The Hermitage

In Amsterdam a series of old buildings with courtyard have been converted into an auxiliary of the Hermitage Museum in St Pietersburg, Russia. Every exhibit is worth a visit, although I expect them each time to be more opulent. The present exhibit is about the jewels. As stated I expected more opulence, but then today I am jaded by good costume jewelry. Some fun examples.

This is a dance card. Note the surface for making the list of partners is the inside of a sea shell.

All These Years!

When I moved to the Netherlands as a sweet young thing, there was so much to learn, especially on the culinary front. One lesson I took in was not to purchase kale before a freeze had hit the fields. The reason? The frost changed the chemistry, made the kale sweeter. Well what do you know. Why is kale now available all year around, in the western world? Because of pesticides. The reason the kale had to remain in the fields until after the first frost was because the frost killed the little bugs on leaves. Now it is put in freezer. Told to me by a knowledgeable neighbor And all these years I’ve believed something entirely different.

A Modern Train Station

This train station used to remind me of New York City’s Penn Station. Oppressive spaces, old fixtures, low ceilings, not welcoming, but efficient. [Penn Station has been upgraded with some major improvements, therefore no longer so dark] But this station has had more than a face lift. This is a total body redo. The accompanying buildings are architectural wonders. This was the station where long ago, four of us would meet on a weekday night to play bridge in the nearby Holiday Inn. Indeed those were the days!

Decades Later

Went to the exhibit at the Museum with a young friend, not knowing what to expect. The exhibit describes communities in the middle of the Netherlands that are conservative. The exhibit intended to illustrate the physical location are and their life-style. What was most interesting to me- the visual was the way most of Holland was decades ago. Now it is an exhibit of something unique. There are parallels here for sure, just not certain where to draw the lines. Decades ago a conservative community wore specific clothes including black stockings, which was the name they were given: Black Stocking Communities. Now those communities are no longer decked out in this extreme dress; on an occasional Sunday will you perhaps see an older person so turned out. The young person with me commented that she found the pictures of interest because the women in their Sunday-go-to-meeting-clothes looked the happiest. Their everyday clothes were just that, house dresses, skirts and blouses of ordinary styles. The dress up clothes reminded me of the congregation of the African American church I attended for four years in Virginia. The important of hats!

Old School Etiquette?

The young men were two soccer club chums. Maybe around 22 years of age. They boarded the train together. One young man was dressed head-to-toe in black and white and the insignia of his soccer club was on his jacket. The other young man was also dressed head-to-toe in black, but without the insignia. They sat across from each other. Soon they unzipped their respective backpacks and withdrew what looked to be lunch. The insignia young man put the first foil-wrapped sandwich he withdrew back in his pack with some comment about it being slated for later. The second foil wrapped package, he opened, removed the white bread sandwich with a thin filling and threw the foil in the trash bin. Across from him young man number two held a plastic rectangular box from which he removed the lid. He next withdrew a small stainless steel spoon from inside the box and loaded it with some of the contents. He continued to do this while they both conversed. His lunch was green grapes and he ate the grapes with a spoon. He had a fork on reserve! The grapes had been plucked from the small branch on which they usually hang and were piled one on the other in the box. This was the first time i have seen someone, not at a formal dinner, eat grapes with a spoon.

Waste Baskets

These little individual waste baskets are each seat on the train. People use them. Seldom do you see trash on the floor or on the aisles. The first one is in the wall under the window. It folds back into the wall with a clank! You hear it in the entire car. The middle one is also under the window, but less noisy. The last one pictured is smaller and more difficult to use. All are on inter-city trains.