Standing in front of Vincent van Gogh's 'Chambre à Arles'

Arrived Amsterdam, not on a business trip. The first impression of the city is, that it is a mix of all the nice sides of Berlin, and Hamburg. By this, I for sure do not mean that is like a German town, but these are the reference points which first came into my mind, arriving from Germany. Amsterdam is nice, lively, people are friendly, and I love the canals, which are here called 'gracht'. Our accommodation is just in a half basement room along Achtergracht, furnished very functional, but nice.

Visited the Rijksmuseum in the morning, and enjoyed the Rembrand and Vermeer paintings, among many other objects. My favorite Vermeer, The Geographer, is not exhibited here, but ironically in the Staedelisches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt. 

A few weeks ago, I posted some lines on the Chambre a Arles, by Vincent van Gogh, which I like a lot. I look the chance to walk over to the Vincent van Gogh Museum to see the painting. It is very nice. Much brighter than the reproductions I have seen before. The museum rules do not allow to take a photo, but I bought myself a postcard. I like the atmosphere of the room and I will explore this picture a bit more, to understand why I like it so much. This should actually include a trip to Arles in Southern France to see the Yellow House. Elizabeth Briel pointed me at an interesting article on van Gogh's bedroom series: A comparative study of Vincent van Gogh’s Bedroom series by Ella Hendriks, Leo Jansen, Johanna Salvant, Élisabeth Ravaud, Myriam Eveno, Michel Menu, Inge Fiedler, Muriel Geldof, Luc Megens, Maarten van Bommel, C. Richard Johnson Jr and Don. H. Johnson. 

It was quite a museum day, and in the late afternoon we went to Body Worlds. This is really a fascinating exhibition plasticized humans and body parts. I felt the overlaying topic "Happiness" a bit artificial, but the exhibits and the related information was very interesting. I have done a preparation course in the medical school at Cologne University many years ago (back when Universities were still  Universities, allowing all qualified students to study anything). But back then, I was so involved to make good academic use of the allocated body, that a lot of details slipped my attention. Very interesting to visit, in deed.