Our Lord in the Attic and National Park De Hoge Veluwe

Thursday Kelly and I went to check out the Amstelkring Museum a.k.a. Our Lord in the Attic. The museum is a preserved Catholic Church that was built in a canal home when Catholics were not allowed to openly practice their religion in the Netherlands. Form the outside it looks like any other canal home, but the inside was transformed into an all out Catholic Church; pews, organ, alter, etc. It is currently under renovations so most of the furniture and accessories have been removed, but it was still interesting to see.

Afterward we went an enjoyed a snack and some delicious fresh mint tea. 

Friday was a beautiful day. It was so nice that I just couldn't justify spending three hours inside for class. So instead Kelly and I headed to Vondelpark where we enjoyed a delicious picnic lunch. 

Saturday we went on an IES excursion to National Park De Hoge Veluwe. The park was created by a couple in the early 20th century who had the vision of bringing together nature and culture. There are two main attractions at the park. The first is the Kroller-Muller Art Museum and Sculpture Garden. The museum has an impressive collection of paintings from a variety of famous Dutch artists. While we were there the special exhibit was called Hortus/Corpus. It contained a huge collection of contemporary artist Jan Fabre's work. Everything pictured below is by him. He is particularly intrigued by bugs and beetles. Hence all the pieces that contained beetle shells. 

In addition to the museum, there is also an amazing and huge sculpture garden. Some of the more interesting sculptures are below.

The other main attraction at the park are it's unique sand dunes. It is very strange. One minute you are biking through a nice forest, and the next you are in the middle of what could be a dessert somewhere. The dunes were created when the glaciers from the last ice age melted, leaving all the sand the glaciers were carrying. This is the only place in the Netherlands where these are found. 

Another cool thing about the park was they have bikes that visitors can use for free to get around the park.

Last night we headed back to our favorite squatters bar/club to see a VERY improv jazz combo (2 drummers, a guitarist/bassist, and a sax player), followed by an improv electronic duo (who were actually pretty good). Headed to Barcelona on Thursday!