If it’s been a minute (or two) since I have posted it’s because I have been away on the most fabulous trip I have been on in years. A week in Amsterdam that couldn’t have been more perfect from the early stages of planning to the time we returned home. I can’t wait to tell you all about it. If you have never been to Amsterdam, or even if you have, brace yourself for the next few weeks (or months) of blog posts, where I share details, along with photos, reflections, references, tips and advice for any future trips you may plan on your own.
Amsterdam is a dream destination, especially for Art Lovers. And the biggest surprise is that this is an amazing destination for Foodies as well. We went for the Art. But, we were equally blown away by the Food! Get ready for my recaps!
The Idea for Amsterdam
The seed for the idea of a trip to Amsterdam may have been planted back in February when we (partner & I) went to an exhibition entitled Joe Fig: Contemplating Vermeer at the Sarasota Art Museum.
Joe Fig is known for paintings that explore the artistic, creative process and the spaces where art is made. In his Contemplation series, Fig captures the moment of contemplation between viewer and artwork.
Through small, meticulously detailed paintings, Fig depicts both the artworks and the people absorbed in them, drawing attention to how we connect with art in museums and galleries.
The exhibition at The Sarasota Art Museum, recounted Fig’s 2023 visit to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam when they hosted a monumental exhibition of Johannes Vermeer, showcasing 28 of the 35 masterpieces attributed to the enigmatic Dutch painter.
Drawing on his visit to this historic show, Fig created 16 paintings. In these works Fig not only pays homage to the seventeenth-century painter’s mastery of light, color, and verisimilitude, but also reflects on the aesthetic experience in the Rijksmuseum’s galleries. Expanding on his decade-long Contemplation series, he captures his subjects—artworks and their viewers—and their surroundings, exploring how people engage with or contemplate artworks in public spaces.
I remember being mesmerized by this exhibit and remarking to my partner how lovely it would be to go to the Rijksmuseum and see some of the actual paintings by Vermeer, even though this particular exhibition at the Rijksmuseum was long past. And I also remember thinking it may have been a little too early in this relationship for me to make that kind of suggestion. So, I let it go. And yet, I was delighted that my suggestion was not met with any resistance or dismissal. It was met with the distinct possibility that this (trip) could potentially happen.
Months passed, where again, my suggestion remained in the past. Until one hot July morning when my partner came back from his morning walk with an idea that came to him during that walk. We would both be celebrating birthdays within a few short weeks of each other in the summer, he shared. What if we take a trip to Amsterdam for our birthdays?
What? I replied. Where did this come from?
Evidently, he had seen an ad for a Van Gogh exhibition at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
The exhibition, Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits, would be at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts from March 30th through September 7th, during which time visitors could see 23 works of Van Gogh’s art. My partner has been a long time fan of Vincent Van Gogh, ever since he came upon Van Gogh’s The Bedroom at Arles at the MOMA in NYC as a child. (How lucky am I to have found a man who genuinely loves art?)
So, he thought about going to the exhibition. Boston is only two hours away from his home on the Cape. But, then he thought how disappointed he might be at an exhibition where he would only see 23 of Van Gogh’s paintings when he could fly across the Atlantic Ocean to visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam which possesses over 200 paintings by Van Gogh. You have to know this man to understand his logic. But, who was I to protest? A trip to Amsterdam? I’m in. But when?
Our calendar already had dates filled in. My son’s birthday in September. A wedding in Durham, NC in October. Thanksgiving. Christmas… We could pencil a week in between the wedding and Thanksgiving… But, which week? And would a week be too long? Too short? What else would we have to do in Amsterdam? Where should we stay? And should we plan on going anywhere else before or after Amsterdam? Paris? London? Copenhagen? The possibilities were endless. The research began.
