Prague: Mucha, Hemingway and the 800Kr ticket.

adriennesipLeave a comment

Natasja was excited when we found an Irish pub in Prague that served a full Irish breakfast. I was excited because it was called O'Reilly's and made me think of Jessy and John! Eggs, hash browns, beans & toast!

I met a guy traveling in New Zealand, who took photos of the man-hole covers in each town to chronologically document his trip. It's a good idea, so now I do it too! The sign on the right initially freaked Natasja & me out! Were we in an area where people were mugged at gunpoint?!? Nope, someone had used a Sharpie to alter the sign. (But we still haven't figured out what the words say…is that 'N' backwards?)

Off to find Mucha! I must admit that before I'd arrived in Prague I had never heard of Alfonse Mucha. I was definitely a big fan of Art Nouveau art/architecture but I appreciated it more as a genre and hadn't really considered the individuals artists behind the art. Today, that was about to change!

The museum was small, only 3 rooms but it was a great introduction to the life of my new favorite artist. Alfonse Mucha was born in 1860 in Monrovia- the area that currently divides the Czech Republic from Slovakia. He had attended art school in Vienna but hit the big time in 1894 in Paris when he was commissioned to create show posters for the legendary actress, Sarah Bernhardt. He was instantly famous and the posters that accompanied Bernhardt's shows became as anticipated as her next performance.

In 1900, he designed the Pavillion of Man for the Paris World's Fair. In 1906 spent time in New York, doing portraits & looking for a financial backer for a series of 20 enormous paintings depicting the history of his beloved Slavic people. 1910 he returned home to lend his skills to the Municipal House in Prague (below).

Attribution:Jorge Royan (used by creative commons license)

In 1918, after WWI, Mucha designed the money & stamps for the new Czechoslovakia. In 1931, he completed an immense stained glass window for St. Vikus, the cathedral in Prague castle.

Unfortunately, when the Nazi first came into Prague, Mucha's Masonic activity & fame made him a target. He was one of the first people 'questioned' by the Gestapo and died from pneumonia shortly after being released. If you're still reading this you may appreciate Mucha's website, http://www.muchafoundation.org/.

Natasja & I used TripAdvisor to find the best museums & restaurants in Prague, and that night we searched out a tiny place known for their unusual cocktails called the Hemingway Bar. It did not disappoint. It was a small door in a dark side street that opened into a cozy, dark bar. We sat at the bar & Ondrej came over to give us the menu & the Hemingway etiquette rules. Natasja had already broken #5 by talking to the guy next to us, 'Hi! What are you drinking? Are you from Tibet?' Nope, he was Russian…

Luckily, the Russian (Danzan) was in town to see the Dali Lama and open to conversations with nosy tourists. By the end of the evening Danzan & Natasja were Facebook friends (breaking rule #7) sharing sips of Absinthe. Absinthe is not designed to be enjoyed straight up, Ondrej explained the process to us.

A small amount of the greenish, anise-flavored liqueur is put in a glass. A flat, slotted spoon in placed across the top of the glass. A sugar cube is placed on the spoon & a steady dripping of water melts it into the glass. It's all very classy. Or maybe it was Ondrej's suspenders that made it classy. We had a great time chatting with our new friends & when we decided to head back to our hostel they were protesting, “Don't go! Stay for one more!” Maybe if we had stayed longer, the 800Kr ticket wouldn't have happened…

Natasja & I are still a bit unclear on why the 15 min metro ticket we bought was not valid. But the facts are clear. We caught the Metro home from the bar and as we exited the escalator a giant, burly man Ina dark blue jacket asked to see our tickets. We proudly produced 2 tickets, and were told that they weren't valid for use in the city center, only the other zones. Arg. In case you'd like a reminder of what those blasted machines looked like… Here!

Natasja made a valiant effort and asked the man if we could just purchase the proper 24Kr tickets right now, since it was an honest mistake made by silly tourists. Nyet. He showed us his 'badge' and we were informed that he could give us EACH an 800Kr ticket if we'd rather. No thanks. We made one last plea to not pay the stupid fine but the guy didn't budge. In fact, he pulled out his phone & asked if we'd like him to call the police in to clear up this confusion. This guy was serious! So we paid and fumed back to our room. Thank goodness we had some spectacular new roomies to tell the story to, Priya & Remona! I got up on a chair so they coud get an idea of how big & grumpy the ticket man was! We laughed a lot and Natasja got to tell them her story of bribing a train conductor in order to get to an Ashram in Priya & Remona's country, India. Gotta love making new friends!

 

Prague/Praha/Praag: It all depends on how you see it.

adriennesip1 Comment

Saturday, September 14th

Elly & I had a relaxing morning; I packed and then we walked to the park to recap our adventures and drink a Club Mate'. They sell it at every refreshment stand in Berlin. Elly was sure that this was some kind of local beer, but then saw a librarian drinking it at work! Turns out, it's locally made, carbonated tea with a syrupy sugar flavor. It's what you would call an 'acquired taste'.

All this talk of Clib Mate' reminded me of this: fun with Googlie eyes!

1- A trash can (thanking you for the hotdogs.)

2- A cherub (You can tell that the tall cherub is totally spreading rumors.)

3- Club Mate' is more appealing with eyes.

After our shenanigans, we hugged goodbye and I caught the U-Bahn at the station near Elly's (SchlesischesTor) and made my way towards Hauptbahnhof (a big train station & 4 floors of shops).

I had just enough time to buy Natasja some Duncan Donuts and find my reserved seat on the train. I had attempted to buy my tickets on-line, but they wanted to charge me 18€ to mail me my 75€ tickets. While in Berlin, I went to the train station and bought the same ticket 'on special' for 44€! Score!

The ride was 4.5 hours long, the first hour was just industrial wasteland as we exited Berlin. After we passed Dresden we were following the Elde river and it was picturesque! Often, the far bank had a paved trail and we saw many people biking, hiking and even camping along the river.

That evening when I arrived at Prague's main train station (Hlavni nasrazi) things got a bit tricky. I felt like I was on The Amazing Race! I had to get Czech Krona in order to buy a ticket into town, but no one spoke English. I eventually found a 'Bankomat' (no wonder saying 'ATM' didn't help me) and got $1400Kr. But the ticket machine only took coins! (Later, I figured out there is an attendant at a ticket window.) Next, I bought a yogurt, so I had change for the machine and with the help of my guidebook, managed to purchase a ticket (12Kr)! It was only 2 stops on the Metro, then I was wandering the dark street, looking for my hostel, Miss Sophie's.

After a 20 minute confusion with our bed assignments, I stashed my bags in the under-bed-rolling-locker (great idea!) and walked toward Wenseslas Square.

I found my way down to the National Museum (Narodini Muzeum) – (the awesome desk staff informed me that from 8pm- 1am was Free Museum Night (Prazska Muzejni Noc)!) but the line was long so I headed back to Miss Sophie's to see if Natasja's plane had arrived.

And she was!!! YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY!YAY!YAY!YAY!YAAAAY!!!!

We headed back out to the museum where we admired 3 huge portraits of Franz Jozeph, used a 150 year old printing press and tried on a fancy gentleman's hat.

(Do you think he noticed I was wearing his hat?) We stayed at the museum until 1am, then caught the 'futuristic' Soviet metro back to our hostel.

 

Sunday, September 14

The next morning, near a traffic circle with a fanciful fountain, we found the restaurant Zanzibar. They served fresh ginger tea and had great eggs/omelets! Then, off we went, down 'Ameriky Street' to wander around Old Town.

 

We saw the Charles bridge.

Natasja took this awesome pic of Wenseslas Square (which is more of a boulevard than a square…) The National Museum is at the top of the hill.

There were some pianos strewn about town, for people to play. And we found Wenseslas riding an upside down horse in the Lucerne building. (Also, lattes!)

Then we headed down to explore the Old Town square, where all the tourists converge.

The square (namesti) is huge, surrounded on all sides by gorgeous buildings and old churches. The astronomical clock is here as well- it was built in 1410 as a tourist attraction and people are still gathering to watch it every hour. It is beautiful but keep your expectations low, it's hourly 'performance' consists of two little doors that open to reveal…the 12 apostles!!! Yahoo!

We wandered the market, had tea and at 2pm headed back to that blasted clock to meet up with our Royal Free Walking Tours guide. She was awesome & had many sad stories to tell us about the history of Prague. For example, the man who built the clock in 1410 was Master Hanoush and Prague was so worried that he would make another clock for a different town that they poked out his eyes! He ended up throwing himself into the clock gears & the clock didn't work for the next 100 years because no one was smart enough to fix it. Ha!

Enough heavy stuff, just look at these cute pix of Natasja to help you feel better.

The walking tour was 2.5 hours of interesting history with Bianca- we learned about Charles the 4th, who built the bridge & university that, 600 years later, still bear his name. That's him, in the left panel of the photo below.

Prague was also home to Franz Kaftka, the photo on the right is from one of his stories about a man who finds an empty suit walking by his window and rides it through town. Thanks to Alfonse Mucha, the building is the most interesting Art Deco design in Prague- the Municipal House. In a city so full of Art Deco design, this was my favorite, there will be more photos later. Promise.

Bianca told us that Mozart loved Prague too. He wrote the opera, Don Giovanni, for the Czech people. Alfonso Mucha was a big Czech patriot as well, and at the end of WWI, when Czechloslovakia became a country (1918) , he lent his artistic talents to the new government. Mucha designed their printed money, postage stamps and other materials. I bet they were pretty, just like the lady in the photo below. Mucha rocks.

Bianca also clued us in to Prague's tumultuous last century. It started in the 1930's with the Nazi, then the Communists ruined Czechloslovakia. Resistance grew during the Prague Spring in 1968. The next year, Jan Palek, set himself on fire in front of the National Museum. 180,000 demonstrators arrived at Palek's funeral, but the Communists weren't forced out until the 'Velvet Revolution', two decades later.

The weather had been fairly rainy and when we went to explore the Prague Patagonia store, Natasja ended up buying a sweet jacket! The staff were great & even pulled up the Facebook page of the Portland Patagonia store so I could show them my friend, Matt!

Later, Natasja & I found a spectacular little Italian restaurant to escape the rain and I had the best mushroom risotto ever! It was mushroom season, so all the mushrooms were fresh & wild-picked! Yum!

Tomorrow we see the Mucha museum & drink Absinthe at the Hemmingway bar! Stay tuned!

 

Berlin: A bear pit, St. Peter’s Basilica & Parliament Dome.

adriennesipLeave a comment

Friday, September 13th

While we were planning our final day in Berlin, I ran across a list called, “10 quirky things to see in Berlin”! Perfect! It said that bears have been considered the ‘mascot’ of Berlin since its founding and in 1939 the city built a bear pit to house the 2 bears they got as a gift from the city of Bern. (They had a bear mascot too.) After the bear pit got bombed in WWII, Bern gave them 2 new bears- they had 33 cubs together! Currently, two brown bears live in a little park behind the Märkisches museum in Elly’s neighborhood! Off we go!

This is Maxi, she was born Jan. 14, 1986 (or this is Schnute, Maxi’s mom, born Jan. 18, 1981). They live in this small habitat, called, ‘Bärenzwinger’ or ‘Bear Pit’. The pit is in the middle of a Köllnischen Park, directly across from a play structure! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Köllnischer_Park)

 

Next, we headed towards the Turkish market. Along the way, we passed this lovely fountain. The church in the background is St. Michael’s, the dome & statue of the Archangel survived the war, but the church is missing its roof! Look closely, there is a round hole in the front of the building where a large stained glass window should sit.

 

 

Onwards- to the Turkish… Oh wait! Bike school! Kids in Berlin have to get a license to ride a bike on their own. We passed a cute pretend street where the police were instructing the kids on bike safety.

Finally, we made it to the market! I had never had a fresh fig before, so we bought a few. They were soft & sweet , with a little hint of celery flavor. We tried some nut/fruit bars, smelled some mint & passed by the Honigkranz. We listened to a busker playing ‘Paint it Black’ by the Rolling Stones on a twangy, Turkish crank guitar. It was a lively atmosphere, packed with people on a Friday morning.

Whew! Big morning! We headed back to Elly’s to check email and take a break. Berlin doesn’t have widespread Wi-Fi like Amsterdam. That morning, we had requested a visit to the glass dome on top of the parliament building & we were awaiting our official invitation to tour the dome in the evening. It arrived! Thanks Ihr Besucherdienst!

Now that we had secured a 7:30pm appointment at the Reichstag Building, we made our way towards Museum Island to check out St. Peter’s Basilica. On the way, we took a detour to see a cute park that Elly remembered from childhood visits to Berlin with her parents.

 

 

And there was this concrete amphitheater, covered with graffiti, that Elly declared was, “Very Berlin!”

 

 

We hopped the S-Bahn and ta-da! There it was, the Basilica! Check out those gorgeous domes!

We admired the sanctuary, then climbed up to the central dome and circled our way up to the walkway, high above Berlin.
Cartooned photos from the top of the dome.

The grassy sections used to be the promenade and gardens of the royalty. The circle on the left is a fountain, the circle on the right is a giant stone bowl that was intended to go into the building on its right…but it was too big! That building is the Pergamon Museum and in the 1940’s, the square would fill with people coming to hear Hitler speak from its front steps.

It was almost time for our official appointment at the parliament dome! On our walk there, we passed the Brandenburg gate at sunset!

 

 

We arrived 15 min. before the appointed time to go through security. They checked our invitation twice and matched our passports to the names on their list. After our bags were x-rayed and we got patted down, we were led in a group to the parliament doors by a guide.

 

 

As we waited to get through the air-lock, we could see into the immense, circular room where the parliament meets, under the dome. It was impressive and I could imagine a futuristic, intergalactic council meeting happening there. Then, we were cleared to enter the elevator and exited on the roof of the German Parliament, in front of the dome.

The dome was pretty amazing. The views were great, it was .00€ (aka. Free!) and the design was interesting and environmentally friendly! The funnel-shape in the center of the dome is covered with mirrors to direct sunlight into the circular meeting room, below (saving electricity!). The oval piece in between the mirrored cone & the spiral walkway is a shade and it rotates to diffuse the sunlight. Pretty neat!

The top of the dome is opened to the sky!

We left the dome and headed to an Ex-pat dinner held at the bookstore, ‘Another Country’. A yummy feast of Mexican food with some new friends and then we took our tired selves home. Tomorrow I take the train to Prague to meet up with Natasja! Hieperdepiep! Hoorah!

Berlin: Poor but Sexy. (Day 1 & 2)

adriennesipLeave a comment

Thursday: 9/11

My EasyJet flight out of Amsterdam (AMS) left @ 9am, so Natasja was up @ 6am and rode the tram with me all the way to my train, which connected me to AMS. Thank goodness! I'm sure I would have sleepily missed a transfer & ended up in a huge security check line and had a mild panic attack. Thanks, Natasja! Now off to Berlin!

I made my way via train to Berlin's metro system; the U-Bahn goes under the ground, the S-Bahn above. I passed epic amounts of graffiti & plenty of derelict buildings. This wasn't like the neat, orderly streets of Amsterdam. Walking to Elly's flat, every inch of wall along the street was haphazardly spray painted – and trash & leaves had accumulated in the doorways. Elly is renting the 4th floor apartment of her father's former exchange student, who has moved in with his girlfriend. The apt is full of books on art & African artifacts. it was like living in a museum/library. Elly's dad is German & Elly has duel citizenship and speaks German.

I made it to Elly's by lunch time and we ate a giant meraigne & a nutty cookie from the Turkish pastry place by the S-Bahn station and I started to warm up to the neighborhood. We wandered thru the neighborhood to the Berlinische Gallery which was mostly closed for Art Week renovations. Disappointing, but we did learn how to make Nazi Meth. Totally random.

We walked the East Side Gallery- which is a long stretch of the Berlin Wall with art painted all along it.

Next, Elly had a meeting @ YAAM- a city block set up like a small beach town in Africa. They trucked in a huge amount of sand & hammocks and set up an outdoor bar, some shops and an activity area for kids. It functions as a free community center and the programs are well attended, but its proximity to a booming new development means that it probably won't be around in a few years. (The encroaching building is in the top, center of the photo.)

It rained the rest of the day- we walked home and decided to stop for a beer at Edelweiss, a cute bar in an old train station. We look pretty good for having walked home in a downpour. Do you like my candelabra?

We dried off then head out to the jazz club for dinner. I had a very German meatloaf paddy, it was yummy. We got charged 6€ just to listen to the live jazz- which we discovered when our check came. 😦

Friday: 9/12

My 2nd favorite Australian, Troy, heard that I was in Berlin & INSISTED that we go on a full-day Brewer's tour. Neither Elly or I are big drinkers so I kept putting him off. When I finally went to the website & discovered that 'Brewer's' is the name of the walking tour company, we booked right away. It cost 15€ and was 7+ hours with our tour guide, Jonathan (a French/ Israeli Jew) with a good sense of humor and great English.

A tour of Berlin is most often focused on the division of East & West and on Hitler & the Jews. I know it is important to walk the streets where history took place and Jonathan did a great job of keeping a potentially depressing tour upbeat. In the top photo, the brass squares are an art installation, placed in front of a home or job site of a person taken by the Gestapo. The plaque says,

“In this place lived/worked
ALICE ROSENBERG.
Born 1911
Deported 1942
Died in Auschwitz”

Jonathan pointed out that in order to read the plaques you must bow your head. Also, the more you try to rub away the words, the shinier the brass becomes. Earlier, I had spotted one of these when Elly and I walked to the East Gallery and we had paused, with our heads lowered to read it. Then, raising our heads, we search for the building where Alice had lived until the Nazis took her to Auschwitz. I would not have expected a 3″ square of brass to be such a potent reminder.

This Jewish memorial, near the Brandenberg gate was the most moving place we visited. It is a series of concrete columns, the size of a table top, arranged in rows. As you can see in the photo, they start out short and as you walk down the rows, the ground dips down and the columns grow taller. Like the brass squares, it seems like a simple design- but it makes you feel something and share in the experience.

Right about now, Jonathan would lighten the mood by making fun of Germans for being too literal or by telling a corny joke. Here it goes:

A man walks into a bar and notices a sound coming from the basket of peanuts. He leans in and the peanuts say- “You, Sir, have a very nice tie on today! Wow, what sparkly eyes you have! We wish we could be as handsome are you are!” The man looks up in amazement at the bartender and says, “What kind of peanuts are these?!?” To which the bartender replies,
“Oh… The peanuts are complimentary.”

This is the 'Ampleman' from the crosswalks, who tells the East Germans when it's ok to cross the street. The 'stop' Ampleman is red & wears the same hat but has his arms by his sides. They're meant to look cute because they were designed to entertain the children of East Berlin.

Jonathan liked to point out ironic things- like this souvenir stand near the biggest US checkpoint in Berlin, Checkpoint Charlie. These are imitation Soviet military hats, which were made in China & are being sold by the Turkish Mafia. I just like the way this photo turned out.

Snack Break @ the Turkish Market!

Folded bread with spinach, tomato and lots of sesame seeds, Elly buying curry spice, honey marzipan and Elly in a hanging wicker chair, just like the one G'ma used to have in her basement! Now, back to the tour!

Elly, pretending to be a bored German teenager. A musical cherub riding a lion. Those blue pipes are the sewer lines, moved above ground during road construction. A quote from 1820, “When a government starts burning books, later they will burn people.” On a plaque in front of the library where the Nazis burned 20,000 books. Next to the plaque, there is a window looking underground at empty bookshelves.

Our tour also included a 100 year old dance club & Hitler's bunker location (no bunker now) and concluded at the Brandenburg Gate. It is quite a grand structure but it became a world-famous landmark during the televising of the Berlin Wall coming down in 1989. In the same square as the gate is the Hotel Adlon where Michael Jackson dangled his baby over the balcony with a napkin on its head.

Interesting tidbits: Now you can tour Berlin in a cheap/loud/safari-print Communist-built car (nick-named 'Trobi') that East Berliners would have been wait-listed 15 YEARS to purchase. The lower picture is of the 'Mohrenstrasse' or the subway station for the Mohrs (A dark-skinned ethnic group). Jonathan brought us here especially to tell us that at the same time they were tearing apart Hitler's office this station needed renovation, so to save money (& increase irony) the city decided to use the marble floor tiles from Hitler's office to line the walls of the station. Therefore, the floor that was trod upon by one of the most racist men in the 20th century was used to improve an U-Bahn station named after people Hitler despised. Ha! Take that, Hitler!

On the way home we passed by the Ritter Sport store! Yay! German chocolate! There were so many new flavors to try and I was amazed that I only spent 10€ on chocolate! Elly and I had been walking the city for over 7 hours so we headed home to plan our final day together in Berlin. Let's just say, it will involve a pit with a bear in it!

 

 

Amsterdam: Drag Queen Day & Buttocks Day

adriennesip1 Comment

The day started off with Van Gogh but after we accidentally stumbled upon a street party in De Jordaan, the Drag Queens rules the day. So here’s one of them, just to start us off. She’s telling that guy to get off her stage or she’ll but a stiletto where the sun don’t shine.

Now we can get back to Vincent.

Amsterdam has an amazing 3-floor Van Gogh museum – it is curated chronologically, so the first floor is his early works & its interesting to ‘watch’ as he learns to master perspective. There are also exhibits with medical scans of his paintings that show how he’d paint over paintings that he didn’t satisfy him. Amother room is dedicated to painting he did in the asylum after he had a few psychotic episodes & cut his own ear off. The biggest ‘draws’ are Sunflowers and Almond Branch but my new favorite is Thundercloud.

The Almond Branch is Natasja’s favorite, but I had never seen it! The deep color of the blue/purple background is perfect with the delicate pink almond blossoms. The walls of the museum were brightly painted to compliment the paintings. The only way this museum could have been improved is if they also had Starry Night; but I guess we have to leave something for the New York City tourists! We weren’t the only ones who thought so- there was a block-long line @ 10:30am! Luckily, our museum passes let us go in a separate line & we hardly waited at all! Below are my nominations for Tackiest & Least Sensitive museum gift.

Natasja & I head to her yoga-friend’s flat to celebrate their guru’s birthday & on the way we stopped at the Blue Tea House (Blauwe Theehuis) in Vondelpark. It was built in 1937, looks like 3 saucers stacked on top of each other and is the best spot for a latte on a sunny afternoon. Vondelpark is a main thruway for bikers, pigeons, joggers and tourists so it has a Central Park vibe to it.

A short walk later & we arrive at Ommurti’s building. We ring the doorbell but instead of hearing the buzz that indicates the door has unlocked- we heard a clank & a metallic chain sliding in a metal pipe… Hmmm. Opening the door I see our hostess at the top of a skinny staircase, 2 flights- straight up! She has just yanked a handle mounted on the wall that pulls a chain connected to the lock on the door. Beats walking down those stairs just to let us in!

There are 4 of us gathered for a ‘Satsang’- chanting & meditation dedicated to Guru Sivananda’s birthday. It is laid-back and joyful. Susan plays the harmonium and Ommurti & Natasja take turns leading mantras. Then Susan shares a few paragraphs from some of Sivanada’s teachings. The funniest one talks about shaking hands with the shrubs. Gurus don’t always take themselves so seriously.

We have tea & vegan snacks, then head out to explore De Jordaan. As we cross over a canal we hear Aretha Franklin blaring in the distance. Aretha = Party, so we head for the music. It turns out that a bar next to the Tulip Museum is celebrating their 85th anniversary with a block party! There is a stage and a pair of Drag Queens, lip-syncing. Then, people get called up onstage to sing… Some of them can, and some- not so much. It’s a lot like Karaoke. One of the folks with a good voice- Henny Lester- had a 1-Hit wonder in the 70’s about life being a carousel. Luckily, it’s pretty catch in Dutch since it was the only tape she had with her, she sang it twice. It was odd, hearing her old/smokey voice singing over top of her spritely 1972 voice.

There was also a cheese show/ museum next door & they were furnishing all the snacks! We ate a whole meals worth of cheese; wrapped, cubed or spread, with meat or bread. During a particularly awful performance we went inside to check out the cheese museum. It was more of a display but there was a Dutch milkmaid costume to wear & a Dutch Boy to pose in photos with you. Darn right, we did that!

Back outside, everyone is taking photos of some famous Dutch guy who is totally winning karaoke and really enjoying himself. Walter Cruse, I think. Anyhow- there was dancing, singing & general merriment.

We were totally entertained by the drag queens & by their following of dancing gays and neighborhoods grannies. Everyone was having such a good time- PLUS they had a penny- squishing machine! It was totally epic and we kept staying for one more song/ costume change. Yuri, the little Dutch boy took a liking to Natasja & I and kept bringing us cheese platters. Eventually we got so full of cheese and sing-a-longs that we just called it a night and went home. But there are videos…

The next day was Monday & Natasja had to work @ 2pm. In the morning we headed to the Rijks museum. It is insanely large and we only saw a few exibits. One was full of butts- some carved, some sculpted, some painted. We also saw the newly opened hall of murals and halls full,of colonizing-era artifacts. The wing with Rembrandt & his contemporaries was the last thing we saw before we had to head out. Rembrandt painted lots of Old Dutch guys with ruffled collars & Pom-poms on their shoes. And least we forget that we were in Amsterdam, there were lots of tulips/windmills.

The coolest ‘curated’ aspect of the Rijks Museum are the laminated explanation cards. They come in multiple languages and point out the most salient features of the most visited paintings. This card for this swan (painted in 1650 by a guy named ‘Jan’) points out the angry dog in the shadows of the lower left, indicates ”poop” under the swan and labels the single feather floating down from under the wing, ‘Pfff’. Love it.

We had to keep to our schedule so that we could have famous Dutch apple pie before Natasja left for work. It’s made in a springform pan, with a full butter crust on top, bottom & sides. The inside is more solid & the insides don’t slide out in a slippery-apple-cinnomany pile like an American apple pie. It was perfection.

Natasja dropped me off @ the Anne Frank House but my museum card didn’t let me jump the line unless I had a reservation. 😦 30+ minutes later, I was shuffling my way through the secret passageway behind the bookcase! Just like I had read about in school!

It was interesting to walk through the house- they didn’t refurnish it, preferring to leave it empty to force tourists to imagine what was gone. The video interviews from Anne’s classmates & friends were touching. They described her as, “A normal girl… A bit bossy- but everyone liked Anne!”

She had asked her father to keep her diary in his suitcase every night, but never to look in it. He didn’t look in it until after he walked home from the concentration camp (it took 3 months) & then he sat @ the train station for another month until he heard that all of his family had died. Then, finally – he worked to get Anne’s diary published like she’d hoped. She had heard a call over the radio for written accounts of the war that were being collected by the Dutch and she had re-written most her diary to prepare it to send in to the contest.

In the video interview with Otto Frank he says that he was surprised by all the ‘feelings’ Anne had (about herself, boys, the war) that she never shared with him, even though they were very close. He said, “Parents never really know their children as well as they suppose.” There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd. Then we saw the famous red & white plaid diary Anne had received for her 13th birthday. At the end of the tour is a gorgeous cafe, overlooking the row houses along the canal. I sat there, thinking about all the small stories that make up a life and watched the rain.

 

Amsterdam: The Never-ending Day & Bitterballen Day

adriennesipLeave a comment

Natasja & I are a good pair – we always have to be 'doing something'. Therefore, I haven't sat down to write this post because… we just don't sit down! ( See ironic photo of us sitting & being photobombed, below)

Natasja has done 3 fantastic things to prepare for my arrival:

1- She bought me a Tram pass. 2- She borrowed her friend's museum pass that gets me in free! 3- She RENOVATED the attic/ laundry room into a bedroom!!! (Ok- that wasn't JUST for me.) She also has a kitty who reminds me of my kitty, Sula! That is Nina in the basket. What a sweetheart!

I arrived Friday & Natasja met me @ the airport! It's so nice to see a familiar face @ baggage claim! Then she whisked me home (via tram) and let me get settled & freshened up after my flight. (I'd swear that the seats get smaller every hour!). Then we had a 8 minute walk to the Museumplein where there are 3+ spectacular museums & a concert hall. The Rijks museum has been in constant renovation for 10 yrs but opened earlier this year. The 'I AMsterdam' artwork out front is a crowd pleaser, those huge tinfoil sculptures… Not so much.

We decided to head to the Modern Art Museum – which ALSO had just finished a renovation (which looks like a huge bathtub.) The photos below; Natasja heading into the Stedelijk- the bottom of the 'bath tub is in the top left corner. I'm pleased that we don't look like the walking dead since I had 2 hrs sleep on the plane the night before & Natasja had finished her shift @ the ER at 8am that morning, the picked me up @ the airport! It was the never-ending day.

(On lower-right: Mondrian). After the museum we headed home to make dinner, from the ingredients we had purchased @ Albert Heijn (a grocery store with hamsters on their ads who 'gather the savings' for you! Adorable!). Natasja made STAMPPOT- which is mashed potatoes with stuff stirred in, arugula/Parmesan cheese/nutmeg. We ate it with little fake meat pieces b/c Natasja has been a vegetarian since her trip to the Ashram in India. Om.) Then, we slept like rocks until morning.

Each day ended up having a theme that just arose organically from our daily adventures. Day 1= The day we can't go to sleep, Day 2= Bitterballen Day, Day of the Drag Queens, Buttocks Day… Etc. We were just calling it like we saw it.

The next Am, we went to yoga class, taught by an adorable American named, Susan. She played the harmonium, chanted for us, gave us Celestial Seasoning tea AND complimented my tri-pod headstand. Plus she gave great hugs, so I knew we'd get along famously. We stopped back home to change & grab lunch. Natasja let me try her 'dessert' sandwich – JIF peanut butter with chocolate sprinkles. She assured me it was very Dutch & very tasty. For snack she promised to find me a Bitterballen, a fried ball of beef & mushrooms that is crunchy on the outside and gooey in the middle- a real Dutch food! But first, off to THE PALACE!

The palace is huge & spectacular- with a free audio tour, all for $13US. Napolean's brother was in charge for a while & lived in the palace. All the Royals after France left were introduced from the balcony, Which have mostly been Queens with interesting names.. Willamina, Beatrix and now King Alexander-Willhelm. The sculptures inside were detailed & intense- especially in the justice-related rooms with lots of serpents & skulls. Every inch was covered with carvings- the floor is inlaid with a huge world map. Let me tell you, all that Michigan coastline really threw off the royal topographer!

From 'The Dam Square' (the river used to to through the center of town to transport goods) we hopped a $12US canal tour. There was only a Cap't, 50 tourists and a recording, repeated in multiple languages. Next time I'll spring for the tour with a real guide telling you stories about the 7 bridges & cool churches (see above). Afterwards we popped over to 'De Waag' or weigh house. It was finished in 1665' is the oldest building in Amsterdam. It lies on the square of the New Market area – a huge center for goods to be purchased. We wanted to purchase some Bitterballen! We had struck out at the fast food shop where there are tiny heated cupboards that you open and pull your snack out. They are like old school vending machines that cover a wall.

Here is a postcard I bought that shows them full of 'Delfts blauw'- the distinct blue- glazed pottery the Netherlands is famous for.

 

In De Waag there is a restaurant where we finally found the most Dutch foods! On the plate above,you'll see a soft cheese, bright yellow pickled onions (Amsterdamse uitjes), spicy mustard, fried cheese sticks, and BITTERBALLEN! Next to them is liver bologna, which tasted lovely with the mustard. Finally! I ate like a Dutchie! De Waag is not just famous for its Bitterbollen – it is also a place where REMBRANT PAINTED! It is fairly amazing to have had snacks in the same building where a super famous artist hung out and painted!

That night we had gelato- my favorite flavor had been Straciatella. But that night I discovered Arianna… Which is Straciatella with nougat! Love! Then, I proceeded to drip it all over myself and Natasja said, “I can't be going with you, anywhere!” Which is the Dutch version of ” I can't take you anywhere!” It's just a small world, right?

The next day we go to see VAN GOGH! But we'll save that for the next post.

 

 

 

Getting the information to the people. (Or how I ended up working at the fair.)

adriennesipLeave a comment

Info Adrienne

Last week I spent four days working the info booth at the San Juan County Fair. This is my story.

*Disclaimer* Things happen to me in round-a-bout ways, derived from me talking to so-in-so about people we know and what they're up to now-a-days. Therefore, the only people that maybe interested in the details of how I ended up working at a 4-H fair on an island in the Pacific NW may be the YMCA Camp Jewell staffers from the Paul Kamin Era. For the rest of you: I worked with somebody at camp and now she runs the fair. Short Version.

Longer Version: When my sister was here we had intended to head out to Orcas and spend a few days with Ethna Flanagan – but she was camping and so after I dropped Jessie off in Seattle, I booked it to Anacortes and hopped a ferry to Orcas Island. Ethna and I were catching up and she mentioned that a fellow Jeweller, Maddie Ovenell, was running the fair this year and she could pass along a good word for me since they were FB friends. I filled out an application, sent it in and Maddie wrote right back! I was in! Maddie did Nature's Classroom and trips AND our years/friends overlap but for the life of us we can't recall meeting each other! All this talk of camp is making me want a 2 lb eclair from the Colebrook store… but I digress.


Working the fair was a bit like all my memories from our 4-H fair growing up, combined with summer camp- the staff all had radios, matching t-shirts and ran around all day solving problems to make sure everyone was having fun. Then we'd sit in the office each night sharing funny stories from the day.
It was nice. Except for the rain.


This fair had 'normal' things like 4-H kids showing livestock and cotton candy & carnival rides and then it had some 'quirky' things like the Zucchini races. (Every gardner knows that zucchinis are super easy to grow but harder to get rid of- so they started making derby cars out of the abundance of fruit and the Zucchini 500 was born!) The fair feels a bit like a block party- with each house in charge of an event; 4-H kids holding their chickens at the start of the chicken races, fashion shows where all the outfits are made with recycling or the guy who hauls his old 6mm projector out of storage to show movies in the backyard.

Chicken Whispererwpid-Photo-Aug-23-2013-1015-PM.jpg

I loved/was terrified by the carnival rides. They were beautiful in that nostalgic way- the glittery cars full of nervous teenagers, spinning and screaming and laughing. They were terrifying because they looked like antiques and I wandered through the fairway willing them to hold together for just a few more nights.

carnival rideZipper line

Merry go round

I spent 9-10 hours a day sitting in my tent, watching the people stream by- on their way to see if they won a ribbon or to watch the frisbee show put on by a group of rescued collies. I love people watching. People are so interesting. And beautiful and unique and silly. I got to answer lots of questions (Where is the ATM? The bathrooms? What time do the chickens races?) and also spent some time wandering the fairgrounds, soaking up the memories.

Holiday Jumps Heather PearlJen's Shirt booth

This is Jen- she is the head of the Fair board, designed the official fair logo and ran her own t-shirt booth. She is very talented/tired.

Call Ducks

Meet Mr. & Mrs. Duck- they are Call Ducks- the cutest little birds! In the olden days they were used as live decoys!

Black Stallion

I loved watching the 4-H kids showing off their animals. They were nervous, but you could see them processing what they learned and trying so hard to do their best. What great practice for life!

There was also epic cuteness happening at the fair. Baby Pygmy goats!!!

 

I loved being at the fair! I had as much fun as a baby in a pile of bubbles!

 

Shawarma Sisters in Seattle

adriennesipLeave a comment

Where did we leave off… Jessie & Adrienne had hit Multnomah Falls, Hood River and Portland on Thurs/Friday~ then they were off to Mt. Saint Helens on Saturday! Next, the sisters cruise into Seattle for an ethnic eating adventure! Due to the kindness of Friends (Becca P!) we have a place to crash in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.

And Jessie is craving food that she can't get in the Vail Valley- so the first night we find a Vietnamese restaurant and feast on a huge bowl of Pho (soup) and spring rolls! Yum! We're off to a good start!

Sunday we make ourselves breakfast (and discover that the eggs left in the fridge were hard boiled. Oops!)

Then we head off for our tour of the Theo Chocolate factory! It was $7 and is HIGHLY recommended! They source their beans personally and then ship them to their factory- so they are a Bean-to-Bar facility! So cool to see the whole process PLUS we got to eat a LOT of chocolate. 🙂 My personal favorite was the Vanilla Cacao Nib and Jessie loved the Chai tea bar. None of it was bad. So we bought all of it.

We headed out the door and wandered into the Sunday market! It was a optical extravaganza of amazing booths! We spent oodles of time staring at the amazing ($15) flower arrangements grown on a local farm, checking out rocks & amber and chatting to a guy who was bending wire into animals as he spoke to us.

If we had an extra $70 we would have bought Jessie a wire picture entitled, “Mermaid Bubbles” that depicted an adorable, farting mermaid. Perfect. We picked through tables of Russian pins, embroidered name badges and vintage costume jewelry, then took a break for some garlic Naan. Yum. We could have stayed all day! It was one of the most interesting markets we'd ever seen but we eventually had to leave – and go see Ballard Locks!

Ballard Locks

The boats have been coming in and out of these locks since 1917- and people still stand there and watch it happen. If you walk past the locks you can go under the surface and watch the salmon on their migration through the ladder.

That night we found SHAWARMA KING! We had lamb shawarma with saffron rice, hummus and falafel. Heavenly! Plus the owner was cooking in an open kitchen and we looked over and he was experimenting with an olive calzone-ish appetizer and he gave it to us because he couldn't eat until sundown!

Monday Jessie + I drove up to Anacortes to go on a whale watching trip… the Sipkovsky family has a bad luck with whale watching. And that streak continues! We had perfect weather and a lovely crew but we just couldn't find a whale anywhere! Not even in Canadian waters! 😦 I hope you enjoyed these nice pictures of water. Because water is what we saw.

Island WaveSunshine Sailboat

Sip Sistas are not daunted by a lack of whales & so Tuesday we got lost driving to Lake Union and then accidentally got onto a highway express lane and had to take a time out in the parking lot @ the Space Needle.

Jessie rerouted us to Pikes Place, where we enjoyed a yummy lunch @ a place called, Sisters. Then we ate yummy Russian pastries for dessert & made our 2nd attempt to find Lake Union. Success!!!

There were 3 tourist-filled Duck Boats (buses that drive into water) tooling around, being sprayed by water cannon on the front of a police boat full of kids in ponchos. Then they had to open the drawbridge to let a giant scientific vessel through…I think it was name Melvin. It was definitely a nerdy name that started with an M, anyway. Lastly, there were SEA PLANES taking off & landing against the backdrop of the Seattle skyline! All of this action wouldn't distract Jessie from her houseboats! She loves them & as she was checking out other people's plants, she was divising ways to keep people from looking in the windows of Her future houseboat.

After nap time, it was dinner time! Off to eat @ an El Salvadorean restaurant- Tiko Riko! Super yummy tamales, pupusas & plantain fries! Plus there were 3 sauces! “Oooh sauces”, says Jessie. We head home to watch 'Wanderlust' and snuggle with the Saber-tooth kitty-cat. Ferocious!!!

Wednesday Jessie has to fly home 😦

We wash the sheets & clean up like good little house guests and then head out to Shawarma King to grab Jessie some airport lunch. So good! Those things that Jessie says look like fried intestines with chocolate drizzles are spectacularly sweet walnut baklava! Yuuum. I give Jessie a big hug & head off for my next adventure, Orcas Island! Love you, Sista!

 

My sister hitched a ride to Umatilla.

adriennesipLeave a comment

I had been asking Jessie when she was coming to visit me in Portland ALL SUMMER. She's my favorite travel partner.

Jessie Relaxes

She and I have the best time adventuring together because she lets me do all the planning and as long as I include enough naps, she just goes with the flow. It really works for us . (For a recap, check out our 2009 “Sister Soiree” aka. 3 weeks in Belize & Guatemala.)

http://sipnerproductions.blogspot.com/

Soooo, I was uber thrilled when she called up on a Monday and asked, “What are you doing starting Thursday?” Luckily, I had nothing on the docket and on drove for 3 hours along the Columbia river to pick up Jessie in Umatilla. She had hitched a ride with Troy & Bugs who were on their way to the Gorge to spend the weekend watching Phish. Yay! Sister adventure begins!

Thursday afternoon Jessie & I headed back towards Portland and made a few stops

1- Hood River (beer/alpaca petting/Rainier cherries @ the farmer's market) 2- Multnomah Falls/Vista House

Multnomah Falls

Shadow Dance

Shadow Sisters at Vista House!

Friday morning Jessie + I met Emily for breakfast at SHUT UP AND EAT. Awesome homemade English muffins and awesome name.

ShutUpEat

Then we had a beer @ a hat store, Emily helped Jessie buy an outfit for Timmy's wedding and we headed to the Powell's-~ the biggest, most awesome bookstore in the country!

Then we got on I-5 and headed north towards Mt. Saint Helen's! I hadn't made a reservation at a campground and we pulled in as the Camp Host was locking the front gate!At 9pm! Whaaa! Luckily, there was a cancelation and we set up camp on Yale Lake.

Saturday morning we packed up and headed to Two Forests- where the lava incinerated the trees but left tree-shaped tunnels we could climb through.

Tree Tunnel

Ape Caves- we did the short tunnel (2 mile round trip) and then headed off to LAVA CANYON, which was an awesome hike with a suspension bridge, a waterfall and (eventually) some awesome views of Mt. Saint Helen's.

What's a rock like you doing in a place like this?

 

Then we headed off to Seattle- next post tomorrow!

 

Mid-Summer Night Reflection

adriennesipLeave a comment

Ahhh! The days have been sweltering, but the nights are cool & breezy. Driving home from yoga class @ 9:15pm, I noticed that it was mostly dark out! The sunshine hours are receding towards fall and I recalled that I was half-way through my summer in Portland! In 5 short weeks, Doug & Eric will be arriving by plane to drive me back to Michigan where I will spend the week zipping around the state, hugging people. THEN I'll be on a plane to Amsterdam! THAT is a whole other post…

 

This post is a Recap of Summer 2013!

May 16th= Birthday!

May 17th= Belated Birthday present from Luke & Susie! (Michael arrives!) Lots of parties and good-byes, chalk drawing with B, then Dad & I road-trip to Colorado!

 

May 24-27th = COLORADO SIBLING EXTRAVAGANZA!!

 

2 more days driving with Dadoo, “Shields UP!” (he says this when we go thru tunnels & we think its hilarious)

JUNE is full of fun touristy times ~ first via bike-map with dad, then with Erica! Zip-lines, brunch, REI garage sale, eating at food trucks, white water rafting, Saturday Market/kidnapping/Voodoo donut, Pride Week Bingo AND a road trip to Vancouver BC, up the most beautiful highway in the world, to Squamish! On the way home, I start Adrienne Lee Photography. We see Old Crow Medicine Show @ the Zoo. Then, Erica starts her residency at the pediatric ER & I dog-sit in Sellwood where a pen gets eaten and poo turns blue.

JULY! The most important week of July was covered in the last post; Crater Lake road trip! And then a weekend in Seattle with Becca! Also, I have been going to yoga twice a week and working HARD to learn how to set up my website for my photo business. Which is good, since I got laid off from my nannying job. :/ Now that I've got a decent looking website ( http://www.adrienneleephoto.com) I'm going to do a few photo shoots with friends in the area and add a blog feature to my website. Everything's slowing coming together!