wel genoeg cultuur gesnoven en bewogen wij ons al handenwrijvend richting boekwinkel nummer 1. De Selexyz in Amsterdam is lekker groot en al met al zijn we er zeker een uur binnen geweest. In deze winkel zit namelijk ook een klein café! Dat zou in iedere boekwinkel moeten zitten, ik zweer het. Het is zo relaxed om even wat te drinken en een boek uit de winkel door te bladeren. Natuurlijk waren er te veel boeken die aanlokkelijk waren om te kopen, maar ik verliet uiteindelijk met slechts een boekje over Churchill de winkel. Die lag bij de Ramsj voor vier euro en ik kocht het voornamelijk voor de typografie, ook al vind ik Churchill een interessant persoon hoor, daar niet van.
We gingen door naar Atheneum, een geweldige boekwinkel bestaande uit allerlei kleine kronkelkamertjes. Daar ging mijn hart sneller staan van hét boek uit het vakgebied van Internationale Betrekkingen ‘The Twenty Year Crisis’ van E. Carr. Ik heb het ooit geleend van de bieb en letterlijk verslonden, dus ik wilde het echt heel graag kopen. Helaas leent mijn budget zich er momenteel niet voor. Ook zou ik liever die kopie van de bieb willen hebben. Die viel van ellende bijna uit elkaar, rook lekker oud, en jan en alleman had in de kantlijn zitten krabbelen. Geweldig! Nou, hij staat op m’n verlanglijstje.

De laatste boekhandel was een Amerikaanse. Volgens mij heette die ook ‘The American Bookstore’, maar pin me er niet op vast. Deze was strakker ingericht, had een grote sectie SF/Fantasy, alsmede een batterij aan World of Warcraft boeken en poppetjes (wat ik heel hilarisch vond). De poppetjes van twee Murlocs had ik bijna meegenomen, maar ja, toch een beetje geldverspilling. M’n voeten deden inmiddels echt superveel pijn, dus het werd zo langzamerhand tijd om terug te gaan naar de trein.

Bij de Bijenkorf, die overigens nog overeind staat, gingen we even plassen en daar hebben ze toch een achterlijk systeem. Je moet eerst 0,50 cent betalen bij een automaat, en dan krijg je zelfs een bonnetje voordat je naar binnen mag. Jeminee zeg, ik wil alleen even snel pissen, doe normaal! Het WC papier was niet eens zacht, gewoon van dat enkele-laags gerecycled kut spul. Waar betaal ik dan die 0,50 cent voor, als ik niet eens eerste klas m’n billen af kan vegen? Tot zover deze verhandeling over de WC’s bij de Bijenkorf.

De trein naar Utrecht stond al klaar en wederom verliep de rit voorspoedig. We genoten nog even na van deze perfecte dag, de eerste echte lente dag! Het was supergezellig, en in de lente gaan we deze actie zeker herhalen, maar dan waarschijnlijk in Arnhem.

Rome, The Eternal City

Together with my friend Bart, I’ve visited Rome from 1 - 5 march. We departed from Eindhoven, with Ryan-who-wants-to-pay-30-euros-for-a-suitcase-Air. Well, I certainly didn’t want to pay 30 euros for a suitcase, so I used the biggest daypack I had and stuffed it full with clothes, books and my two camera’s. I hate flying a lot, it’s boring and there’s never enough legspace! We met a very nice Greek girl on the flight, so it turned out to be a pleasant trip after all. Difference between now and 10 years ago: these days people want you to add them on Facebook after hanging out with them once. I think it’s kinda nice though, it shows that people want to keep in touch with you somehow. Not that you’ll become friends (probably), but it can be fun to see what people are up to. The Greek girl was studying abroad in Utrecht, so who knows Bart and I will see her again!

Our hotel in Rome was very close to Termini Station and not hard to find. You see, I am a woman who can read maps! Yes, you read that correctly. Unfortunately, it’s mostly because I am a control freak and want to know where I am heading. The hotel was basic, nothing special, except for the gnome housekeeper maybe. The breakfast turned out to be a joke though. The served pre-packed croissants (heated a bit in the microwave) as food. You gotta be kidding me, Italy, the country with the best food and you give me this sugary crap? I refused to eat it. To save some money, we usually ate bread with cheese and some fruit in the mornings and afternoons, so we could go to restaurants in the evening. I ate the best pizza’s in Rome, my goodness. The last two nights, we ate in a restaurant near our hotel where the service was excellent and the pizza even better. They gave me a flower at the end of the meal, they knew how to flatter the women!

I don’t even know where to begin to describe what we saw. It’s simply too much. I can’t recall any other city being so full with art. I mean, in Rome you literally stumble upon one historical monument after another. Art and culture is everywhere! This is awesome at first, but somehow it can also be ‘too much’. You just don’t know where to look, and it is impossible to know the story behind every thing you see. So, it’s just a matter of relaxing and enjoying what you see. In my case it’s also taking pictures of everything. Although I have to admit, Bart was sometimes taking more pictures than me.

Our first aim was The Colosseum. I had already been there once when I was 17 and I wasn’t interested in culture back then.

I was curious how I would experience the colosseum now. We walked from our hotel, and it took us some 30 minutes to get there + 30 minutes of stopping and taking pictures. The best thing about going to Rome in march is that it isn’t crowded at all. There was virtually no queue for the Colosseum and that made it easier for me to enjoy it all (I hate crowded places). Bart really liked the Colosseum as well. We wanted to go to the Forum Romanum after this, but it was already 4:45 pm. The guards didn’t let us in anymore. We decided to walk to Piazza Venezia, where it was pretty crowded because of some demonstration. The view was nice though, and there was a church we could visit. The biggest and most preposterous building in Rome is also there: Il Vittoriano.


The Trevi Fountain was just how I remembered it; packed with couples kissing each other. I don’t see how it is in any way romantic to kiss each other while hundreds of other people around you are doing the same thing, it looked rather comical to me.

We decided to get something to eat and we found a nice little restaurant, in a street somewhere behind the Pantheon. Only locals were there, usually a good sign. The food was splendid, and the electricity failed too. It was funny watching the two owners babble in Italian really fast while they tried to fix the power. We headed back to the hotel, because it had been a very long day (I woke up at 5 am). Thankfully, the bed in the hotel was okay and we slept for 10 hours or more.

The next day we visited three museums, where I saw so much sculptures! The best was Villa Borghese of course. I’ve never seen such splendid works of art together in one place. The whole villa is art, every little thing decorated. I’m so sad that you couldn’t take pictures there, but on the other hand I could focus completely on the art. We took an audio guide with us. Audio guides are seriously a superb addition to museums, they make it so much more fun!

With one statue in particular I had a wonderful experience. It was the statue of Apollo and Daphne by Bernini (foto invoegen). I had an experience that I usually only get from classical music. I thought it was so beautiful that I felt shivers through my body, tears and all that. I felt very delighted. Aside from music there are now other art-forms that can make me feel in heaven. Visitors in the Villa are only allowed in for two hours. The time passed way too quickly, I was very reluctant to leave....So people, if you go to Rome, be SURE to visit the Villa Borghese. It is something you will never forget!

Another thing I’ll never forget is the Vatican and the museums. The St. Pieter is even bigger than I expected, and the museum are enormous. It took us 20 minutes or more from the entrance to walk to the Sistine Chapel and 20 minutes to walk back. I can’t even begin to tell about what I’ve seen there as I’m getting a bit tired of writing now. Aside from the museums there was also the Pantheon, which I liked very much from the inside. The giant hole in the ceiling is quite a sight to behold!

I’ll stop writing here for now, maybe I’ll write a post later about the Vatican museums, I don’t feel like that now!

Rome, my goodness what a city!

I'm back from a 5 day break in Rome. My goodness, that city is crazy! So much culture, so much history! March is a perfect time to visit, the temperature is nice, there are NO QUEUES for the museums and the hotels are cheaper.

Top 3:

1. Villa Borghese. Oh my my, if I think about it now I want to go back! The Bernini statues were of such glory and perfection that they almost made me cry. The whole villa is art, the ground on which it stands should be made sacred!

2. Vatican Museums. They would top Villa Borghese if it were for the amount of art and value of that art, but it was so big. I experienced 'cultural overload' there. If you see so many fresco's of Raphael and his companions then you get numb for them. The culmination was the Sistine Chapel, where I just stood dumbfounded for 20 minutes, not knowing where to look. I had a museum guide with me, tried to make sense of it all and FAILED. It also didn't help that constantly guards were bothering people to keep quiet and to forbid them from making pictures. Understandable, but it didn't improve the atmosphere...

3. Italians. I was so fascinated by the Roman citizens! Some things I thought were totally awesome. Like, going to a little bar, ordering an espresso and drinking it at the bar. How I wished that I could speak Italian so I could've joined in on their little conversations. I just love how the language sounds! It's so much better than Dutch that sounds like gutterspeak in comparison. Most Italians are dressed very well, especially the men! I took some pictures secretly with my small camera hehe. Everybody seemed to be in a hurry constantly, walking superfast. Also, the Italians drive their cars as if they should have been somewhere ten minutes ago. Crossing a road, therefore, was almost an epic adventure itself. I am very glad that I can write here on my computer now, a couple of times I thought a taxi (it's always the taxi's!) was going to drive over me, then at the last moment it halted and let us escape our death once more.
One thing I found totally disgusting though was the fact that so many Italians smoke. In the Netherlands, my life is virtually free of smoke since it has been banned from most places, but in Italy everybody puffs away. You keep walking in other people's smoke, it's gross.

My favorite pictures so far: