Day 14: Amsterdam and Apeldoorn

Day 14:  Amsterdam and Apeldoorn

QOTD:  Why are people looking up at the church?

Mourning bells rang  and rang at the church below between 3:55 and 4:00pm as part of a national day of mourning to remember the victims of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 disaster. All public transport in the city came to a halt and it was noticeably quieter as we continued walking around. Below the thick surface of tourism, there is a layer of dismay and grief.

Weather: Tremendous, clear and breezy and in the 70s (higher in the sun in afternoon), low humidity

Up early, maybe too early, so we decide to get an early start (did THB just write “early” three times in less than 12 words?) to Apeldoorn after our usual breakfast. Off to the train station to buy our tickets, this time $40pp and take the 9am to Apeldoorn. The train is going to Berlin and is totally swamped by youths with backpacks. We struggle to find unassigned seats and just as things are settling down, at the first stop a huge group deboards. Later we figured out the first stop allowed a transfer to the airport and if you have a Eurail pass you save 5E by going this way. Is this the reason or are we just good at making it up as we go along. Needless to say, THB did not seek out a bargain trade ticket at $40pp round trip. Tap in….

 

Scone bakery from yesterday

Apeldoorn train station art

Off the train at 10, and follow the signs to the CODA museum ($14pp), around a 15 minute walk. The museum shares the building with the library, and there’s a café. We’re here to see the art jewelry show and are not disappointed, it is terrific! One of the artists, Iris Bodemer, is part of a two-person traveling show (she’s in DB’s collection) and her work is very good. Another artist, Terhi Tolvanen, also has a large exhibition and her pieces are spectacular as well. 

These are a sampling of the work on display, mostly limited to  how well the pictures came out (and, some of these pieces are on loan from friends who are major collectors).

Iris Bodemer:

Terhi Tolvanen:

Like mushrooms growing on logs: stunning

And, a few more selected at random:

THB also liked this one a lot

After 90 minutes, we’ve covered the show and pick up sandwiches and ice tea ($14) 

on our way back to the train station for the return to Amsterdam. We dine in the station awaiting the train, and at 1pm we’re ready to visit Galerie Rob Koudijs.

DB visited Rob on her previous visit and he is very familiar with other members of the Art Jewelry Forum that DB helped found. He carries a number of the artists that we saw in Apeldoorn, and some serious thinking is now underway on a purchase.

In Coda, there were several other shows (including MFA type work that was pretty innovative), THB and DB very much liked the set of photographs showing the four seasons on the head of a model (as it turned out, the photographer, Levi van Velum). We ask Rob about this guy, and not only does he know of him, and around the corner is the gallery representing Levi.

As we chat up the gallerist, we find out Levi is only 28 (so the pictures were done when he was 22) and the photos we like are all sold out but one, and the one is 15E….er, 15KE, omg it’s $20,000. The prices go up as the collection sells out, and this guy has produced an extensive body of work: videos, more photographs, installations (where the photos are staged), and sculpture. THB and DB congratulate ourselves on having a good eye.

In between the two galleries is a well known ice cream store: a double cone for THB, a single scoop in a cup for DB, $6 (hey, a bargain).

Right at 4pm, there is pause for the church bells (they are going longer than the normal hourly chimes) and a moment of silence (as we guess, and confirm later) for the victims of the plane shot down.

Visit a design store, Moooi, and consider a candelabra…they can be ordered in the US and shipped from New Jersey. As we’re almost back to H70, we make reservations for dinner at Mahou, around the corner.

Dinner of two salads, paella, three glasses of vino, una cerveza, $110. Not near as good as our other meals here.

Book Review: Old Filth, Jane Gardam (novel). The life of a man that spanned the demise of the British Empire and invented the phrase Failed in London Try Hong Kong (though most of the book is told in flashbacks and almost none takes place in Hong Kong, mostly in England). Beautifully written, a tragicomedy published in 2004 when the author was 76. Highly recommended (meaning this will end up as one of THB’s top recommendations on the year end book list).

And from around town:

The bakery from two days ago?

 

At Coda, men's restroom with portal to look in...somewhat novel

Carla Koch's building in the sunlight

Our first bus ride, tap in....