Amsterdam

Va va wooooooooommmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Absolutely stunning!! Very close to being my favourite European city so far. For such a long time, Amsterdam to my mind represented sleaze, dope, the Red Light District and general party place. Oh how mistaken I was!! My work-related research tells me that Amsterdam is THE most popular tourist destination in Europe, with Barcelona coming in second. After this trip, I am not surprised.

Amsterdam is all that it is touted to be. It’s a city that embraced very forward ideas and legalised prostitution, same sex marriages, abortion etc way before any of their counterparts worldwide. Yet, it is so much, so much more..To begin with, little is written about what a truly charming city this is. ‘Venice of the north’ some call it. Other say, Venice must be called, ‘Amsterdam of the South’. It is surprising though – Venice has found so many artists appreciating it – atleast a million paintings done so far on the charming little canals in Venice, not so much on Amsterdam though. It is a city that has been largely built by reclaiming land from the sea. It has a few hundred canals with a few thousand bridges. Something about water makes me insane – it just adds so much character to a city. Every few minutes of walking and one comes across a water body, complete with beautiful trees around it. This place must really come alive in summer, there is so much vegetation and I am told that the streets are lined with Tulips.

The next truly beautiful aspect I loved is the architecture. One of my favourite things about London (and not so much about NYC or Mumbai) is the white period buildings, done in 3-4 storeys. White is a predominant color in London’s architecture as is brown in Rome and green in Stockholm. But in Amsterdam, red it is. The same beautiful brick buildings in various shades and hues of reddish brown. Brick buildings similar to the Gothic architecture, but done in a very unique Dutch style. Again, like London, no high rises – most buildings are 3-4 storied. The tram is a big mode of public transport and streets are quite narrow and again mostly of stone (not concrete) – again adding onto that mystical character of the city. Overall, it was a treat to the eyes – I have fallen in love with this city.

People of all ethnicities live here – the city is very crowded unlike Greece. Housing has been a predominant problem, so people resorted to building house boats – there are 5,000 house boats in Amsterdam, with water, electricity and other necessary connections!! Food is never a problem, the huge inflow of tourists have resulted into plenty of Chinese, Mexican, Indian food joints all over the city.

I am a self confessed Museum Geek, so spent a large part of one day at the Van Gogh museum. Now this is a must visit, even if you don’t really enjoying art so much. It has about 200 paintings from various stages of Van Gogh’s life. Van Gogh and Rembrant are the Dutch contributions to the Great Masters. Something about Van Gogh’s life is so disturbing – the story of a loser in his living, but genius after death. A story of a knowledge of something powerful, the ability to see and touch the other world….the sensitivity of a true artist, yet trapped in the frustration of the lack of recognition, an inability to communicate to the world…..yet such sheer genius in work……a story of it having gone wrong…unrequited love, unfulfilled dreams …yet spectacular beauty in the mind. I can go on and on about Van Gogh – one of the most engaging painters of all time, truly one of the revered Great Master, his work inspired the whole Expressionist movement thereafter. Some of the famous Expressionists even followed in the master’s footsteps and suffered from a series of mental derangements towards the later part of their lives. I think Van Gogh’s tragic real life story in many ways was a point of identification for many people worldwide….his unhappy life, yet his mind – oh his beautiful mind reflected in his paintings…his thick brush strokes, rough painting style….the desperation, frustration, hope – all reflected in each and every stroke…..The classical masters were excellent technicians, brilliant with an expression of reality as is. Van Gogh was not high on technique, but the expression of reality in its raw emotional sense as he perceived it….expression of emotions through the nature….hope for eg, through a full blossomed almond tree, insanity through swirling Cyprus trees…..the rawness is there in his paint, in his colors….this is carried forward in the Expressionist movement in paintings. Bright colors, vivid expressions – starkness of reality in its pyschic emotional sense. Van-Gogh himself was a post-impressionist, drawing many painting techniques from the impressionist era. Spent a 100 euro buying every print I could of his paintings. Apparently, he could sell only one painting while he was alive. Such a pity.

Anyways, I am coming back here again in summer…..Amsterdam is up there….definitely go visit if you plan to do a European tour sometime.