From Leiden Centraal

Hondsbossche Zeewering: View from atop the dyke

2011-12-08T09:04:00.002Z

This must be one of the most amazing and (literally) hair-raising experiences I have had in the Netherlands. We parked in the shadow of this huge dyke and I wasn't planning to venture up or across. But my brother-in-law insisted and urged me and accompanied me... and it was unforgettable! I have once before been so swept off my feet by wind and water. That was at Cabo de Roca in Portugal and it must say something about the ferocity of the winds rising off the North Sea that I had no time for any philosophical thoughts in this instance.

I did wonder how best to capture the view, the wind, the noise... really, the spectacle... with a mere camera. The grandest phenomena are really best left to poetry and abstract art.

This is as high as the dyke is. We did not take the stairs up. We climbed up the grassy side!

The view of the North Sea from the top

The wind carries sand, foam and godknowswhatelse up to erode the land.

The embankment of the dyke stands between this ferocious wind and water, and agricultural communities on the other side.

These communities would not be possible
without the dyke system.

This is what forms the wall of the dyke--
carefully designed boulders.

Hondsbossche Zeewering.. wind on water

2011-12-08T08:22:00.001Z

Wind on water.

Outside Petten

2011-12-08T07:15:00.000Z

In contrast to the serenity of the scene in the photo above, I want to point out that the photo is blurred not because of my skills but because the wind really was so fierce that it was blowing my camera around!

Bergen aan Zee.... and wind!

2011-12-08T06:58:00.001Z

Road. Canopy. Sky. Trees.

2011-12-08T06:21:00.000Z

North Holland farm

2011-12-06T13:17:00.001Z

This time, I found myself taking photographs of farmland, complete with horses and cattle at work or grazing. Perhaps it was the season; the open land waiting for its next crop, inviting photography.

More from the Hague

2011-12-06T11:51:00.000Z

Touch the low Netherlands sky, grab a little gold dust!

2011-12-06T10:50:00.000Z

Late autumn afternoon sky on the road to the Hague.

A day in Den Haag

2011-12-06T10:31:00.000Z

A visit to the Escher Museum was followed by a lovely lunch and walk around the Hague, which is becoming one of my favourite places--it's so pretty and so manageable!

Duin & Kruidberg... 6

2011-12-06T09:26:00.000Z

The clear autumn light

And a surprising toran...

Duin & Kruidberg... 5

2011-12-06T09:11:00.000Z

Duin & Kruidberg... 4

2011-12-06T08:38:00.001Z

Reaching out to the sky...
...and into the undergrowth

Duin & Kruidberg... 3

2011-12-06T08:32:00.000Z

Getting your ducks in a line...

Duin & Kruidberg... 2

2011-12-06T08:23:00.001Z

Fall colours in a fairytale

Duin & Kruidberg... stepping into a misty dream

2011-12-06T08:04:00.000Z

We drove down for tea to Duin & Kruidberg, a castle-hotel. It was as if we stepped into a fairy-tale, and the mist fell as we walked around the lake heightening that impression.

At first glance

Step into a fairy-tale book

Highway sunset

2011-12-06T07:23:00.000Z

Spui... books, books, books and coffee

2011-12-06T07:05:00.001Z

Outdoors book market at Spui, Amsterdam

Sinterklaas street decoration

Occupying Amsterdam... briefly

2011-12-06T06:38:00.000Z

The Occupy Amsterdam protest encampment in front of the Stock Exchange building.

Naarden Vesting

2011-11-14T10:17:00.000Z

Garden at the Singer Museum, Laren 3

2011-11-14T10:03:00.000Z

Who would believe these were taken in November?!

Garden at the Singer Museum, Laren 2

2011-11-14T09:56:00.000Z

Garden at the Singer Museum, Laren 1

2011-11-14T09:51:00.000Z

A visit to the Sluijter exhibition at the Singer Museum in Laren, brought the bonus of a walk around its small but very pretty garden.

Den Haag, again

2011-11-09T15:39:00.000Z

Driving along the dyke

2011-11-09T14:57:00.000Z

Crossings

2011-11-09T14:48:00.000Z

Storybook island village--Kaagdorp 4

2011-11-09T14:30:00.000Z

Storybook island village--Kaagdorp 3

2011-11-09T14:25:00.000Z

Storybook island village--Kaagdorp 2

2011-11-09T14:20:00.000Z

Storybook island village--Kaagdorp 1

2011-11-07T21:24:00.000Z

City secrets

2011-11-07T21:11:00.001Z

Just off Haarlemerstraat, Leiden.

Line and light, Leiden skyline

2011-11-07T21:06:00.000Z

Urban Lines: Den Haag

2011-11-07T20:48:00.001Z

A short walk around Den Haag Centraal (Hague Central Station) revealed a very interesting, changing city skyline.

Leeuwenhorst, 10

2011-11-07T20:21:00.000Z

Leeuwenhorst, 9

2011-11-07T20:11:00.000Z

Leeuwenhorst, 8

2011-11-07T17:45:00.000Z

Leeuwenhorst, 7

2011-11-07T16:38:00.000Z

Leeuwenhorst, 6

2011-11-07T16:27:00.001Z

Leeuwenhorst, 5

2011-11-07T16:20:00.000Z

Leeuwenhorst, 4

2011-11-07T16:09:00.000Z

Leeuwenhorst, 3

2011-11-07T16:00:00.001Z

Leeuwenhorst, 2

2011-11-07T14:24:00.000Z

Leeuwenhorst, 1

2011-11-07T13:59:00.000Z

A bright autumn day is a perfect day to bundle up and go for a walk, and a walk in the perfect excuse for photography.

Clear blue autumn skies

2011-11-07T13:44:00.000Z

... and too bad you can't see the leaves flutter in the wind, like tin-gold tree decorations in the open air.

Leiden twilight

2011-11-07T12:56:00.000Z

The Leiden sky is so beautiful at twilight that photography is irresistible.

The 2011 set

2011-11-07T12:48:00.000Z

Back in Holland after four and a half years, and in a different season. You know what that means--new images, new photographs and new blogposts.

A Postscript in Two Parts: Part Two

2007-06-02T04:40:00.000Z

Let’s go Dutch!

The first thing that strikes you when you start driving out of Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam is how orderly everything seems. Even the trees grow, neatly spaced, in a straight line. That impression is reinforced by everything you encounter. Well, fair enough, one thinks, after all, much of Holland is reclaimed land, and planned construction allows one to impose a linear order on nature.

But what accounts for the people here? As far as one sees and hears and reads, it is the same mad human race that inhabits this space, the one that drives badly elsewhere; will not stand in queues; talks loudly and violates rules; spits, urinates and defecates in public spaces; and evades tax. What makes them so well-behaved here? (Rude, but well-behaved!) I don’t know, but it should be a wonder of the world.

We sat at the window everyday and watched Leiden file by, in perfect order. Traffic is orderly, trains are orderly, people are orderly. (You get the picture.)

And we remembered Ranganathan Street and its chaos. The mad traffic of humans, cows and cars at the entrance of Colaba market. The craziness of trying to get on or off a plane or train in India. Spitting at no-spitting signs. Sticking posters over do-not-stick warnings. Men urinating everywhere unless there is the picture of a god, goddess or saint (the origins of image worship?) before them. “Queues” pressed abreast a teller’s counter. And held our heads in our hands at the memory.

Why do we preen at our bad behaviour? Indeed, why do most humans defend really bad behaviour by using words like: spontaneous, free, open, natural… what is natural about lack of consideration or lack of civic sense? Sometimes we also romanticize it: this is how we are, the world marvels at our functioning chaos, our chaos is colourful, being in India is about experiencing heat, dust and dirt.

It makes me cringe. It makes me sad. It makes me want to step out and try to change things.

One of the things I really want to change is the way we run our museums. The Dutch love their museums and why not, they are everywhere, you can enter free on certain days, they are well laid out and organized and you can actually learn something while having fun.

There are some very obvious problems with museums in India: lack of resources, lack of skilled workers, low priority status in the face of other issues and a public that will neither pay willingly nor take care of existing resources. I have visited the Colombo Museum twice, and it has been a few years now so it could have changed, but to get to the most amazing part of their collection (in my view of course)—their bronzes—you had to walk far into the back, past some very dull exhibits of boats and bats. Contrast that to the Rijksmuseum that we visited a few weeks ago: it is undergoing huge repairs and renovation but instead of shunting a few works into a tent or basement, they have taken the trouble to renovate one wing and curate a smaller collection of masterpieces that they show with the same care and attention to detail as if it were their entire permanent collection. The result: a wonderful, learning experience for the hundreds who walk through everyday.

I have visited some amazing museums in South Asia and they deserve a mention here if only to show that we could do as well as anyone if we cared enough. In no particular order:

Lok Virsa, Islamabad, showcases the folk cultures of Pakistan. It is user-friendly, entertaining and teaches without inducing sleep. The staff are very welcoming, especially if you are an Indian.
Dakshina Chitra, Chennai, recreates the art, architecture and material culture of South India on a sprawling (and sadly still shade-less) campus. Each reconstructed house is furnished in traditional style, down to the line of family photographs. You become interested in spite of yourself and the heat.
The National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi is the first museum I visited that I really enjoyed walking through. This was seventeen years ago and there wasn’t enough text to explain the art, but it was still a good experience because the exhibited works were well-arranged and there was enough light to look at them everywhere.
Chennai’s newly re-done bronze gallery is fabulous. Where the other sections are still like dressed up warehouses galleys, the bronze gallery shows what the Museum staff are capable of if someone cared enough to support them.
Victoria Memorial, Calcutta, where I first noticed paintings with interest because they were so beautifully laid out that they looked even more beautiful.
Dinkar Kelkar Museum, Pune, whose collection of everyday objects is exquisite. I learnt to notice beauty in small things by seeing how Dinkar Kelkar saw.
New Delhi’s Railway Museum and Dolls’ Museum are also remarkable little treasures.

I want to stress that the problem is not with the exhibits. There are gorgeous and fascinating objects in the collections of the Calcutta Museum (Asiatic Society), in the Archaeological Survey’s museum in Delhi and in the Museum in Bombay (which has been recently redone, I hear). But when will we learn to enjoy them? And cherish them?

Who in their right mind would deny that India’s, South Asia’s civilization and arts are rare in their antiquity and their excellence? Not Indians, who are justifiably proud of this inheritance. When however, I see how the Dutch (and the Belgians) cherish and showcase every small aspect of their culture (art, musical instruments, chocolates, posters, stamps, trains, etc.), I am saddened and moved to act on our behalf.

We have so much to show and showcase, even conceding to cultural studies scholars that all showcasing is problematic. I want to be part of an effort to showcase well. And I want to be part of an effort to make us take a real interest in our own heritage. I worry that what we are getting left with is the stuff that was meant for the garbage dump—puberty and widowhood rituals played out over three to five days in all Sun TV serials, for instance. We are losing our appreciation of our own textiles, our understanding of our iconography and architecture, our taste for our own food and our embrace of our own inner diversity.

That is another striking comparison, by the way. Indians are constantly negotiating the politics of our diversity. It is interesting to watch how the Dutch, like other Europeans, are learning to see themselves as not culturally homogeneous. This is the beginning of an interesting journey for them, and one that is slightly further along in the US. From India’s point of view, their current politics is our ancient and continuing history. Stratification, hierarchy and ethnic diversity have been a part of every period in every South Asian region’s history.

The mirror shows you your face and when you point at someone, your fingers point back at you! That travel teaches you a lot, goes without saying. When you travel widely and spend time outside your home, you know that travel—like any other form of education—ultimately teaches you more about yourself than anything outside of you. From the vantage point of Leiden Centraal, the clearest view was the one closest to home for me—and maybe in some way, for you too?

A Postscript in Two Parts: Part One

2007-06-02T04:38:00.000Z

(or, Home Thoughts from Abroad, Written at Home)

I start this post on a sultry morning, wondering where all the words vanished that I composed so brilliantly as we drove around Holland. Let's see if their remains can reconstruct their essence.

Comparison is a way of thinking and seeing the world, we learn in comparative politics classes. Comparisons are odious, the world tells us. And I say, comparisons are instructive and even inspiring. We have had so many occasions to compare the Netherlands and India, particularly Chennai. The comparisons have favoured both sides in turn and I want to share them with you, starting with the ones in which India and Indians do really well.

Where India and Indians score

Of all the things you start to remember fondly about India and Indians, compassion in interpersonal interactions (I am not talking about inter-communal relations) and customer service stand out. The small attentions and acts of caring that Indians, total strangers, especially traveling strangers will perform for each other--offering medicine, water, food, a helping hand--stand out in sharp contrast to the more transactional style of other cultures. Especially when you fly a western airline. (Of course, there are wonderful, warm and compassionate people everywhere and Indians can be cruel, especially to less fortunate Indians, but still what I am saying will ring true to anyone who has traveled widely.)

It is hard to hold on to this rosy view, however, as you observe the crowd rushing towards airport gates as if the flight will leave without them on board. When the act of compassion is followed by questions about your family history, your lifestyle choices and gratuitous advice on all matters.

The glow returns as you walk through European stores where store staff treat you with an indiscriminate coldness that says: I don’t care if you are going to buy up all our stock, wipe your shoes, pick up after yourself and don’t talk to me. Suddenly the over-attentive girls in white coats in Chennai stores seem marginally less irritating. And one misses the shopkeeper in Bombay or Delhi who says: Look, look, what is the harm in looking? Or even the efficient Nalli or Kumaran floor supervisors who say, yes, what are you looking for, what is your budget and shepherd you to the right place.

One also notices the absence of those proto-relationships one has with service providers and vendors in India (and elsewhere in South Asia). That people do not remember each other in spite of repeated interaction over a long period of time just stuns me. To walk into stores where you have purchased things for many years, to recognize the sales staff but have them look at you (a rare South Asian in a European sea) as if they have never met you before… that actually happens most places outside this region. In South Asia, for the most part, like two points make a line, two interactions (or even one) are enough to form the skeleton of a relationship. This skeletal structure gives them permission to remember my purchasing habits or even that I have not come to the store in a saree, and it gives me permission to say, how are you today and over time, enquire about the family or the business. This is not true of course, of the new malls and department stores, but it still holds good for the family businesses and shops that still dominate retail. It is excellent business practice; I equate being remembered with being able to trust and it is repeat business for the store.

My sociologist friend tried to explain, and I will try and paraphrase from memory (please comment to correct or clarify): she said that Dutch society had never been feudal and like adjacent parts of France and England (across the channel), had always had nuclear families. Not being feudal meant that responsibility for a community and community affiliation clustered around church parishes. In spite of their maritime and commercial history, then, the Dutch did not reach out and did not learn to reach out to people beyond their community. She also said that self-sufficiency and the expectation of self-sufficiency followed from the fact that young people would leave home early to go to town to learn a trade and then build their families with themselve as the starting point. So each one helps themselves and expects that others can take care of themselves too.

My friend stressed the (non-feudal) egalitarian nature of Dutch society. When I asked her to compare it to non-hierarchical American society (and whether that stereotype holds true is another debate altogether), and she said something very interesting (also revealing a common perception of American society held outside that continent): The Dutch are blunt to the point of rudeness because they don’t think anyone will shoot them for it.

[crossposted at It's Just Me.]

Leiden Leave-taking

2007-05-20T23:01:00.000Z

One last walk around Leiden and a little shopping on Saturday which is one of the two market days in Leiden (Wednesday is the other).

I have a photograph taken from this bridge posted elsewhere on this blog.

Molen de Valk, which is also a Windmill Museum.

Leiden's main square, where the bookseller had set up shop.

As you walk down this avenue, the Hooglandschekerk (or the Church of St. Pancras) looms up suddenly. One is not, or I was not, prepared for the scale of this edifice.

This blog opened with flowers and closes that way. Our last stop is at the flower section of the Saturday market. We feast our eyes and enjoy the wonderful indulgence of buying flowers in Holland.

Noordwijk Beach Sunset

2007-05-20T22:57:00.000Z

The wind making patterns in the sand.

Fantastic Friesland: Sneek

2007-05-20T22:44:00.001Z

The road to Sneek (you pronounce it 'snake') was very pretty. Here is a photographic glimpse.

Where else do you see people walking on dykes?

Sneek is most famous for its Waterpoort which dates back to 1613. A passing boat brought traffic to a halt and so I could take these photographs although we did not stop there.

This brought to a close our Friesland excursion.

Fantastic Friesland: Hindeloopen

2007-05-20T16:11:00.001Z

Hindeloopen is to be seen to be believed. I am not sure whether I would want to live in a place this quaint and old-world but it is an enchanting place to halt.

Hindeloopen is a major shipbuilding centre, even now, and the harbour is full of boats.

On the day we visited, the weather was spectacular and there were as many boats in the water as people on the streets.

The narrow cobble-stoned alleys are crisscrossed by streams, too narrow to be canals, broad enough to make great photographs. By now, all this seems like standard Netherlands fare: pretty houses, old buildings, gorgeous gardens! But we have still not lost our appetite for it.

The Hindeloopen harbour is ringed by a high dyke. We walked along soaking in the breeze and the expanse of water. It was very memorable.

Fantastic Friesland: Workum

2007-05-20T14:17:00.000Z

Workum was our first stop in Friesland. A very old town dating back before the thirteenth century, it is famous for the Jopie Huisman Museum and for the Grote of Gertrudiskerk. We did not visit the first but we did stop and wander through the latter, which is being restored.

The church is very bare and the more impressive for it somehow.

Fantastic Friesland: The Afsluitdijk

2007-05-20T07:37:00.000Z

The last road-trip of this holiday was to Friesland. The plan was to drive through North Holland and cross the Afsluitdijk to Friesland.

A few years ago, we had driven around the coast of the West Friesland region of North Holland, from Hoorn to Enkhuizen, along the dyke. This time we went past them to where the Zuiderzee was dammed to cut off the IJsselmeer from the Waddenzee which is like an inlet of the North Sea. The A7 highway continues across this major dyke and then leads into Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland.

The IJsselmeer turns 75 this year! So you might say we visited to commemorate its milestone birthday. We have now seen two major waterworks projects in the Netherlands, the Oosterscheldekeering and IJsselmeer.

We stopped thrice along this road. The first time was just to take photographs of IJsselmeer. Although the embankments are human constructions, the plants growing there seem to be growing spontaneously.

Our second stop was at the point where the construction of the dyke is commemorated.

The final stop took an unexpected turn. As the bridge at the end of the Afsluitdijk was drawn to let boats go by, we found ourselves waiting. I stepped out to take a few photographs and misunderstanding, stepped too far away to get back to the car as traffic began moving. I ended up crossing the bridge on foot, and then having to walk by the highway for a few long minutes to reach where the car had stopped for me. The photo opportunity turned into a motion picture moment but at the cost of creating a source of (continuing) annoyance to my companions. It is chancy to be in that situation but in that split second, it seemed a better call than holding up fairly quick-moving traffic as I walked back to the car. I have good footage of boats moving in and out, but I still don't know how to link that here. So here are the (ill-gotten) photographs.

And so we entered Friesland proper!

Leiden's neighbourhood

2007-05-20T07:18:00.000Z

We drove through some pretty countryside on the way back to Leiden from Amsterdam, pausing at Kaagdorp for a few minutes to take in the lake and boating activities. The day started out gloomy, wet and cool and ended really gorgeous.

I did not take these photographs either, by the way. I was asleep when we got here and then half-asleep through this stretch.

Museumplein, Amsterdam

2007-05-19T21:31:00.000Z

We combined our visits to the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. We had planned these in advance, booking our entrance tickets over the internet (a tip for those who can). This meant we could go on a holiday (Assumption) and still not get stuck in queues.

Rijksmuseum and the lawn before it.

Concertgebouw, across from the Rijksmuseum; Flowers near the Van Gogh Museum

The Rijksmuseum is being renovated and so they have created a special exhibition of their masterpieces in one wing. This is so beautifully curated that you might think it was their permanent arrangement. Some of the exhibits that appealed to me:

The Dolls' Houses, which show you what Dutch homes of their period must have been like and which, read with the Dutch colonial exhibits and the classical paintings on display bring both together in a domestic context to show what the imperative for imperial exploration must have been.
I was happy to finally see the original version of several famous paintings including Hendrik Avercamp's Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters; Rembrandt's Night Watch; and The Kitchen Maid, The Little Street and Woman Reading a Letter by Vermeer.
Other interesting paintings: The Jewish Bride by Rembrandt, The Mill at Wijk-bij-Duurstede by Jacob van Ruisdael, The Marriage Portrait Massa by Frans Hals.

Check out the collection online for yourself.

The Van Gogh Museum was even more user-friendly. It is smaller and devoted to one artist so it is easier to follow both the artistic and the life-narrative. Between this museum and the Kroller-Muller, we have now probably seen most of Vincent Van Gogh's famous paintings. I have to say that contrary to my view in the earlier post on that museum, I really enjoyed his work here. It must have to do with having a sense of his life/learning trajectory. Or my state of mind! I would suggest you visit the site yourself to see the paintings because it too is very well laid out.

Lingering in Leiden Square

2007-05-19T21:20:00.000Z

A bookseller sets up shop about once a week in Leiden's main square.

I must confess here that I did not take all of these photographs; my hands were too full!

Leiden is Rembrandt's home. And this hoarding reminds you of it.

Amsterdam again

2007-05-16T21:57:00.000Z

Taking the train in to Amsterdam for the afternoon is just as cool as it sounds!

This time our wanderings were closer to the station and Kalverstraat.

Don't miss how slanted the building in the photograph on the right is.

We passed the old Beurs (Bourse) which is now used as a concert hall: a beautiful building, which now displays old and new, then and now, with style.

The Dam Square area may be the most imposing part of a city which has very many stunning buildings.

Kalverstraat is packed with shoppers as we wend our way to a small church that you could easily miss amid the stores. As I do (it's closed anyway).

We walked through a gallery of the Amsterdam Historical Museum to get to Begijnhof. They have converted the space between two buildings into a long corridor gallery for these huge paintings of municipal groups--an older version of the office photograph, I guess. The paintings are neat--we saw one in the Prinsenhof that was priceless, with a large group of officials, each pointing to another as if to shift blame. How many organizations do we know like that, eh? I also want to say how much I appreciated such a use of space that might elsewhere have become a garbage alley or spitting ground.

The seals on the wall on the right are in the place of nameplates next to doorbells. Very fancy, I think!

And so we turn into the Begijnhof, which is like a secret garden. Now, not such a well-kept secret it was a Catholic refuge in earlier times. Today, single women live here and if you discount tourist intrusions like ours, I am sure it is a refuge to them in many ways as well.

One comes out of the Begijnhof into the Amsterdam Art Market.

And so our sightseeing for the afternoon wound down....

Eurovision Song Contest: All agony, no ecstasy

2007-05-16T18:41:00.000Z

Anyone complaining about the quality of the performances on Indian talent shows should know those kids have a really good shot at winning the Eurovision Song Contest. You are lucky you cannot hear the singing, but a few television images for your entertainment.

We watched on BBC and what the performances lacked, Terry Wogan's very dry commentary more than compensated for. Perhaps the BBC should advertise the programme as ''Watch This for Wogan''!

Those of us who watch Indian Idol and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa on Indian television also rage about zonal or regional voting. Well, it turns out Europe is no better. The vote count and Wogan's commentary would actually make an interesting teaching aid in a course on international relations or Europe.

Leiden Centraal

2007-05-16T18:36:00.000Z

This blog deserves a post that shares its title. This is it! These are scenes from Leiden Station and its surroundings.

Three hours in Delft VI

2007-05-16T13:22:00.000Z

Almost time, but not quite, so we walked around the neighbourhood of the Oude Kerk.

The Oude Kerk was beautiful, but although I knew that it is a church in use and there had been a wedding there shortly before our visit, it did not touch me as places of worship sometimes do. Perhaps it is the tourist crowd wandering through. Perhaps it is the fact that I could not figure out the direction of the sanctum. I am not sure why.

I sometimes feel that tourists traipsing through places of worships with guidebooks and cameras just take something away from what makes them special. At the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaeo) in Bangkok, there were worshippers surrendering their innermost concerns to the compassion of the Buddha, while tourists used noisy flashes, beckoned and pointed things out to each other, reading from guidebooks haltingly. The wonder then is not the object or the space viewed but the steady candle of faith which does not flicker when surrounded by these disruptions. At the Monastery of Jeronimo in Lisbon, we arrived in the middle of a Sunday morning mass. The tourist crowd paid no mind to its solemnity, and guides pointed out graves and carvings as though their exhibition was the primary purpose of the chapel. Still, in both those places, it was hard not to notice that the air was thick with faith and the possibility of grace.

At most of the churches we have visited in the Netherlands, I have missed that unmistakable element. There are exceptions: The Church of Our Lady in Maastricht and the Catholic chapel of the Begijnhof in Amsterdam.

Three hours in Delft V

2007-05-16T13:05:00.000Z

Sint Agathaklooster is very pretty but the Prinsenhof has a very important place in Dutch history, in addition to being the main museum in Delft. It was the last home of William of Orange and there are still holes in the wall from the bullets that assassinated him.

Three hours in Delft IV

2007-05-16T12:41:00.000Z

Our first glimpse of the Oude Kerk is impressive.

There is a wedding taking place in the church and it is out of bounds as we get there.

So we decide to return in an hour or so, and make our way to Sint Agathaklooster where the Prinsenhof Museum is.

Three hours in Delft III

2007-05-16T12:32:00.000Z

And this is a statue of Grotius, to whom we attribute one of the three lenses of international relations theory. This lens places institutions, laws and regimes at the centre of the field, where the others address force (Hobbes) and ideals (Kant).

As a mark of disciplinary solidarity, he gets his own post, although he is standing in front of the Niewe Kerk!

Three hours in Delft II

2007-05-16T11:29:00.000Z

The town square in Delft is marked by two grand buildings, the Stadhuis and the Nieuwe Kerk. On the day we went, there was an open market selling bales and bales of fabric. On the other two sides there are stores with a fair number of porcelain outlets. It was extremely windy and you could see the tents being blown open by the wind.

The Stadhuis

The market

The Nieuwe Kerk

Three hours in Delft I

2007-05-16T11:14:00.000Z

Delft is very close to Leiden. We spent part of a Saturday skirting the tourist trail. We skipped the porcelain factories and the Nieuwe Kerk was closed, but we still got a good sense of the university town.

Storm clouds over Leiden

2007-05-16T10:50:00.000Z

Bouquets brought, bouquets bought

2007-05-16T10:40:00.000Z

There are florists everywhere in Holland, and they arrange flowers in the most natural way so that you think you (be)hold a bunch you picked for yourself in a bountiful garden. Just like that. No stiff baskets. No cello-taped 'bokkay'beaten to death on a piece of paper. Just as you would hold them in your hands as you walked back from the garden.

Brussels Again... III

2007-05-10T18:07:00.000Z

It is hard for me to divide up the photos from Brussels the way I have for other cities. As I said earlier, nothing happened the way I planned.

I set out to find the Chocolate Museum and found myself passing the Galeries Royales St Hubert (St. Hubert Gallery), which I had wanted to visit but thought too far away. Minutes pleasantly snowballed into more than an hour, as I walked in and out of shops that were just opening for business. Postcards, books, music, movies, handbags, chocolate... browsing in the most elegant surroundings possible! Stepping out to making my way to the Grand Place, I walked through a maze of alleys with restaurants and cafes, each alley seemed to specialize in a particular cuisine or ingredient. Turning in to the Grand Place an old socialist banner greeted me. The buildings around the World Heritage square are guildhouses, dating back to the early eighteenth century. In a way then, the banner and the buildings juxtapose two visions of society. But most tourists are not thinking about political economy issues as they flock this location, taking photographs and reading their guidebooks.

At this point, it was closing in on 1 pm (or 1300 to put it in European terms), and I knew I had lost interest in the museums altogether. The day had taken on an entirely different mood, and I just wanted it to stay that way. I decided to wander towards the Sablon area and have my lunch at the Museum of Art. On my way (the short way I was shown at the end of day 1 by my friend), I walked into the most amazing bookstore: the Librairie Van Der Elst at the Galerie Bortier, Rue de la Madeleine. If you go to Brussels and you read even a little French, do visit this store. I did not buy anything but was sorely tempted (as I had been earlier at Tropismes in the Galeries); the only reason I did not buy is that I did not trust myself to actually read a whole book in French.

Emerging from this store, a look over the shoulder yields this view (right) and straight ahead is the imposing ascent to the royal palace.

As one makes one's way, the first building on the right is the Royal Library, whose walls indicate at least three kinds of writing in Belgium, the third being graffiti.

The open expanse is relieved by two tree-covered promenades. I feel, once again, for all those who praised kings and planners who planted trees alongside roads for the comfort of travelers.

Walking past the Old England building, I headed for the Royal Museum of Fine Arts. Well, to be perfectly honest, I had thought the cafe's looked interesting the day before and the bathrooms seemed clean. Both these are very important when you are wandering around a strange city (in my view)!

The Museum is housed in a building that appears to have belonged to the Gresham Life Insurance Company, which seems to have operated around the world.

The Museum has three cafes, and I found the least fussy one. And the emptiest. I had to keep walking to another restaurant to remind the staff that I needed someone to bring me a menu, take an order, bill me, etc., etc. But the cafe I sat in was very appealing.

Reading in the cafe was inspiring on two counts. First, I was reading in French after many years, and it was wonderful to feel like I could actually follow without too much struggle. Second, I wanted to go look at the work that I was reading about. So another unexpected move: I decided to actually visit the Museum of Fine Arts and bought a book that marked the twelve most important paintings for a hurried visitor to see in the Ancient Arts section.

Traffic is not the only annoying thing in Belgium. As I had lost my way yesterday through the streets of Brussels, I now was at sea in the Museum. It is a large museum, but the largeness is accentuated by the lack of easily evident maps and directions. I just wandered and wandered till I completely lost interest in ancient art, and decided to look for the Modern Art section. Not easy, that either. I found the section and a helpful (not) attendant told to follow the "Circuit Vert". Thank you, very much, I would and tried, but it would have helped to know where the circuit was headed and in which chronological or thematic direction. I accept that two things are possible: The Museum is badly organized or I am just not capable of finding my way in such places. I suppose both are true to some extent.

So did I see any paintings worth seeing? Of course, but in my increasing confusion and frustration, few registered. I wanted to see the Death of Marat, but did not find it. I saw yet another 'Babel Tower' painting and wondered about the fascination of painters from a certain time for that theme. I saw paintings by Rubens, Seurat and Magritte among others.

I realised at this Museum that I do not notice sculpture for the most part. I kept walking around sculptures as if they were load-bearing pillars or traffic regulators. The Euro Visions photography exhibition was advertised everywhere and I thought finally I would see that at least. But it was not very exciting and I just wanted to leave by the time I found it, so I spent the rest of my time in that building searching for the exit. That I took one photograph at the Museum and it was of the view through a museum window (above left) tells you in one image what my experience was like.

The rest of my day was as the beginning had been. I wandered around with no plan, ending up at the Galeries for a drink before we left. And this is the opening I have waited for since I began blogging the Brussels trip: reading about Poirot drinking tisanes, I used to wonder what they were and what they tasted like. Then I figured out that they were herbal teas or infusions. Thrice in one and a half days in Brussels, I drank the most marvelous fresh mint tea. This divine decoction is made using freshmint leaves. They are boiled in water with a small spoon of black tea. The result is something I will dream of till I return to Brussels. Mark my words, not chocolate but mint tea, is what you should travel here to consume.

Postscript to the day was a short walk to the English bookstore, Sterling Books. The walk back from there took us past the St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral.

As we drove out of town, this is the view emerging from the tunnel in front of the Arc de Triomphe at Cinquantenaire Park.

Brussels Again... II

2007-05-10T17:24:00.000Z

An unexpected advantage of doing the same route two days in a row is that you can plan your car photographs.

Demolition art, en route

(Someday, someone will recreate the plaster and brick matrix on the right as sculpture.)

The European Union at 50: Where's the Party Tonight?

I love the fact that the building on the left has capitalized on its location by using mirrors that reflect the beautiful facades of the buildings across the street!

And the last stretch, before we parked and the day got going...

Brussels Again... I

2007-05-10T17:09:00.000Z

I really enjoyed my second day in Brussels. The misadventures of the previous day had oriented me and I spent time on the drive listing and strategizing my sightseeing.

I would start at the Chocolate Museum, then wander around the shops in the Grand Place area, then head out to the Museum of Modern Art whose cafe looked very nice just in time for lunch. After lunch, the Bande Dessinee Museum, peut-etre. And always, Fnac on my mind; would I be able to make it? And the European Union buildings (with the 50th anniversary coming up that weekend). And I suppose, NATO--after all, I am an international relations scholar.

It took us three hours to drive in (and out), with the bulk of that time in both directions being spent in Belgian traffic. There is a bottleneck at all times around Antwerp. It is not like the traffic there is unusual or occasional; at all times, trucks from all over Europe head towards and away from this important port. This, by the way, is one of this childish joys that await those who drive in this direction. You can see licence plates from all over the European Union.

Suffice it to say, my day was like none of my plans but much better!

Lost and found in Brussels

2007-05-08T17:28:00.000Z

I had a chance to drive into Brussels, Belgium, two days in a row. On the first day, I met a friend for lunch, and set out confidently from our parking near the Grand Place.

As she later put it, the best way to get oriented in a new place, is to get lost and find one's way. These are some of the things I passed on my way to the Musuem of Musical Instruments not knowing what they were! My first impression of Brussels was that it was pretty but pretty inscrutable.

The beautiful Eglise de Sablon... I stopped in for a minute and its silence stays with me.

The Museum of Musical Instruments is housed in a striking building that used to be a department store called Old England.

The building sits atop a hill where the royal palace and several other museums are located. We were to meet for lunch at a restaurant on its top floor from which the view is spectacular.

And what are Brussels photographs without the Grand Place thrown in?

Day One was reconnaissance for Day Two. Day Two ... well, click on those posts to see what Day Two was like! So back we went over the border to the Netherlands....

Queen's Day, 2007

2007-05-06T16:19:00.000Z

Koninginnedag, or Queen's Day, celebrates the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands. April 30 is actually her mother, Queen Juliana's, birthday but it is now celebrated also as the ruling Queen Beatrix's day. The whole royal family visits two towns in the Netherlands; this year it was Woudrichem and Den Bosch (aka 's-Hertogenbosch). (Their Queen's Day pages are here: W and D.)

The Netherlands more or less shuts down for partying, which begins on the eve, and the streets become promenades and impromptu flea-markets. The largest crowds are fittingly, in Amsterdam, and this country which in my photographs appears empty of people becomes packed; Leiden felt like Chennai's Ranganathan Street or Churchgate at rush hour without the rush. I should add, orange is the colour of the day in honour of the Orange (Oranje) dynasty.

Glimpses of the Queen's visit to the two towns from the NOS Channel 2 live coverage:

We took a walk around Leiden. While we have seen busy days in the market streets, Queen's Day was something else. It appeared as though every human in the vicinity of Leiden city (and some dogs) were out on the streets to celebrate.

Postscript: A Queen's Day celebration concert.

For many Dutch, the rituals and ceremonies undertaken by the small towns are embarrassing--they are in costumes, organize tableaux and pageants, play party games, dance and one couple this time even got married in the presence of the royal family. Coming from South Asia, where the interface between political leaders and the public they ostensibly represent is mediated by the presence of armed security commandos, it is a sight for sore eyes to see how easily the royal family mingles with the public. They visit as a family, they interact informally, they play games, they eat what they are offered. Our reaction is typically South Asian: kisi ki nazar na lage (let no one cast an evil eye). The world needs one last bastion of such simplicity.

Final word: This blog had an orange background for a week to share in this celebration. We are now back to beige!

The Zeeland Experience VII

2007-05-06T08:20:00.000Z

We crossed the Zeeland Bridge, which is the longest bridge in the Netherlands, and then quickly drove through another picture-perfect town, Zierikzee.

Zierikzee was all dressed up for Sunday evening church as we drove in and out of two of its three historic gates.

The Zeeland Experience VI

2007-05-06T07:21:00.000Z

Middelburg, the capital of Zeeland, is a modern city with an old centre--not unusual for this country. We stopped here for a late lunch at a cafe on the town square. Take a look.

The Zeeland Experience V

2007-05-05T20:32:00.000Z

(A view of Veere from the harbour)

The town of Veere seemed to be having an Open Day. The streets were busy. The parking lots were full. The cafes buzzing. And there were people everywhere.

The main reason to stop in Veere is the spectacular Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk.

Out in the courtyard of the church...

Finally, some views of Veere harbour:

You cannot tell from the photograph on the left, but from where it is taken, there are four strips of land visible, separated by inlets from the sea. On each strip of land, plants are visible and on each water body, sailboats. Use this photo as a starting point for your imagination!

The Zeeland Experience IV

2007-05-05T20:20:00.000Z

We drove through some very pretty countryside.

The Zeeland Experience III

2007-05-05T19:35:00.000Z

We spent a couple of hours at the Delta Works, an outstanding example of how the Dutch have sought to cope with the hand that history and nature have dealt them.

As the name of their country (The Netherlands, and its French equivalent, Pays-Bas) suggests, much of their territory lies at or below sea-level. The ubiquitous network of rivers (the Rhine/Rijn, Maas, Drecht, Waal, among others) and the long coastline have presented an opportunity (taken to the hilt by sea-faring traders) and a challenge (met by the network of dykes/dijks, polders and canals). In Zeeland, the devastating floods of 1953 set in motion a dialogic process of planning, debating and building that has sought to reduce the probability of disaster to one in four thousand years.
We visited the Oosterscheldekering storm surge barrier. My photographs are of the surrounding area but you can visit their site to learn more about how the barrier works and the larger network of dams that make up the Delta Works.

Coming from a region that has seen the Gujarat and Kashmir earthquakes, floods, super-cyclones and the 2004 tsunami, where we still discuss what these disasters offer an opportunity for us to do, we were so impressed by the fact that a problem had been faced squarely and solutions sought. No solution is perfect and not all problems can be foreseen, but still the effort must be made. The Dutch offer an example of public-private, state-society cooperation towards this end. It is not as if the government proposed and their plans were accepted without challenge, but the questions raised and challenges posed were taken into consideration to revise plans for the better.

The Zeeland Experience II

2007-05-05T17:58:00.000Z

Our first, very brief, stop in Zeeland was Burgh-Haamstede. A 13th century castle is the centrepiece of this very small town: Slot Haamstede.

The castle is interesting. It has this completely flat facade on one side, a moat and verdant grounds. I believe it is still in use.

But what is really lovely, lies behind this.

Crossing Over: The Zeeland Experience I

2007-05-05T08:49:00.000Z

Zeeland, in Southwestern Netherlands, is a mosaic of land and water. Wherever you look, the sea is there, or inlets created by the network of dams that bridge the delta islands.

The change is subtle but perceptible as you enter.

Amsterdam Afternoon X

2007-05-04T20:07:00.000Z

The afternoon ended with a drive through Oud-Zuid, a quarter with very classy homes and elegant streets. It borders Vondel Park on one side and the Museum Quarter on the other.

The tree-lined streets have a rare serenity.

The homes are stately and classic....

.... in contrast to the very here-and-now air of activity glimpsed in Vondel Park.

Two things caught my eye. Tiled entrances are one.

Take a look also at the coloured brick in the entrance archways below.

I am also increasingly fascinated by the juxtaposition of building styles and by the lines formed by building structures. This is a great example of the first:

And these of the second:

And what would this blog be without photographs of flowers, from urban and farm landscapes?

Amsterdam Afternoon IX

2007-05-01T07:03:00.000Z

The last stretch of the walk took us past Montelbaanstoren. A montage of images without names attached remain in my mind (and my camera).

Amsterdam Afternoon VIII

2007-04-30T20:48:00.000Z

We made our way, crisscrossing canals, towards Rechtboomssloot.

Only in Amsterdam... or maybe Venice, could you see this view:

Continuing towards our destination we passed this little staircase garden.

I keep photographing lilacs thinking somewhere in the irrational depths of my heart that the image will reproduce their subtle fragrance, first encountered on Michigan's Mackinac Island.

We stopped to admire this old house. And then we were at Rechtboomssloot: yet another picture-perfect street.

Amsterdam Afternoon VII

2007-04-30T20:28:00.000Z

In a city full of pretty canal streets and quaint, lovely buildings, Groenburgwal with the Amstel at one end and the Zuiderkerk at the other must be a singular showpiece.

Amsterdam Afternoon VI

2007-04-30T19:57:00.000Z

Just around the corner, an Amsterdam confection of canals, bridges and beautiful houses awaits my camera.

The same intersection of Staalstraat and Groenburgwal is depicted in this picture. It doesn't seem to have changed all that much.

Amsterdam Afternoon V

2007-04-30T19:43:00.000Z

The University of Amsterdam forms a beautiful locality in the city. One walks by canals and cafes marveling at the setting in which students attend classes and scholars conduct research. Not quite Clingendael, but a great deal livelier, especially on this sunny Saturday.

Amsterdam Afternoon IV

2007-04-30T19:28:00.000Z

We cross the Keizersgracht and its stately buildings and make our way
to Rembrandtplein.

Amsterdam Afternoon III

2007-04-30T17:07:00.000Z

Utrechtsestraat has lovely stores, many of which are unique to Amsterdam (as opposed to chain stores which are to be found everywhere). It is also just very pretty.

Amsterdam Afternoon II

2007-04-30T16:15:00.000Z

view from the Magere Brug of the Stopera and Blauwbrug

Turning the corner at the Stopera complex which houses the National Opera, Ballet and Symphony, we walked by the Amstel awhile. The following photographs are of the small bridge across the Herengracht just coming off the Blauwbrug (Blue Bridge), which is in front of the Stopera.

We made our way to Utrechtsestraat to look at the shops there, taking in life along the canals on a summery afternoon.

Amsterdam Afternoon I

2007-04-30T15:24:00.000Z

Starting from the Waterlooplein area, we spent an afternoon walking around parts of Oude Zijde and the Eastern Canal Ring.

At the Hortus

2007-04-30T11:04:00.000Z

Leiden University's Hortus Botanicus is a very special place. This is where the tulip, an import from Turkey, was grown for the first time in Holland by Carolus Clusius.

The spread

Under the canopy

Bridal Bouquet

Now I have seen wisteria...

Lightly Lilac Leiden

Another traveller from the tropics

Carelessly green

Daffodil beds

Outside Leiden University Library

2007-04-30T10:59:00.000Z

A sunny day in Leiden

2007-04-30T10:30:00.000Z

This has been the warmest April in Holland since they began recording weather statistics. The sun has been steady, and there has been so little rain that animals in the Veluwe are suffering. For us, escaping Chennai's cruel kattri veyyil (aka agni nakshatram), it is just warm enough to walk around comfortably and we don't want it to get any warmer.

Two views of Apothekersdijk

Rembrandt's studio was along this canal on the right side.

The Rapenburg, one of Leiden's loveliest streets. Its alleys lead to departments and offices of Leiden University.

Explorations in Gelderland III

2007-04-24T19:27:00.000Z

On our way out of Gelderland, we drove through pretty-as-a-picture towns like Apeldoorn and Loenen.

Through the Gelderland trip, I used the movie feature on my camera a great deal. It was hard for me to see the beauty of this region in discrete rectangular frames and the movie format captured its gentle fluidity better. However, as I blog this, I am still not adept at film editing and uploading. Perhaps that will be the culmination of this travel blog.

Explorations in Gelderland II

2007-04-24T18:00:00.000Z

The meandering drive through and out of the Hoge Veluwe National Park had a flowing beauty which was better filmed than photographed, but here are some stills from the forest.

And this footnote: a very young tree, which will one day be as tall and imposing as the others you see.

Explorations in Gelderland I

2007-04-24T17:03:00.000Z

Park and Museum, Nature and Culture

We set out for a drive around the eastern province called Gelderland, heading for the Hoge Veluwe National Park. This is a part of the Netherlands where open meadows and forests co-exist and this park has both in roughly equal measure. Our expecation was that we would feast (once more) on nature's beauty.

When we arrived at the Park, however, we made a spontaneous decision to spend time at the Kroller-Muller Museum which is housed there. This museum has the second largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings after the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Some famous paintings that hang here are Terrace of a café at night, The potato eaters, Bridge at Arles and Pink peach trees, but really there are over two hundred as you can see from the online catalogue.

In addition, the museum has an amazing collection of modern art, where modern is anything from the late 19th century through the 20th. Some pieces that caught my untrained eye:

The Tempest by Bart van der Leck

The Sea by Jan Toorop

Guitar by Pablo Picasso

Transport of colonial soldiers by Isaac Israels

Others that I liked, such as the Johannes Thorn Prikker's Madonna in Tulipland, are not in the catalogue. You will just have to visit this museum yourself to see them!

As a complete ignoramus of the "I know when I see something I like"variety, I have to say that the phrase that worked through my head as I looked at Van Gogh's works was 'disaggregated reality.' Some of it was too dark for me. Some of it was too frenzied. On the whole, I just did not like it very much and moved on quickly. But here's the thing: when that same disaggregation continues to the point of abstraction, sometimes I find it very appealing. And darkness of colour, if not mood, does not fail to catch my eye. Maybe art does convey state of mind and if you are sensitive to any degree, you move away from that which is disturbed and therefore, disturbing.

As we came out of the galleries, I took a photograph that illustrates how important museums are to the cultural life of this country, which actually has several days in the year when access to museums is free and where people visit museums for fun. Well, if you have great and user-friendly museums, I guess it's no wonder.

Rocking Rotterdam III

2007-04-24T16:47:00.000Z

Great cities take refuge in secret, unexpected places. This grove is the last thing I expected to see in Rotterdam. The road opens into a large lake garden, with a walking path around its periphery.

Rocking Rotterdam II

2007-04-23T20:49:00.000Z

Down to earth in downtown Rotterdam, soaking in the contemporary urban in its juxtaposition with carefully cherished heritage structures, the Bombayite in me feels kinship with this lively town.

The Town Hall

Steel and glass symphony, leafy interlude