Steps Big and Little

The past few days have been a lot of little steps as I made my way around Amsterdam. I wandered through one of their larger parks, then worked toward the city center. I walked to, through, and from both the Van Gogh and Rijks Museums.

1. Rijksmuseum, 2. Canal view, 3. Leaning building (on the right), 4. Central train station

As I did, I noticed some things. As one does.

1. Bikes. They’re everywhere, ridden by everyone from kids to gramps even older than me. If a kid doesn’t have her own, she’s either on the back or front of someone else’s bike. Also, almost nobody wears a helmet — except for the speed riders in the park. They all do.

2. Trams and buses. Also everywhere. I’m assuming the subway trains below ground are everywhere too, but since I’m above the dirt and they’re in it, I can’t say for suresies. I haven’t had a need to ride one. I should go ahead and do it before I go, just to add another city’s subway system to the list that I’ve ridden. It’s as simple as choosing a train, and tapping to pay to get on and off.

3. Combining 1 & 2 together comes the result that there aren’t a lot of personal cars on the roads for a city this size. Nice.

4. Parakeets. I haven’t heard this many parakeets in the trees since I was in the tropics. It’s not something I’d expect to hear at 52.5 degrees north (further north than Calgary, Alberta), but there you are. Yeah, yeah, I know they’re a feral population of Rose-ringed, and not endemic. They’re the result of pets getting loose, either intentionally or not. No one knows for sure how or when, exactly, but still, they’re loud, they’re proud, and they’re here.

5. Cigarette smokers outnumber weed smokers. I find this a little surprising, given Amsterdam’s rep, but the number of times I’ve had to wave off a waft of cig smoke vs. the number of times for weed is about fifteen to one.

6. Street crossings can be challenging. It’s a five stepper:
   First up: the dedicated bike lane;
   Then you have cars coming from the left;
   Third: trams (and sometimes cars) both directions;
   Penultimate is cars from the right, and finally;
   Bikes to the right.
   It definitely makes jaywalking a challenging sport. Pay attention or pay the piper!

7. Vinnie Van Gogh was quite the prolific painter. He churned out an impressive number of works over the relatively few years he focused on art.

   

   Vinnie, by Vinnie

   I was a little disappointed to discover I’d missed seeing my fave, The Starry Night, as it’s located in NYC at the MOMA — a museum I missed when I was there. Another time. Just thinking about the painting brings to mind the Don McLean song for me. I guess music is my way of categorizing things. Songs bring back memories, and images or sights bring up songs.

8. The Rijksmuseum was a better stop for me than the Vinnie. Love me some Dutch Masters classical paintings. I was digging on not only the Remmies and Vemmies, but the whole place, including the building itself. The clockworks and tabletop orrery were also biggies for me.

   

   

   

   1. Mosaic bat on the floor of the Great Hall, 2-4. Various views, 5. Library and spiral staircase, 6. Tabletop orrery, 7. Early barometer

Various paintings in the Rijksmuseum that caught my eye, including Rembrandt's Night Watch under restoration

There’s something about the styles and how the masters caught expressions that does it for me: a prime example is the militia company painting, #3 above. The Night Watch, by Remmie (#1 above) of course is superlative. The others, I didn’t capture the artist’s name in the photos, I just enjoyed them.

---

Enough of the small steps. As for large steps, I’ve come up with an idea of a route to follow for the next few months. I think I’ll head North first, before it gets too cold for my skinny ass. So, it’s to Germany later this week, as I head to the Nordic countries. As expected, I have no firm plans other than my exfil, which I brilliantly set for (as it turns out) two days after my Schengen time expires. I will probably have to do something about that. Like go to London, or Fez or somewhere else within easy reach (but not in the Zone) for a few days. I don’t want to run afoul of the rules. In case I return someday, I don’t want to be on any list other than “Nice guy, let him in.”

Be kind and take care of yourselves. If you can, care for someone else, too.

Slang, out.

---