wet culture

The rain continued on Sat, but I was on a roll. I had big plans to go to Rotterdam, but I'd have had to get up fairly early to make it there with enough time to see any museum... and that didn't quite happen. :P So by 12pm when I finally was ready to go out, I figured even if I stuck to the local area, I could get to see some cool stuff. In Tilburg I had skipped over the modern art museum, the De Pont. The rain seemed to have subsided, and the day couldn't be as bad as the previous one... so I made my way out, this time with my heaviest sweater, which also has a hood. Unfortunately, I forgot my umbrella...

By the time I made it to the center by bus and walked the km to the museum I was quite drenched. But walking into the place for free (well, pre-paid, kinda) and seeing the stuff there made up for it! I spent a couple of hours happily exploring the warehouse-like space, the current exhibit and the permanent collection. :) Trudging alone through Europe, I really think museums are the highlight of my travels. They refresh my spirit, inspire me, enrich my soul, they are safe for a lonely girl to hang out at, and oh so quiet...

So anyhoo, skip this paragraph if you plan on visiting the place and don't want the surprise ruined (hint hint Figment...). The coolest piece in there is one from their permanent collection. It's the only closed door in a row of doors that line one wall. An attendant will open it upon request and tell you to walk in but not to approach the black round shape in the middle of the room, just walk around it. It's a tiny room. (S)he will ask you what do you think it's made of. I guessed a piece of reeeally dark felt inset slightly into the marble floor. She told me to approach it slowly and try to touch the middle of it. Nothing was there! It's a hole 1m deep, and the inside is coated with blue india ink pigment, which is one of the densest things out there, and absorbs all light, reflecting nothing. It's quite a cool experience. The walls of the room next to it were *entirely* coated, and a shape floats inside... There were a couple of other light plays, another dark room... and 2 Bill Viola pieces, which I tend to be fascinated by. Overall a cool experience.

From there to the center in the continuous rain, checked out movie options, decided on the 8:45 Da Vinci Code, and had 2 hrs to kill. Roamed the streets, most stores were closed, not many people about. I ended up in the covered outdoors of the Bolle Cafe, munching and finishing a book. The movie was so-so, here in the Netherlands most movies are just subtitled. Unfortunately pieces of this one were in french and latin... and I didn't understand a word of the Dutch subtitles... so it kinda added to the boredom. Oh, and intermission... I can't believe they do that in movie theaters! For 15 mins 2/3 of the audience pours out to get snacks and I guess go to the bathroom. Worse thing was that the big blue screen reading "pauz" was right in the middle of the chase scene in the forest!! Pfft...

The late show gave me barely enough time to catch the last bus back home... luckily I learned my lesson from the one night I got lost, and stopped at a shopping center I was familiar with, and walked from there. A bit of a walk at 12:30am, but at least I knew where I was!

Since museums are closed on Mondays, I made an effort to wake up early today Sunday and go to Rotterdam. I slept on and off in the bus and trains there... but enjoyed the view of the city and the museum Boymans-van Beuningen. Rotterdam was bombed during WWII and most of it had to be reconstructed. So you see a lot of ultra-modern buildings next to the old ones. Pics will do it more justice than my words. Sad part: I put on my winter coat today. Good part: it didn't actually rain. The were moment when the sun actually peeked out!! I got hope for tomorrow...

The way back was way longer than it should have been. I kept missing trains and buses by minutes, and had to wait a whole half hour for the next one. And the worse is that I took a wrong train back and ended up in a completely wrong city, West of the region instead of East. 3.5 hours later I finally got back home, and almost went straight to sleep. But hung out with my hosts instead, who were doing major living room reorganization. And once I went upstairs I figured as long as I chilled in bed I'd have enough strength to blog. Maybe even get at those pictures... Ha! you thought I'd finally get them up, didn't ya? That's what Mondays are for... :P