some belated black and white snapshots of amsterdam // march 15

Hannah and I went to Amsterdam one Saturday. If you don't know who this friend of mine is, I think it's important to note that her name is pronounced "Hahn-uh" where mine is "Hand (minus the d) uh"

We're good friends, our  names are different. Don't forget. xoxo//hc

 Please?

 The sassiest burger bar employee ever. 

 This "veggie burger" turned out to be a slab of tofu. It was surprisingly delicious.

 Just being in a book store.

 Little lady got left on the street.

 This was an art installation in the Red Light District. I edited the image to preserve the red light shining under the bed. (I know, it looks like a water color blot.)

Big Bird bids us good bye. 

irrelevant details of the city i'm in // brugge

I'm currently in Brugge, Belgium. Since I have recently acquired an active responsibility to blog with the Daily Beacon, I'm saving the pictures that depict the landmarks of this city for that post. You'll find it in a week, don't worry. In the mean time, here are some "irrelevant details" of Brugge, and my attempts at defending the relevancy of these images. cheers! xoxo//hc

The wrinkles on his scalp. 

 One of the important religious texts is missing. 

 A grape colored house.

 An orange sign against a white background. I'm sorry I have UT roots.

 Just a fake window. Nobody needs windows anyways. 

 "Look at the ground." "See patterns." - life advice 

 I have no idea why people in Europe trim their trees this way.

 Some modern architecture peaking out from the shadows. 

 Green windows.

 Green door.

 Colors.

 Can. 

 Peeking in basements pt. 1

 Peeking in basements pt. 2

 Mortar makes a secret language

 A secret sign - I have no idea what this is

One last alley way

looking up in the hague

The Erasmus Student Network in Utrecht organized a day trip to De Hague, which is where all of the government officials work. We visited the Parliament building, the Throne where the King presents the upcoming year's economic plan, and the Escher museum. I even saw the beach. Here are some pictures I took while I was looking up.

 

And a picture whilst looking down - 

amsterdam, feb. 25 - part two

After our field trip, we decided to stay in the city and make the most of our discounted train tickets. When there are 12 of you and no real destination, you meander and feel like a tourist. "We're not tourists, we're journalists" was the mantra of the afternoon.

Henni documenting the sassiest bird in the whole world.

The palace that no one lives in.

More sassy birds - he did not like how close I was

Uhm

Cormac found a street performer/bubble blower

Cheese is safe for travel//we sampled almost of all them

An impeccably timed candid photo of Henni//she was not posing with her mouth open

We were in a space that was hosting a design festival//lots of neat furniture and home goods

Canal at dusk

The adventure was utterly exhausting. Five days later, I travelled to another Dutch city where I took DSLR pictures. These past two posts have been made possible thanks to my trusty iPhone. 

Over and out (and of course: stay tuned.)

xoxo//hc

amsterdam, feb. 25 - part one

On a field trip with our European Cities professor, my classmates and I learned about "breeding places." I know, it's an unusual title for something that has nothing to do with the reproduction cycle. It's the name used for spaces that artists are able to occupy temporarily because of these things: the building is empty, the owner would rather received reduced rent than nothing at all, and the artist can afford said rent thanks to the help of Amsterdam's government. 

Our first stop was the Bureau Broedplaatsen, the section of the municipality that organizes the relationship between artists (or a group of creative people) and the landlords. Their guidelines limit the participants to college graduates who produce some sort of creative product and can't afford another work space. They've done a lot of great things in the past decade. I didn't snap any pictures of the meeting, but here's one of the view from their office - 

Just a picture of apartments and a giant wall painting. 























After the Bureau, we trekked to an actual breeding place. The building was beautiful, the artists were pleasant and the "anti-system" mentality presented was an interesting contrast to our first meeting. In 2001, the building which was an ancient and empty "girls' school" was presented to the public as a space available for whoever had the best idea for its use. A group of artists proposed an art house, were granted the space, and spent the summer sweating during the renovations. The top floor had a few apartments for families, while the others included a range of small studios to larger spaces for dance companies and theatre groups. 

Waiting for the meeting to start in the "teachers' lounge" that had secret cabinets hidden in the walls

 Cormac's arm, a hole in the wall, Teresa's inquisitive face

Two artists and our guides who repeatedly reminded us that their system worked better than the government's plan

One of the original artists whose work is mainly book cover designs. She also teaches children.

Studio details

 "All is well" ... upside down. 

Studio details 

Cormac and Tayler listening to our artist guide



























After the indie exploration, we hopped on a train to Amsterdam's central station. After grabbing lunch (and scarfing it down; I had smoked salmon and cream cheese on a crusty baguette) we waited for a ferry to take us to an island where Amsterdam's culture scene is really growing. Many of the empty ship warehouses have been converted into artists' studios. There's even a building that Viacom has inhabited; Comedy Central and MTV have offices there.  

Travis on the ferry 

Illegible directions in front of a giant warehouse

An alley between studios that have been constructed in the warehouse

A giant sign; note Aiden in the left of the frame for size reference

A street between studios

Teresa and Emmi snapping some photos




























After our island exploration, we hopped back on the ferry and promptly lost our professor. Actually, we're all pretty sure he ditched us, but we couldn't find him once back on the mainland. (Another actually - Amsterdam's train station is build on man-made islands right outside of the city.) We opted to explore the city since the weather was nice enough. This is where "Part Two" begins; stay tuned.

xoxo//hc