Category Archives: art

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Vienna and Prague

The first day of a European trip means jet lag, and this was no exception. We landed around 8:30 and couldn’t check into our apartment until 3:00, so we dropped our bags at Bounce (now that we understand to look for a little hole in the wall) and set out.

Our first stop was the Albertina, an art museum that also houses a branch of Demel, “Home of the finest cakes, chocolates and sweets in the heart of Vienna.” Here we are enjoying a little pastry and coffee in the best Viennese tradition.

Thus fortified, we wandered through the art gallery, currently displaying “From Monet to Picasso.” Among the Impressionists, Expressionists and Cubists was this colorful Picasso,

an idyllic image that on closer inspection reveals a congested composition that reflects the tensions between Picasso and his beloved. Me, I liked the strong lines and constricted patterns. Quilt inspiration?

Since we had the time, we walked to St. Stephen’s Cathedral with its famous tiled roof that I remembered from my visit with Kit thirty-some years ago.

Inside we admired the intricate carvings on the pulpit

and enjoyed the self-portrait by one of the carvers.

Our jet lag was catching up with us, so we slowly made our way to the Operngasse, where our apartment awaited us. But stop! Eva, the apartment owner, said we could not get in until 3:30, so we sat outside on some very uncomfortable wooden benches until she should appear. Well, at least an hour and a half went by, so around 5:00 Alison texted her again. Soon enough a young man popped up (he is one of the apartment owners, I think) and said that Eva had sent a text a while ago saying that the apartment was ready! We had missed it entirely, and I blame it all on jet lag.

He showed us how everything worked – coffee maker, keys, wifi, etc. – and left us to our own devices. We were really beat but needed some food so we stopped by Billa, the local grocery chain, to pick up a few necessities (coffee pods, wine, yogurt, etc.). We then wandered along one of the streets in search of food and found a wonderful pub-like restaurant, where a delicious bowl of goulash and crusty bread (and wine) restored us.

(Thanks to other diners for these images, I was too hungry to take pictures!)

And so our first day ended happily.

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Posted on October 2, 2025 in a little drama, art, churches, much depends on dinner, soup

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Musee de l’Orangerie and farewell

Our last day in Paris started at l’Orangerie, famous for its Monet waterlilies, and during our visit featuring a Matisse exhibit that we had missed when it came to the US.

The colors, the shapes, the patterns – just take a look. They could inspire a quilt!

Plus a few other gems. Renoir:

Derain:

Among many other masters.

We took a quick wander through the waterlilies and debouched onto the Place de la Concorde.

On the way home, we wandered through the streets in our neighborhood. Apparently this area is a magnet for fashion!

I’m not quite sure where you would wear these clothes, but on the other hand, I’m not a Parisian.

Our last little dinner was takeout from the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, the elevator had stopped working on Saturday and still was not fixed. We were worried about hauling our suitcases downstairs, especially since the handrails were lying on the floor, or even worse, attached at only one end, while the stairs were not only steep but winding.

Fortunately, by chance we ran into American neighbors renting the apartment below, and they were also concerned, especially the mother (who was about our age). But their party included a strapping young man who took our bags down to the sidewalk as though it were nothing. And then the cab we had booked sent a message that they weren’t available after all. Eek! But a further call to another company was a success and we made it to the plane with time to spare. Not a great ending to the trip, but it all worked in the end (and we spotted our neighbors on the flight – they live in northern Virginia, of course!).

To end on a happier note, enjoy this bouquet of tulips!

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Posted on August 18, 2023 in a little drama, art, Paris, tulips, yellow

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Rue du Nil and farewell

Silla’s train left at 2:00, so we just had a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood before lunch. We walked down Rue du Nil, first “attested” back in 1590 and made famous recently by a chef who has earned a Michelin star. For us it was only about a block away, with inviting shops: vegetables, cheese, chocolate, bread, fish, etc. We bought some cheese and wandered back to the apartment, had a decent but not exciting lunch at the restaurant next door, and then waved off Silla with kisses and tears. Hope to see her again at Gadenstaettli!

(Thanks to Terroirs d’Avenir for the photo)

Then it was off to the Musée Jacquemart-André, a nineteenth century house owned by a couple who loved classical art and filled their house with it.

We were especially interested in a Bellini exhibit there, and it did not disappoint. I’m still not sure which Bellini is which (father, son, uncle?) but they all painted beautifully. Memling was there too, along with Mantegna, Giorgone and others. Lots of virgins and babies, plus an arresting painting of a drunken Noah and his sons.

And guess whom we should meet as we made our way down the gorgeous spiral staircase but Pablo, our Context guide at the Louvre!

Very happy to see him again, and I wish I had told him how often we had quoted him when talking to Silla about our Paris travels.

Dinner tonight was at de Saison, a hole in the wall around the corner from the Rue du Nil. We arrived promptly at 6:00 when they opened, and they were not really ready for us, but the chef/owner was jolly and poured us some wine, eventually coming by with a menu. We shared the roasted vegetables with chive hummus (or something like that),

then I had the duck (a certain amount of quacking took place to make sure our choices were clear) and Alison had the lamb (baa). Both delicious, and by then the place had filled up with the young things who must be the frequenters of this establishment. And so to bed.

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Posted on July 3, 2023 in art, dinner, Paris

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Delacroix and Ste. Chapelle

Our plan for today was to take the train to Chartres Cathedral, with its Gothic architecture and gorgeous stained glass. We had all been there but since it had been about fifty years ago, we were looking forward to seeing it anew. However, the travel gods were against us: Paris is on strike due to the proposed change in retirement age from 62 to 64. Everyone advised us not to even attempt a train, so we had a free day to do whatever we wanted.

We started out at the Delacroix Museum, which was modest and only mildly interesting, but pleasant enough.

It’s housed in the elegant apartment and studio he lived and worked in and features many of his drawings, paintings and sculptures. His most famous paintings are at the Louvre, of course, but the artwork featured here showed another side to him. The paintings inspired by his visits to north Africa were particularly interesting.

Then off to an early lunch because we were told we’d need to get in line at 1:30 for our 2:00 timed tickets for Ste. Chapelle (more on this anon).

We found a cafe just across the street and sat down for a leisurely light lunch: Quiche and salad for Alison and me, French onion soup for Silla.

We took our time and enjoyed watching everyone walking along outside, guessing whether they were French or otherwise. (Of course the only way to confirm the outcome would be to stop and ask them, which was impossible!)

At around 1:00 we got in the long line for the chapel, hoping that they would not mind that we were at least an hour early. As it turned out, both venues made it sound very difficult to arrange a ticket (the Delacroix being the kind of website that takes forever to use and then foils you at the last minute) and advised us to make absolutely certain that we arrived there right on time – but it’s all a canard! The Delacroix let us buy our tickets on the spot, and there were only half a dozen or so other people even there. The chapel, after making everyone confused about which long line to get in, didn’t care a whit that we were an hour early and let us sail through!

Today was cloudy, then brightly sunny, then cloudy again and then, while we were standing in line, raining hard for about five minutes. And of course you want to see the stained glass in good light. Well, we had enough sun to point out the contrast between light and shade, so that was fine, not to say occasionally brilliant. The intense blue, gold and red are so stunning that I couldn’t stop taking pictures.

The audio guide was designed for giants who could stand in front of the highest windows and pick out the figures from the Bible, so we didn’t have much luck with that. But in the end, the glories of the light, and the fascinating videos showing how they’ve restored the glass and cleaned the stone, were absorbing and illuminating. All in all, a stunning space.

Dinner tonight was at Le Compas, the same place we went to last night, because we all liked it, especially Silla. Very French in the sense that all the waiters were professional and quick, and the food was traditional and delicious. Silla and I each had what the other one had had the night before, and we were both happy: mine was fish au citron and hers was the salmon with green beans. AO was very happy with her red meat.

Then, because it was Silla’s last night with us, we splurged on creme brulee for us two, while AO had tarte tatin, and we were all delighted.

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Posted on June 27, 2023 in art, blue, churches, much depends on dinner, Paris

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More art and a happy reunion

Being wise travelers, we didn’t want to tackle the enormous Louvre by ourselves, so we booked a Context tour. Context never disappoints! This tour was led by Pablo, a brilliant guide who knew just where to go and what to see.

We started with architecture, which I can too easily overlook. The Louvre started out as a fortress built in the 12th century, and rather than just walk by the walls on the way to somewhere more interesting, we stopped and really looked at what we were seeing.

Surrounded by a moat and reinfoced by ten towers, the fortress was meant to keep the English away (of course). These massive walls were uncovered back in the 80s and are part of the Medieval Louvre exhibit.

Next, we looked at sculpture, another kind of art that I too easily overlook. Pablo positioned us just right and commanded that we turn around to look back. Each time he did this, we saw a vista of room after room connected by doorways in perfect symmetry.

The Caryatids Room, completed during the reign of Henri II, is a good example.

And we looked up to see these heavily decorated ceilings that celebrate Henri, just in case visitors or courtiers weren’t sure just who was in charge. Note the H’s everywhere.

Pablo knew how to engage his audience. Here, for example, is an exquisite sculpture of a sleeping woman.

After we had admired her from this angle, he told us to walk slowly around it and tell him what we saw. We dutifully shuffled along and then saw this:

It took a moment for the penny to drop. Luckily, all four of us had no idea what to expect and were astonished, as we should be!

And then there was the enormous Winged Victory of Samothrace, dominating the space, which we examined from all angles.

Again, he told us to turn around and enjoy the vistas through the galleries from this vantage point. It’s placed here for a reason, but we might not have noticed its position without Pablo’s help.

The final hour was spent visiting old friends:

The Coronation of Napoleon by David (an early example of fake news, since some people pictured were not there, and some others who were there were not pictured)

The stirring Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix

Veronese’s Wedding at Cana (which is positioned directly across from the Mona Lisa and as we all agreed is a much more interesting and significant painting)

This tender Old man and His Grandson by Ghirlandaio

And more, of course. The tour was terrific because Pablo made us not just look but see.

Then, of course, lunch, and Pablo recommended Café Blanc, a place that was filled mostly with French people eating their food with precision and appreciation. This was mine, a salad whose flavors were primarily that of cheese, ham and potatoes. Notice how beautifully the tiny potatoes are placed on the plate.

Then home to the apartment to await Silla’s arrival. I looked up the street and down the street, and there she was! What joy to see her again.

After Silla got settled in, we walked over to our favorite food street to find dinner. We brought home something that I failed to record, but there’s no doubt that we ate something and it was good! More adventures to come tomorrow.

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Posted on May 26, 2023 in art, Paris

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Bonjour, Paris!

We said goodbye to Amsterdam on a rainy morning. Thanks to Sebastian who called for the cab and made sure we were safely on board before bidding us farewell, we got to Centraal Station (for the last time!) and soon found ourselves on the Thalys train to the Gare du Nord, Paris. It had been a really good week, in part because of the comfortable, efficient apartment, and of course because of the VERMEER! On to the next.

The otherwise efficient train was late getting in, but no matter. We checked into the apartment on the Rue du Caire and were disappointed with what we found. This is what was advertised, which was technically accurate,

but in real life the space, though roomy, was dark and depressing, especially the bare gray flooring (not the warm color pictured) and weird lighting (mostly overhead). The ensuite bathrooms had only sinks and showers, with the shared toilet in a separate spot, which was inconvenient and would have been clearer to us on a closer reading. But the real problem was that the apartment appeared to be in the middle of a half-finished renovation. The kitchen, toilet and my bathroom had recently been updated. But Alison’s bedroom floor was severely buckled, which is a tripping hazard, at the very least.

Cedric, our contact, promised that new flooring was to be installed the week after we left, and in the meantime he could offer a rug, which was unlikely to help and in fact never showed up. Alison tread carefully the whole time we were there. And the sight of trash on the streets, seen from the cab, was a glimpse of real life in Paris during a strike, but hardly welcoming.

Oh, well, we miss our friendly host Sebastian (where’s the complimentary bottle of wine? the high end coffee maker well stocked with beans? directions to the best local restaurants? the offer to take out the trash for us? etc.). We will just have to adjust…

It took us a while to get out the door the next morning, but we finally got on the Metro with our newly purchased Navigo passes and made our way without much incident to the Musée d’Orsay. As soon as we stepped inside, it all came back to me. The train station is so vast and spacious, and the art has room to breathe.

Or course we had a list: famous paintings that we had learned about in our Western Art series, like Dejeuner sur l’Herbe (so much bigger in person)

and the lovely Manet mockingbird and fife player (the empty background so reminiscent of Velazquez).

I could really develop a passion for Manet.

Cezanne’s still life with oranges must have been in the house because it looks so familiar, and here was the real thing.

Also Degas, Van Gogh, Caillebotte and more. A surfeit of impressionists but there’s nothing wrong with that!

Lunch was in the cafe and hit the spot. A salad for me with artichokes, salmon, a poached egg, candied cherry tomatoes (not really candied but more like cooked down), and pickled onions. Plus a simple dressing that was quintessentially French and just delicious.

AND a small glass of beer because I never had any in Amsterdam. Alison’s quiche and salad were equally good.

From here we traveled by Metro to the Cluny, of which I have fond memories from last time. Though we were both a bit museum-weary, we did have to stop and admire the Unicorn tapestries (time to go back to the Cloisters in NYC),

as well as the stained glass and the Adam and Eve sculptures. (I might have to specialize in A & E the way Alison does with annunications.)

They both look a bit nonplussed here.

The Cluny was lovely, but somehow not as enchanting as last time. “You never can recapture that first, fine careless rapture…” Plus, by this point we had museum feet.

Back home we took a detour to the Montorgueil neighborhood in search of dinner for tonight and possible eat-out opportunities when Silla joins us tomorrow. We came home with two vegetable gratins and some chopped beets and hoped we’d like it! (Guess what, we did!)

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Posted on May 2, 2023 in art, Paris, religion

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Last Hurrah in Amsterdam

Today dawned cool and cloudy, the kind of weather that makes it hard to tell what time of day it is. But we forged on to Centraal Station, where we scoped out tomorrow’s train and then found our tram for the Hermitage Amsterdam.

This Hermitage is related to THE Hermitage, of Russian fame, which for many years has been lending exhibits from Russia to this location and others. However, the Board here decided after the Ukraine invasion that they could no longer support this partnership:

Russia’s attack on Ukraine made this aloofness no longer tenable. The Board and Supervisory Board therefore decided on Thursday, March 3, 2022 to sever ties with the State Hermitage Museum. The museum on the Amstel is now reflecting on its long-term future. 

Well, good for them, I say!

The current exhibit is called Rembrandt and his Contemporaries and focuses on “history paintings,” which are often religious in nature. The show includes only two actual Rembrandts, though they are both stellar, one a gorgeous painting of Minerva (likely modelled on his Rembrandt’s wife Saskia),

and the other a jewel of a small portrait done in grisaille. The others are paintings by teachers, students and friends including Jan Steen (who adds a necessary robust humor to the proceedings)

and Carel Fabritius, he of the Goldfinch (and the one who died far too early when an arms store in Delft blew up).

The show was interesting enough, and we had to marvel at the founders of the Leiden collection, who have more money than you can imagine and over twenty years have collected lots and lots of paintings from the Golden Age of Dutch art. Very kind of them to share it all with us!

Time for lunch, and a kind woman in the elegant museum cafe that seemed to feature only coffee and cake recommended that we try a “brown cafe” just around the corner. These are traditional cafes that are called brown I think because of all the pipe smoke over the centuries. With pea soup (me) and cheese toast (Alison),

we enjoyed a warming lunch while perched on the upstairs level of the small bustling cafe. I particularly noticed this family group, with the parents featuring zipper motifs on their clothing!

We contemplated visiting the Dutch Resistance Museum, but a combination of museum legs and our need to pack up for tomorrow’s train led us to regretfully turn back home. Next time!

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Posted on April 23, 2023 in Amsterdam, art, soup

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Back to the Rijks

Today was another trip to the Rijks, which a person could visit every day for a year without growing tired (see also The National Gallery London, the National Gallery DC, the British Museum, the Met, the Prado, etc. etc.). We had a little easier time finding our way this time and enjoyed this monument to frites with mayonnaise.

We made a very quick visit to the Vermeer one more time, slipping by the pictures we could easily see in DC and NYC. This photo shows how crowded the galleries could get,

but they have timed it so well that you had to wait only moments before finding yourself right in front of these marvelous, glowing paintings.

We had booked a private tour of highlights, which was well done by our guide Fedor, who moved quickly, answered our questions, and obviously enjoyed showing off the museum. He told us that if you looked at each object for only 10 seconds, it would take you some huge amount of time which I’ve now forgotten to see it all! But he did well by the Averkamp, pointing out the numerous details of daily life;

the self-portrait of Rembrandt as a wild young man;

and the Cuypers art history library which of course, being librarians, we had to see. (Imagine running up and down the circular stairs every day!)

He ended with the Van Gogh, which in Dutch is of course so very throaty that I didn’t know what he was talking about until we got to the painting, and he reminded us that the man had eyes of two different colors.

Lunch was again at the cafe, where I loved my pumpkin dal with coconut (of which this is one of a zillion recipes you can find online).

We exited through the gift shop and trammed our way home.

Dinner was to have been uneventful, BUT as I hurried towards the restaurant (our old fave from a few nights ago) I tripped on a stone and fell flat down on my hands and knees!! OMG!! Two very nice young men not only helped me up but also procured ice for my wounds. I hobbled into the restaurant, bloodied but unbowed, and enjoyed delicious sea bass and wine and frites to make me feel better.

Alison and I were both in shock but enjoyed our dinner and walked home without incident. Damn you, foot drop!!

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Posted on April 16, 2023 in a little drama, Amsterdam, art, soup

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Hanging out with Hals

This morning we took the train to Haarlem to visit the Frans Hals museum. It is breathtakingly easy and efficient to travel by train in this country, and it made me want to hang my head in shame at the state of US train service. Everything here is done virtually or with a credit card, and the resulting ticket is simply scanned as you enter the station and/or again as you leave. We never did clap eyes on a conductor, and we didn’t need to. It took us approximately 30 minutes to buy a ticket, find our platform and sit back as we were whisked along to Haarlem.

I admired these tiles in the Haarlem train station, echoes of an earlier time. The first celebrates the first 100 years of the railroad, and the second is the sign for the first class waiting room. Find out more about this Art Nouveau station here.

It was cold and blustery today, so we huddled down in our coats and hoods and walked along the streets to our destination. We saw some interesting storefronts,

including this inviting cheese shop (with cheese, wine, bread and charcuterie, what else could you need?),

but we didn’t stop.

Finally at the Hals (yes, a nice flower shop owner pointed us in the right direction), we started out with a very well designed film about the man, his times, his subjects and his techniques. He’s well known for his lively group portraits of militia men, whom Hals painted as individuals rather than a dull lot of wealthy men wearing lots of black and looking stern. This museum has the most of these militia paintings, and they’re quite impressive as a group.

We aso saw the Regentesses group portrait, which our History of Western Art lecturer covered in great detail, drawing special attention to their hands and posture.

Of course, his ordinary characters are the most appealing portraits, at least to 21st century eyes. Several of these are at the Rijks, with the Marriage Portrait of Isaac Massa and Beatrix van der Laen being perhaps the best known and most loved.

Also on view was a fancy Poppenhuis, or dollhouse, which was of particular interest to me because one of the beds was covered by a tiny (scale of 1 to 10) palampore, a type of chintz made in India for the export market, including the US, and often quilted. #quiltsareeverywhere

We liked the gently curved back streets of Haarlem

and found our way to a small restaurant that served a most delicious mustard and cream soup (recipes, anyone? here’s one and here’s another one) and assorted small sandwiches, the perfect lunch.

A short stroll took us to St. Bavo,

a former Catholic cathedral turned Reformed Protestant church, with its stunning fan-vaulted ceiling

and enormous organ that was played by Mozart when he was young.

The three model ships hanging from the ceiling recall the country’s shipping history, as does a memorial nearby to hydraulic engineers.

Among the carvings, we appreciated (?) this one showing a man biting a pillar.

Find out what the heck that is all about here.

We also enjoyed the pelican lectern, which as Rick Steves points out was made by someone who had probably never seen a pelican, shaped as it is like an eagle.

The cathedral was so filled with stories and iconography that we could have lingered longer, but instead exited through the gift shop and headed back through the Haarlem streets to the station, which we had no trouble finding!

On the way home, we stopped at Centraal Station to pick up some delicious carrot cake to have with tea at home. Dinner consisted of little pies from the market. So nice to warm up dinner rather than actually cooking…

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Posted on April 14, 2023 in Amsterdam, art, churches, soup

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Seeing Vermeer

We planned this trip in order to see the once-in-a-lifetime exhibit of most of the Vermeers that exist. The curators state that it will never be repeated because the paintings are too fragile to travel ever again. Thanks to Alison, we joined the Friends of the Rijksmuseum one day about a year ago and were able to book our tickets the second they became available to insiders like us. And since they sold out really quickly, I’m incredibly grateful to her for making this possible!

The Rijks has done a great job of guiding viewers straight to the exhibit. Follow the blue lines,

and you’ll get right to it. And how was it? Quietly magnificent. Knowing that there are zillions of images of Vermeers online, I took only one picture, of The Little Street. My photo is not great, but the painting certainly was.

It’s hard for me to pinpoint the appeal of this image. It’s simple and straightforward, but the more you look the more there is to see.

The exhibit in general was so beautifully lit that, between the lighting in the museum and Vermeer’s masterful use of light inside and out, every picture just glowed. And yes, it was crowded, but if you waited patiently you would find yourself right in front of each painting.

It looks like quite a crowd, I know, but it was not hard to make your way to the front. Alison was a knowledgeable companion, having read so much, and was able to fill me in on the details. As with our tour of the Carpaccio exhibit at the National Gallery last fall, we found that knowing what to look for made a diference in how much we appreciated every detail.

The Lttle Street, in all its apparent simplicity, is still my favorite, along with The View from Delft

and The Woman Holding a Balance (which we count as one of “ours” since it’s at the National Gallery in DC where we can walk in and see it for free any day of the week).

And there’s more! Even The Girl with the Pearl Earring, which has become such a cliche since the novel and the movie, was fresh and new today.

The Rijks has done well by Vermeer and the public.

After that, what is there to do but proceed to the cafe and the gift shop! We had a very Dutch lunch of a root vegetable soup, a cheese sandwich and two little pieces of fruit.

Then on to the gift shop, where I found a short book about the voyage to Nova Zembla and a magnet of the Little Street. From here we paid a visit to the Hall of Honor, which includes the newly restored Night Watch

still adjusting to its new frame, hence its complicated setup. Eventually the equipment will go away and we will be able to see it unadorned.

Also in the Hall of Honor (aka the Rijks’ greatest hits) were the threatened swan,

a few Judith Leyster paintings, and several Rembrandts, including this self-portrait as the Apostle Paul.

We paid a brief visit to the Java room,

with this portrait of Javanese officials, as well as a number of dioramas set in Java and environs. This one portrays a plantation in Suriname.

Yes, the Dutch were huge colonialists, with areas of South America and the then-Dutch East Indies just some of their territory. Interestingly, the museum has started adding labels that expand on the history to, for example, point out that the salt that features as a sign of wealth in some paintings was the product of enslaved people. Ditto in the Java rooms, which chronicle a long history of Dutch oppression of the people of Java and Suriname. The dioramas seem to have been a fashion of the time, carefully crafted in every detail.

To see what the always interesting David Byrne thought of the Rijks, go to his post about it here.

Home on the tram (though we did have to go to and fro before we found the right way to go), then a bit of R&R before dinner. On our host Sebastian’s recommendation, we tried the local pub, t’ Blaauwhooft, which hit the spot.

Chicken satay for AO and a portabello mushroom sandwich with frites and mayonnaise for me. A very friendly spot with good service and tasty food. We’ll be back!

And a dramatic Dutch sky to follow us home.

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Posted on March 31, 2023 in Amsterdam, art