In celebration of my 15 years here in the Netherlands, arriving on Sinterklaas (December 5) in 2009, Astrid and I decided to finally visit Amsterdam's Light Festival, in its 13th year, on Thursday, December 12. And while we were were at it, we threw in the Christmas Market (since it was at the Museumplein where we parked and was opening that day), followed by a Wagamama meal.
The festival lights turned on at 5 p.m., so we hit the Christmas Market first, shortly after 1 p.m., an hour's drive from home:
All the familiar sights/stalls, of course.
It was! Not quite freezing but I wore my earmuffs.
Our requisite very-hot glühwein hit the spot!
People watching.
Good vibes?
And for our first time ever, we ate a Tornado Potato/Potato Twister!
Totally worth doing again, whenever we have the chance.
And since we were there, we walked into the Rijkmuseum's bike/pedestrian passageway,
just to say we did it, before turning around and walking back out...
before heading to the nearby Wagamama a couple blocks away, near our favorite Apple Store.
It's one of my favorite places (and meals) in all of Amsterdam!
All that was the precursor to what we were there for--the Amsterdam Light Festival.** By the time we finished at Wagamama, the festival lights turned on and we were hot to trot, starting and ending in this order:
[** the route with info is obtained only via an Apple app, for €7.99, and totally worth it.]
"In Bloom: swirling dance of the flower petals."
"Deepam, the Light: floating sea of flickering lights in Herengracht."
"Mind Bridges: created together with 1100 primary school children."
"Solstice: celebrate solstice in winter and bask in the glory of the sun."
"Mirror Moon: honoured all around the world."
"Resting VXNXS: embrace them, but be gentle and caring."
"Lite of Passage: see how the world reacts to you."
"Omen: a lightning bolt frozen in time."
"Crows: cleansers of both land and mind."
"Ice Master House: is the ice master home?"
"Never Finished: who knew roadworks could be poetic?"
"Lion Gate: a gate of light as entrance to the canals."
"Geometrics to Inhabit Time: hypnotic large-scale projection work."
"Meditation on the Threshold: a water screen as a canvas."
"A Community of Resonance: the rituals of the maritime world."
We were halfway around the 7-km route at this point, near the Central Station, when Astrid and I both needed a break...for a latte macchiato AND, for me, resting my legs up. It was 6:45 p.m., almost 2 hours of walking on uneven pavement or cobblestones, stopping and going at every whip-stitch, making sure we caught everything!
In that half-hour rest, we both agreed that our bodies had had it and did NOT need to finish the route. We had seen the "best" side of Amsterdam and loved what we found. We didn't need to do anything else but walk the 45 minutes back to the car by the Rijksmuseum...and Christmas market...
and wave Good-Bye to the skaters there.
Once we got home at 9:30 p.m., Astrid checked her watch and found out we had walked 10+ km/18K+ steps! No wonder we were tired. Not bad for these "old geezers" (age 70 and 79), right?!
And since we're talking about a festival of LIGHT, I leave you with this,
from our house to yours:
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
