Foam Photography Museum Garden and Open Garden Days

Once a year, across the third weekend of June, Amsterdam holds its ‘Open Garden Days’ (‘Open Tuinen Dagen’). This year, thirty canal houses opened their gardens to the public from 14-16 June; some for free, with a €15 ticket valid for all three days and covering all those gardens for which there was a charge. Now, some of these gardens are in fact accessible at any time of the year, and can be experienced as part of ordinary museum visits; but others open only for this annual occasion, and it is a weekend upon which gardens en masse become the focus of attention, at a time of year when they are in bloom, looking their very best – or otherwise, depending upon your taste in seasons and in gardens.

My partner and I visited Foam photography museum on Sunday, which is currently showing an excellent retrospective of Stephen Gill, entitled ‘Best Before End’, and an engaging project by Monica Nouwens, ‘Look At Me And Tell Me If You Have Known Me Before’. Both exhibitions run until 14 July. Foam had its garden open for the weekend; and I took the following photographs.

Museum Willet-Holthuysen in Eleven Pictures

Inside Museum Van Loon

Queen’s Day in Amsterdam

Huis Marseille and Power in Pictures

Food Film Festival: What Was Bought

An Easter bread, with pistachios, currants, orange, and an almond crust; wrapped in a yellow ribbon; and baked by Vlaamsch Broodhuys, a sourdough bakery based in Vlaardingen and with a variety of outlets across Amsterdam and throughout the Netherlands. The yellow ribbon is festive, and indicates that this bread is coming home, having done its time.

Two cheese straws, seeded, also by Vlaamsch Broodhuys. The kindly gentleman who sold us the bread gave us these for free.

Extra virgin olive oil, produced by Calypso, from Thrace in Greece.

Pancetta, lavender sausage and rosemary sausage, by Brandt & Levie, the Dutch sausage makers. The affable gentleman who sold us these readily enabled us in trying both types of sausage, plus a black pepper variation; I liked the flavour of the lavender best, and would characterise it as subtle, whereas my partner preferred the rosemary.

And an Opinel knife, branded by Brandt & Levie, for cutting the meats into readily edible slices.

In chorus.

Around the Schinkel and the Nieuwe Meer

I loitered with intent for about an hour or so this week around the Schinkel river, Jachthavenweg, and on towards the Nieuwe Meer, taking photos of the river and the collection of houseboats on it; some ducks; several bridges; buildings and boats; piers and trees; the lake; and Het Bosch restaurant, which sits looking out towards the water.

Fourteen of the pictures I took are below; a different fourteen have been posted at culturedallroundman; and all fifty-two of the series may be found over at my Flickr page.

Kanye West at the HMH in Pictures

Amsterdam in the January Snow

Back in mid-January, when the first of many heavy bouts of snow befell Amsterdam, I wandered about and took a multitude of pictures: through the Vondelpark, to the Museumplein, and back along Willemsparkweg and adjacent streets. I published some of the pictures on my other site, at culturedallroundman, and all of the pictures on my Flickr page. Here are a selection of sixteen.