An Amsterdam Sunday

Stendhal syndrome, Stendhal’s syndrome, hyperkulturemia, or Florence syndrome is a psychosomatic disorder that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to an experience of great personal significance, particularly viewing art.

We did three museums in one day. That’s really pushing it. But we stayed ahead of the above effects. Here’s what we saw:

• a Banksy exhibition at Moco (modern-and-contemporary)
• the Rijksmuseum section on 1600-1700 (and some change)
• all of the Van Gogh museum

After this journey into aesthetics, we relocated to a new  had very good pizzas at Mediamatic ETEN. Elderflower lemonade! Someone speaking Danish tended the bar. “Take a look around!” Aquaponics gardening in a greenhouse with colored LEDs. “Oh, all food here’s vegan.”

Next door was the open-to-the-sky bar Hannekes Boom. The sky was golden and the moon was a thin sliver. Patrons were joyous, the barman was cheerful.

Before heading home to the ironing board and the blogging, we couldn’t resist peeping into the KLIMMUUR CENTRAAL-marked warehouse. My friend C had identified the name to be “Climbing Wall Central”. It was a huge building, very, very tall, covered in handholds and climbing lines. In the middle of the room, there was a group of tables where people could enjoy themselves, or eat something. A non-ascetic place! We bought ice-cream and lounged in a huge couch outside in the evening light.

Boats of all types rushed by. Suddenly, it was time to get back. We discovered a shorter path to walk home – a boon.