The Oude Kerk

The Ode Kerk was amazing because it is the final resting place of Johannes Vermeer and Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek. Never did I imagine that I would visit the burial site of such prestigious people of the 17th century. It is interesting to see how Leeuwenhoek's grave is so ornate and the memorial that his daughter built for him is beautiful. Meanwhile, Vermeer wasn't as famous at the time and didn't have as much money. So his grave was small and simple, although he was important enough to be buried beneath the church. I am glad that after Vermeer's works became more appreciated, the St. Luke's guild paid to give Vermeer a more fitting gravestone.

Blog #2

The porcelain factory was very interesting to see how the paintings were made with all the different shades of blue. In the large recreation of the Night Watch the shades of blue were very noticeable. It is amazing how much detail the master painters put into every block. The commemorative dishes for the royal family were beautiful and I liked how they added orange color into their special dishes. The process of making the dishes looks like a tedious process. The detail in every step is essential to a perfect would become nerve racking. The thought of any mistake you make on the painting of a dish must be perfect would not be a great job for me. 

I found it very interesting that back in the 1500s people did not know what whales were, because I have never thought of all the unknowns that would have occurred to them. Once our guide explained about the story of the crew on ships seeing these huge monsters out at sea. It made since why people used to believe they looked like dragons of the sea and artist began to incorporate them into their paintings. In the earlier paintings they started out as dragon-like sea creatures. Gradually as technology advanced, the image of whales transformed from sea creatures into a reflection of what we know a whale looks like today. In the Maritime museum, one could look through all of the painting and see the progression between these stages, which I found very interesting.

The Amsterdam Hortus Botanicus

The Amsterdam Hortus Botanicus was one of my favorite sites overall. The main reason why it was my favorite was because of our guide through the garden. Asker was by far the funniest and most interesting guide we have had so far during this trip. The stories he told us were as interesting as they were funny. My favorite story of Asker's was the story about the plant that is officially extinct even though there are still a few left,  but they are deemed extinct because there are only male plants left. I also have always had an interest in plants which is another reason why I really enjoyed the botanical gardens. There are many plants that I had only seen pictures of or read about and I was able to see them in person at the gardens. I saw very interesting plants like the lotus flower, and the Venus flytrap. Asker also told us about plants I had never heard about before like the giant lily and the plant with exploding pods. Overall I really enjoyed the Amsterdam Hortus Botanicus because of the eccentric guide and the very interesting plants.

Blog #2

When we went to Delft, Adam gave us a tour of the city. He showed us where leeuwenhoek and vermeer worked and lived within the city. It was really interesting to see where these people worked and live for their lives. It made much more connections to the book and made the descriptions from the book make much more sense. I especially liked the main square. The architecture of the town hall and new church were absolutely incredible. Being able to see over the whole city on top of the new church has been one of my highlights of the trip so far.

Post #2 - Amsterdam Hortus Botanicus

Exploring in the Amsterdam Hortus Botanicus was one of my favorite events. The beautiful and sometimes strange flowers and trees were so fun to look at, and our guide seemed incredibly knowledgeable. One of my favorite plants to see was the Victoria, the spiky water lily with giant green lily pads. Learning how the Victoria blooms, with its flower changing from white to pink as it entices beetles to pollinate it, was incredibly interesting. I also liked learning about how the Victoria grew raised edges on its lily pads, as if forming a very shallow flat bowl, in order to push away other plants with its thorns as it expands. The entire plant reminded of me some strange mutant from Super Mario Bros. Being able to see it in real life and have detailed information on it from our guide was truly amazing.

Blog 2

For the second installment of my European Adventure Blog, I have chosen to write about the Royal Delft Porcelain Factory. From the pie at the beginning to the Lunch at the end, the entire trip was a great experience. I really enjoyed the videos and “trip through time” we took to start the tour. I was a little disappointed to learn that the vases and plates that I thought were each individually handcrafted and painted were actually part of a set that were painted using stencils. Regardless, the time and skill that goes into creating one of the vases or plates at the factory was still impressive. Something else I liked was seeing the real sized Delft Blue copies of famous paintings.