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Notes from the Low Country
Jan. 8th, 2009 04:06 pmI've been in Holland a week and I feel like I've gotten a grip on the place. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gilraen_surion lent me a thicker, warmer scarf, like a piece of Muppet pelt, and a pair of tights to wear under my jeans/corduroys. This, along with the new hat, has upped my cold tolerance notably as I dash around on day trips and explorations.
Amsterdam - After a second day trip, it still didn't quite gel for me. The Amsterdam Historical Museum put it in perspective. This is a city where the delicate crystal goblets have, traditionally, been engraved with things like "To the honorable guild of soap-boilers" instead of with more poetic sentiments. It made me think of WWII much more than Berlin did. Seeingrcfinch a second time was, again, the best part. We went out for exactly the kind of dinner I'd wanted: in a 17th-century building, candle and iron chandeliers, linen napery, wild duck over pearl-sized brussels sprouts, talking about life, the universe, and everything.
Lieden - Locals adore Lieden, but after Delft and Den Haague, I was lukewarm towards "the Oxford of Holland" and its slightly Regency air. As I like to do, I went to the country's biggest natural history museum there. It was a less successful revision of a Victorian taxidermy collection than at the Melbourne Musuem. The taxidermy and specimens were spaced in arcs amidst beautiful modern design, but with very little contextual information - a cultural difference, I suppose. Its most interesting exhibit was closed for renovations, which didn't help.
Delft - Delft keeps having all the things I expected Amsterdam to have, such as hot fresh stroopwaffels at a market, watching other people eat raw herring from street vendors, stores to buy lingere that's actually sexy, cunning little presents for people, an accesssible health-food store, Old Master paintings. I ran into another American expat on the train; he, too, was heading to Delft after a day trip to Amsterdam, and we both agreed we preferred Delft.
Wierdly, people in Delft keep asking me for directions in Dutch. Maybe the green hat, Grover-purple scarf, and my orange purse make me look Euro-quirky.
Tomorrow I'll be seeing some of Rotterdam.
gilraen_surion lent me a thicker, warmer scarf, like a piece of Muppet pelt, and a pair of tights to wear under my jeans/corduroys. This, along with the new hat, has upped my cold tolerance notably as I dash around on day trips and explorations.Amsterdam - After a second day trip, it still didn't quite gel for me. The Amsterdam Historical Museum put it in perspective. This is a city where the delicate crystal goblets have, traditionally, been engraved with things like "To the honorable guild of soap-boilers" instead of with more poetic sentiments. It made me think of WWII much more than Berlin did. Seeing
rcfinch a second time was, again, the best part. We went out for exactly the kind of dinner I'd wanted: in a 17th-century building, candle and iron chandeliers, linen napery, wild duck over pearl-sized brussels sprouts, talking about life, the universe, and everything.Lieden - Locals adore Lieden, but after Delft and Den Haague, I was lukewarm towards "the Oxford of Holland" and its slightly Regency air. As I like to do, I went to the country's biggest natural history museum there. It was a less successful revision of a Victorian taxidermy collection than at the Melbourne Musuem. The taxidermy and specimens were spaced in arcs amidst beautiful modern design, but with very little contextual information - a cultural difference, I suppose. Its most interesting exhibit was closed for renovations, which didn't help.
Delft - Delft keeps having all the things I expected Amsterdam to have, such as hot fresh stroopwaffels at a market, watching other people eat raw herring from street vendors, stores to buy lingere that's actually sexy, cunning little presents for people, an accesssible health-food store, Old Master paintings. I ran into another American expat on the train; he, too, was heading to Delft after a day trip to Amsterdam, and we both agreed we preferred Delft.
Wierdly, people in Delft keep asking me for directions in Dutch. Maybe the green hat, Grover-purple scarf, and my orange purse make me look Euro-quirky.
Tomorrow I'll be seeing some of Rotterdam.
