Ah, there is nothing like a good cup of Java from a coffee house in Amsterdam. At least, that's what I found out, yesterday morning.
It all started with walking to the Laundromat. The old suitcase from hell was beginning to smell funky again. I went online and searched for a place to wash my clothes that was close to the hotel as I had to park the car at the Olympic Stadium which is 3 miles away to avoid paying the 70 Euros per day to park in the city center. I walked the three miles back to the hotel after parking the car. I've turned into a walking machine!
The Laundromat that I located was on the other side of the canal which is across the street from the my hotel and a few blocks over from there. Armed with my trusty backpack that was loaded with the dirty laundry and my camera bag, I hoofed it over the bridge and went to find the wasserette. It was rather embarassing to notice that in the morning mist, the backpack appeared to have steam spewing out from inside of it.
Once the wasserette was found, I hung around inside while my clothes were being washed. After they were placed in the dryer, I decided to walk down the street to see what I could see.
Now that's just what the doctor ordered. Here was a place to sit down and enjoy a good cup of java!
What a great coffee shop! I had a Cappuccino and something imported from Columbia. They had internet access there so I started to read and post at a forum to which I frequently contribute anecdotes, pictures and nonsensical diatribes. Posting was a bit difficult as I typically like to see the keys while I am typing. However, the candlelight was charming.
Afterwards, I packed up my laundry with vim and vigor and walked back to the hotel. The following are some of the views.
I happened to post the following shot of a view down Lijnbaansgracht at the forum mentioned earlier and received an email from an individual who said he had lived on the third floor over the Saloon as seen in the photo below, almost twenty years ago. He went on to tell me that he had owned a bar in an area of town that bordered the Red Light District. He gave me directions on how to get there and we shall attempt to find it later on this week
The Apollo Museum hotel at which I'm staying can be seen in the next two shots. It's the white building across the canal on the right side of the photographs and was built in the 19th century. Everything is just a walk or tram ride away.
My hotel has a totally mouthwatering breakfast buffet for which this hungry traveler doesn't need a wake up call to make it before breakfast has ended. My room is very spacious with two giant sets of windows that open out to P. C Hooftstraat, which is Amsterdam's most upscale and exclusive shopping street. For three short blocks, one can find stores offering items from just about every label and designer according to a visitor's guide found when when I first arrived and settled in my chamber.
It seems like I'm drawn to cities with canals. Last evening, there was a posting at my forum mentioning Vincent van Gogh with the great tune, "Vincent" included. Just a few blocks from the hotel is the van Gogh Museum to where I'm leaving to peruse. I hope they allow cameras there.
L8tr
05 October 2009
0030 hrs
Art History - Vincent van Gogh
I walked to the van Gogh museum this afternoon and unfortunately cameras were prohibited inside the galleries. There were multiple levels to the building with priceless paintings, sketches and letters from van Gogh with art treasures from Rembrandt, Monet, Gauguin, Toulouse Lautrec, Manet and others.
The following photographs were taken today of a book that I bought at the museum bookstore called: A Letter from Vincent van Gogh by Ceciel de Bie.
A photo of the cover of the book and an envelope of a letter sent by van Gogh to the son of his friend, Joseph Roulin, the postman.
Van Gogh was under the care of Dr. Gachet while at the institution in Saint-Rémy
Dr. Gachet's daughter, Marguerite at the piano
Auvers-sur-Oise 1890
Field with Flowers near Aries, May 1888
The Bedroom - Aries, October 1888
Portrait of Camille Roulin - Aries, December 1888
Ears of Wheat - Auvers-sur-Oise, May 1890
Postman Joseph Roulin - Aries, 1888
Self Portrait - Paris, August - September 1887
Still Life with a plate of onions - Aries, 1889
Wheatfield under Thunderclouds - Auvers-sur-Oise, 1890
The exact reason for van Gogh's attempted suicide that ultimately led to his death can only be one of speculation.
On July 27, 1890, Vincent van Gogh walked out into the fields around Auvers-sur-Oise and shot himself in the chest with a revolver. Not killing himself and not realizing that he was mortally wounded, he returned to his room at the Ravoux Inn where he died in bed two days later. Obviously, van Gogh suffered from depression. But what was the cause of his depression? There were probably psychological and biological reasons that depression plagued van Gogh for most of his life.
That van Gogh suffered from mental illness was clear long before he shot himself. On December 23rd in 1888, he alleges that he cut the lobe off his left ear, wrapped it in newspaper and gave it to a prostitute named Rachel. Van Gogh even committed himself into a mental hospital in 1889 and it was there that he painted "The Starry Night," one of his most famous paintings.
Van Gogh's letters indicate that he might have felt he was a burden to his brother, Theo, who gave Vincent financial support for the ten years that Van Gogh worked as an artist. Although Vincent was thankful for this support, he eventually grew to feel that he contributed nothing to the world or to his brother. Van Gogh is currently one of the most famous artists in the world but that was certainly not the case during his life. While he lived, he produced over 2,000 works. Today, these paintings can fetch tens of millions at auction but were worthless at the time of his death. All but one were never sold during his lifetime. One can only assume that this must have made van Gogh feel like he was wasting his time and question how could he continue to produce nothing of value while his brother had to foot the bill for his failures. With no faith in his own abilities to support himself, Vincent evidently considered suicide as the only way to avoid being a burden to the brother for whom he cared a great deal.
For more than a century, Vincent van Gogh has been known as the tortured genius who sliced off his own ear in a fit of madness. But a new study claims Paul Gauguin lopped off the organ with a sword as the two artists argued over a prostitute.
In a new book, German art historians Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans contend Van Gogh let everyone think he had mutilated himself in order to protect Gauguin from prosecution. Van Gogh's Ear: Paul Gauguin and the Pact of Silence contends that van Gogh and Gauguin got into an argument over a prostitute named Rachel outside the brothel where she worked. Gauguin, an excellent fencer, drew his sword and cut off van Gogh's left ear. "The left ear fell. We cannot say if it was deliberate or an accident. In this situation, the protagonists vowed to keep silent. Then Gauguin disappeared, abandoning his friend," Kaufmann said in the book. Gauguin, according to the book, dumped the sword in the nearby Rhone River. Van Gogh handed the severed ear to the prostitute and then staggered home where police found the injured artist the next day. Van Gogh did not give the police any information and ended up letting them think he had mutilated himself. Gauguin kept silent because he didn't want to face charges and van Gogh didn't tell because "he was infatuated with Gauguin." The book states. "Subsequent behavior and numerous allusions by the protagonists suggest they were hiding the truth," Kaufmann told French newspaper Le Figaro. "Based on their correspondence, it's likely van Gogh's brother, Theo, knew the truth but also kept silent."
There were certainly some biological reasons for why van Gogh suffered from depression, but these are harder to determine. He suffered from seizure disorder and may have been an epileptic. There is a fair amount of evidence that he was bipolar, which would explain his incessant smoking and excessive drinking of coffee and alcohol. Alternatively, that drinking itself may have been the source of the problem. He was particularly fond of a liquor called absinthe which contains a neurotoxin called thujone. Since van Gogh was known to eat his lead-based paints from time to time, one cannot rule out lead poisoning. These are just some of the many theories that have been suggested for his illness, none of which may be accurate or several of them may have contributed to his erratic behavior.
Whatever afflicted van Gogh, it may have given him a unique perspective that is responsible for his enduring fame. Nevertheless, that affliction brought an early end to the career of one of the most famous artists that has ever lived. Perhaps his reputation would have caught up with his achievements if he had only lived a little longer. Sadly, his mental illness ensured that he only worked as an artist for ten brief years.
It's almost 2 AM, Thursday morning here in Amsterdam. It's time to say goedemorgen or goede nacht.
Later today, if the rain decides to quit, this photograper will be venturing out and hopping the tram to check out the Red Light District. Click Here
