House of Orange

My favorite color is orange, and it has been for years. My suitcases are orange; my backpack is orange; and most of my clothes feature the glorious color in one form or another. For this reason alone, I must give bonus points to the Dutch for selecting orange as their national color. I used to think the Dutch chose orange only to set themselves apart from every other country with a red, white, and blue flag, but Stefanie explained that the Dutch royal family is also called the "Order of the House of Orange." Dude, trust me, if I ever by some miracle happen to rule my own country, I will plagiarize the Dutch and refer to my family as the House of Orange. How awesome will that be?

The most-photographed view in Utrecht.

Today, Stefanie and I started out with a walk through downtown Utrecht. She showed me her favorite cafe; she took me down an extremely narrow street ("typical Dutch"); she showed me the most-photographed view in Utrecht. Utrecht is a pretty international city, and there are all sorts of ethic restaurants downtown - Turkish, Arabian, Surinamese. I'm inclined to say the Netherlands in general embrace international influence, certainly more so than some European countries.

If you check out the photo to the left, the fancy spire in the middle is Utrecht Dom Tower. The tower originally belonged to the Utrecht Domkerk (=Cathedral), but a tornado in 1674 destroyed half of the church. The tower and the far end of the church survived, but the middle section, the church's nave, was destroyed. It seems significantly odd that only the middle of the church would be destroyed, but this section was also unfinished. It lacked external supports to hold up the walls (think Notre Dame), so the walls folded in on one another. Today, the cathedral tower stands by itself and is Utrecht's most famous attraction.

Vermeer's The Milkmaid, photographed by me in the
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2014

After our walk through the city, Stefanie and I decided to visit the Dutch Rijksmuseum (National Museum) in Amsterdam. Utrecht is only a 30-minute train ride from Amsterdam, so going into the city is quite easy. The Rijksmuseum is full of art from all eras, beginning with the Middle Ages on the ground floor and ending with 20th century artists on the top floor. Of course the museum specializes in Dutch artists, so master works like Rembrandt's Night Watch are displayed prominently. I've told you already how much I adore 20th century art, but I've got to admit: the 20th century wasn't the best era for Dutch artists. Of the artists featured on the top floor, only Mondrian is historically noteworthy, and no other works spoke to me at all. The golden era for the Dutch is split between the 1600s, when Rembrandt and Vermeer were active, and Van Gogh's lifetime in the late 1800s. It was very cool to see original Rembrandt works, mostly because the man painted big. Night Watch, for example, takes up an entire wall. Vermeer used much smaller canvases.

It's been a fantastic weekend with Stefanie. I'm glad I had the chance to spend time with a good friend and see a bit of her Dutch world. Tomorrow, I'll take the train to Bremerhaven and visit the city I learned to love. Stay tuned.