Very many mornings in the winter time are appearing misty and mysterious. When the darkness goes away, the grey wall takes the place and seems to hide the secrets of the word behind it. The soft looking air is inviting for walks at the park or even in the centre of the City. It seems this grey filter is making the nature and the busy streets looking like a black and white movie scenery. This inspired me one morning to have a little adventure in Amsterdam.
Waking up by walking first in the foggy Nature and almost feeling the thickness of the moist, sparkling air. Some drops falling from the low hanging clouds, drinking the watery air by every breath I took. It was almost like being out of the City. The mist made all the sounds soft, the sounds of the distant traffic was pushed away with my misty morning walls. The dutch winter romance painted by the clouds without a colour, making the horizon invisible. The time almost stopped, the movement disappeared. I had to step out from this wonder moment, to go and see if the City still existed.
And the life had not disappeared. The cohesion of living energy stimulated me, my thoughts and my day! Clearing the mist from my slow November mood and giving me some inspiration again. How many secrets this City has and how the creativity is blooming in the stony streets. There are also tourists even the winter time is more quiet, but the tourism is always present in the centre. Bringing the money and possibilities, but also making the life more tight and expensive in the central areas. The most charming thing in the Central part of Amsterdam is the presence of the history and the local ideas and the people.
The reputation as a big fun entertainment park with coffeeshops, drugs and commercial sex seems like a far away reality for most of the local people and families. For me this place is a treasure world of art, history, food and freedom. But there is so many different ways to see Amsterdam, depending on the age and the interests you have. There is something for everybody for sure. This is one of the most inspiring cities in Europe, but the peace and the beauty of it should be also protected.
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| a nice, modern houseboat! |
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| Noordermarkt, a nice coffee and apple pie in this corner cafe. |
You can't avoid the surprise element when walking by the canals and the streets of Amsterdam. I was walking along the Princengracht (a famous canal with many small shops, museums and sights like Anne Frank house). I started my walk from the Noordemarkt, where is a big second hand and a food market on every monday and saturday. A good place to watch the people and have a coffee.
The best surprise of the day for me was to find this little art gallery called Ron Mandos. I had walked this street so many times and never seen the gallery before. I went inside and watched the actual exhibition of Isaac Julien : Looking for Langston. The exhibition showed photographs and a film. Julien is making a nostalgic portrait of a Langston Hughes, who was fighting against the racism and the discrimination by his writings and poetry and standing for the African-American culture. He was a gay, but never openly came out. At the exhibition you can see and feel how the desire and the sexual identity was somehow forced to be hidden in early decades of 20th century and how being a African-American gay was far beyond accepted and how things have changed later on. It was interesting to see this art collection as my last visit was the Marilyn Monroe exhibition. The process of studying the feminine and the masculine goes on!
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Every day is unique, based on the perspective we choose by being active or sometimes adapting to the given situation or just doing something we have to do. Our choices are often based on the mood and the energy level we have. Even this misty, dark season makes me more tired, I have decided to fight against it a bit by making stimulating and mindful choices in every day life.
Grey days can be charming. I find grey colour calming and I associate it as a symbol of trust and stability. Like we need the normal days with our routines, many of them. And sometimes this reality is broken or celebrated with strong colours, but the grey will come back...giving us the balance we need.
