I took a night train

and I woke up in Amsterdam.
Fortunately enough, I did wind up finding a room somewhere in Amsterdam so that I didn't have to sleep in the train station..

Amsterdam, oh Amsterdam. What do I say about you.. well, maybe that just under 2 days was enough time spent in your graces. It is probably a different city when you are with other friends.. but it wasn't the most entertaining city for me by myself.

Rijksmuseum

one of maaany canals

Montelbaanstoren - building began in 1512, was part of the cities medieval fortifications.

The Waag -Amsterdam's oldest surviving gatehouse from 1488

BUT the Van Gogh museum was aaaawesome! And across the street from my hostel. I spent a lot of time in there.. and I sent my parents a video card that I made in one of the lobby rooms in which they swear I was on drugs. Rest easy grandma, I wasn't. I almost wasn't on camera either.. I had to stand on my tip toes and I think my chin still got cut off. heh. But the museum was a lot of fun. It has the biggest collection of Van Gogh works in the world (you would hope so huh, calling itself the Van Gogh Museum) But then - making it even cooler (hard to do - I know) It had an exhibit that was riight up my alley, John Everett Millais. Only up my alley because of the way cool art history/tours class that I took here. She did a big thing on this guy and what he did/started.
Readers Digest version...
He was an artist, (ok got it) he started studying at the Royal Academy at the age of 11 (meaning he was amazing) while he was there, when he was 19 (in 1848) him and two other students/artists there started what is known as the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.. or PRB (no jamie, not PBR) they have been considered one of the first avant-garde movement in art. Their intention was to reform art by going against what was being taught. They went against the Mannerist style of art like that of Michaelangelo and Raphael. They thought that the classical poses especially of Raphael, had corrupted the academic arts.. hence the name PRE-Raphaelite. Instead they focused on natural settings, nature and close attention to detail. One of the most famous paintings by Millais is Ophelia, and another is Christ in the House of his Parents, which was quite controversial.
What was cool about this exhibit (to me) was that I totally knew what I was looking at. I knew the history, the names of paintings.. the story they told.. who was in the paintings etc. I was able to apply my knowledge!! And because she had told us so much about this group and Millais and I had seen a few of his paintings that are here in the museums in London but this exhibit and all of the big ones, borrowed from museums around the world.. so it was like the last piece of the puzzle... the slides my teacher had shown us, but I wasn't able to see (in London).

Here are my favorites in the museum (I stole these from the net, I wrote down the titles when I was wandering the museum)...

These are Millais

A Huguenot on St Bartholomew's Day (1852)

..the story of this painting.. It is in reference St Bartholomew's Massacre in 1572 when the French Protestants (Huguenots) were massacred in Paris. The painting is of two lovers embracing.. but the embrace is, well, motivated. The girl is trying to get her lover to wear the white band around his arm declaring his allegiance to Roman Catholicism in order to save his life. But he is pulling it gently away. The painting originally was to be of just the lovers (with to twist) but he was influenced by an opera depicting the massacre, and adapted the painting. This caused ripple in the Pre-Raphaelites reputation because they were previously picked on for their pro-Catholic sympathies.

Ophelia (1852)

..It depicts Ophelia, from Hamlet singing in the river before she drowns.

The Blind Girl (1856)

OH OH and google image search "the order of release" another one I like..


Then we have the Van Gogh... some of my favorites.

Almond Blossom (1890)

Boats on The Beach (1888)

Bank of the Sein (1887)

The Sea at Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (1888)

Wheatfield Under Thunder Clouds (1890)

Wheatfield With Crows (1890)

Sorry about the delay in getting this one up.. we just got back from York and Fountains Abbey.. a 3 day trip.

I'll get Paris up quick.. and then Scotland, and then York.
Promise.