Friends of/with beer

I have entered in a new photo contest, this time run by Van Gogh Museum.

Please, vote for my picture via Facebook and/or Twitter! :)

Many thanks!

Erotic Museum

As last weekend we had Museum Weekend here in Amsterdam (I will try to write about it in the next days as well), I had a chance to visit some more new museums. Unfortunately none of them was really so worth seeing it, but at least it was cheaper.

One of those museums was Erotic Museum in Red Light District (do not mix with Sex Museum which is on Dam), so I decided to give it a try and visit it.

Museum has five floors, all devoted to erotic, but unfortunately it is not so exciting as it sounds. Most of it are simply pictures, paintings or small sculptures devoted to erotic or sex. They also claim to have the oldest vibrator in the world (which looked more like a meat grinder for me).

In one of the floors you can sit down on a muscaria and together with Snow White and Seven Dwarfs you can watch adult-only animation movies (e.g., about a wolf who wants sex).

In another one you can take a picture of yourself in a "sexy" costume or a picture next to a huge penis.

Apart from that, there is nothing else to do. Half an hour is more than enough for that and the entrance fee is not so low (normally - seven euro, I paid only 50% because of the Museum Weekend). So think twice (or three times) before going there.

My first (?) exhibition

As I told you some time ago, one of my photos was chosen for the photo exhibition about Amsterdam canals. On Friday there was the opening of the exhibition, so I hope that you are curious to hear how was it.

All 25 photos by 25 photographers (most of them - professionals) were exhibited in the exhibition hall of Het Grachtenhuis, where they are organising several events, so people have chance to see also the photographies. Entrance is for free, so drop by at any time!

The opening was quite informal, people were looking at the photos, drinking wine and chatting. Some official bla-bla speech and the announcement of the winner (really nice and artistic picture), who got 2 500 EUR. It was also possible to vote for the best photography as the "public vote", but I do not know when will they announce the result and how long can you vote.

Surprisingly, at one point there was a lady approaching me and asking if I am Anita. After confirming it, she said that my photo was the most original one and gave me her business card - she was from some art gallery. Ha, should I give her a call today? :)

Btw, all the photos on the exhibit are for sale - every artist was able to give his/her own prize, and the museum added the printing and sales costs. My picture costs 375 EUR if you are interested to buy it. :) Limited edition!

We also had a chance to see the official museum (which is in a building next to the hall), and that was amazing. I really suggest everybody to see it as it has a special way of presenting the story about Amsterdam canals. Keep in mind that you need to book it quite some time beforehands as the museum can accept only limited amount of people!

My photo in an exhibition

A couple of weeks ago I found an information in Dutch that Het Grachtenhuis (Canal house) has a photo competition for their upcoming exhibition "‘Amsterdam Canals - gateway to the future".

I didn't think twice and simply submitted my picture. I am not a professional photographer, but had nothing to loose. I also thought that it is an interesting competition, so forwarded the information to couple of friends and wrote an article about it in English. I think that we were the only who covered this information in English. :)

Today I got a reply from the organisers that ... my picture has been chosen as one of 25 photos which will be shown in the exhibition from April 1 onwards! And that's not all - it is also one of the 10 pictures which qualifies for the main prize - 2500 euro. Specially selected jury will choose one lucky winner.

To make it even more funnier, also Michael and my colleague Sergios got e-mails saying that their pictures are qualifing for the exhibition. So I am sure that on April 1 all my office (including me) is going to the exhibition together.

Will you join us?

Top 5 places in Amsterdam

People often ask me what are my favourite places in Amsterdam, where do I suggest them to go etc. So here goes my Top 5!

1. Bike tour around Schellingwoude - in Amsterdam Noord there is this amazing place which used to be a fishery village in 19th century. There is just one street leading through it and if you bike through it, you can feel like being back in the past. Seems that the houses haven't changed since that, and the calm and peaceful atmosphere makes you simply feel good, wishing to move there for good.

2. 7th floor in OBA (Openbare Bibliotheken Amsterdam) - everybody knows the library next to Amsterdam Centraal (railway station), but not everybody is aware of the beautiful view which you can see from it's 7th floor. Just take the elevator on the right of the lobby and go till the last floor to the restaurant. There is an outdoor terrace, which is open even during the winter. In a clear day you can see quite far away, showing the guests Amsterdam's towers and important places. Wonderful place where to take pictures - my visitors are always impressed.

3. The Begijnhof - ok, probably this is no surprise :) The Begijnhof - a courtyard in the middle of Amsterdam city - is a favourite place for a lot of people. And no wonder. Not only it has beautiful houses, but it's also like stepping in a different world - from busy and loud city life to a calm and quiet village where nothing can spoil your day. In this courtyard, where only single women are allowed to live, also is English Reformed Church, where I am going to sing in a choir every week.

4. Amsterdam Historisch Museum - it is located just next to the Begijnhof and is indeed one of my favourite museums in general, not only in this city. I am interested in all kinds of city museums, telling about the history and lifestyle of the city, but in this one I really like the exhibition about the 20th century and modern life. There is information about several inhabitants, giving an insight in their daily life, one of the most famous cafes of Amsterdam, a tiny Ajax stadium and other exciting things. I have been there twice so far, but going back in the spring again as they are re-structuring the museum right now.

5. IJscuypje ice-creams - well, an ice-cream shop is also a kind of place, right? On Prinsengracht they are offering amazingly good Italian ice-creams with big scoops (not so big as in Italy, but big enough for the rest of Europe). One scoop costs 1.60 euro if I am not wrong and during the summer sometimes I pass by there more than once a week. I wanted to buy ice-cream there also a couple of weeks ago, but turns out that in the winter there is no ice-cream, they start their season only in April. Need to wait till then!

And how about you? Any favourite places to share? :)

Van Gogh Museum

It is not easy to remember all museums and places I have seen in Amsterdam lately, but I will try my best :)

Last Friday I paid a visit also to Van Gogh Museum. I have been passing by it quite a lot by bike and quite often saw a lot of people in the queue outside, but never went inside myself. Now I finally managed to do it.

It was an early Friday morning when I went there, just 10-15 minutes after the opening of the museum. And I was surprised - it was so full! Not only individual visitors, but also a couple of student/pupil groups with a guide. Now I am wondering if it's always so crowded or it was just a coincidence?

As you might know, I do not have a huge interest in art, therefore I could not appreciate all the beautiful paintings there. I just wanted to get an impression of the museum and learn a bit more about this painter as all I knew was the incident about cutting off his ear.

My expectations got fulfilled. The museum is divided in several halls, each one showing his and other related artists' paintings from one period of Van Gogh's life. In each hall there is also a summary of his life at that time which I read with a big interest. I did not know that he was painting only for 10 years - and it's not so much if you know that he made more than 200 paintings, most of them being very nice ones!

I did not spend so much time looking at the paintings because then I would get bored, but I must admit that I did not expect them to be so beautiful. I wish I could have some at home :)

Conclusion - if you are an art or Van Gogh's lover, this museum is a must and you will love it (despite being crowded). If you are anything else, then it's not for you. The building is a new one, so you can't see Van Gogh's home or lifestyle at that time. For that you should rather visit Neunen, where there is another his museum. I haven't been to that one, but sounds interesting and I hope to visit in the future!

P.S. It was not allowed to take pictures, so enjoy some from Google!

Anne Frank Huis (Anne Frank House)

Last Monday I finally managed to visit also Anne Frank House, which definitely is one of the most popular museums in Amsterdam.

When I moved to Amsterdam for the first time, I used to work just around the corner of the museum and therefore was passing by there a lot. It always (always!) had a huge queue of people waiting to get in, I was always wondering how long do they wait in the queue... Even around 8:30-9am when I was going to work, there was already a queue...

However, until recently it was not possible to visit the museum with the Museumkaart. As the references I heard were not so great, I didn't bother paying the entrance fee and visit it. But now you can enter there for free with the Museumkaart, so on a quiet Monday evening Michael and me managed to visit it. For him it was the second time, for me - the first.

The first surprise - no queue at all! OK, it was Monday evening and it is winter, I understand. But still!

The second surprise - you are not allowed to take pictures. Pity...

The third surprise - it is indeed nothing special. When people say "nothing special" (apart from Mr Ainārs Šlesers (Latvians will understand what I mean :P)), I still expect something more - because there might be different tastes and opinions. But the museum was... kind of empty.
You could walk through all the building where Anne's father Otto used to work and also see the Annex where Anne and her family was hiding. However, Otto didn't want to have any furnitures in the rooms when he opened the museum, so the rooms have just some information on the walls with quotes from Anne's diary. There is also a small model house where you can see how the Annex looked like.
Apart from that, in the new part of the museum there is an interactive exhibition about human rights in different circumstances and countries. You could also send a video greeting from Anne Frank House. We sent two, but only one arrived in the receiver's mailbox...

I can imagine that loads of people want to see the place where Anne and her family was hiding. However, if it's your first time in Amsterdam, you do not have a lot of time and you are on a low budget - I think that it's one of the museums you can miss without feeling sorry for it. Better buy her diary (in Amsterdam's bookshops you can find several versions) and read it again and again.

P.S. Pictures from Google!

Rembrandthuis (Rembrandt House)

Background information

I thought that one by one I might start to post information about different museums I have visited here in the Netherlands.

I do not know how many of you are museum freaks, but I am definitely one of them. You can either use the information here to decide if you want to visit the particular museum or no, or you can simply have a short tour around the museum through my blog if you do not manage to get yourself to the Netherlands. :)

Practicalities. Most of the museums I visit have free entrance if you have got Museumkaart, therefore I will not write about the entrance fees and other similar stuff (plus, you can check it on their websites yourself). It will be just my own personal opinion about the museums I have been to.

And the first museum...

So the first honour goes to Rembrandthuis (Rembrandt House) here in Amsterdam which I visited on Saturday. The museum is located in the building where the painter Rembrandt was living for more than 20 years.

I would say that the museum is interesting for two kinds of people - first, those who love art (and unfortunately I am not one of them) and second, those who love memorial houses in old times (and I belong here). Rembrandthuis is a mixture of both as you can see not only a lot of paintings, but also the way house was looking when he was living there back in 17th century.

Once you enter the museum, you also get a free audio guide in around six languages, which is a great option because it provides more information about the rooms and Rembrandt's life. I skipped some of the points but mostly I was listening with a great interest. In the weekend twice a day they have also guided tours (including in the entrance fee), but unfortunately I did not know about it and entered too late, so missed one. I always opt for tours, because that's more interesting than listening to the guide or walking on your own - and you have the chance to ask specific questions you might have. Oh, and I can't forget mentioning different demonstrations they have - e.g., there was a woman explaining how Rembrandt used to mix colours and put them on the painting.

It took around an hour to go through the house without rushing too much and without looking at each picture for a long time. As it was Saturday afternoon, it was quite crowded. The staircases and rooms are small, so sometimes you need to wait a bit before most of the people get out of the room and you can take a look.

Two good things - first, they have temporary exhibitions every now and then, which adds extra value. Second, you can take pictures (without flash), which is important for me :)

Conclusion - recommended if you like art or memorial houses, or you are simply Rembrandt's an. Otherwise do not bother, because it's pretty much like most of the memorial houses, dedicated to certain persons.