Jean Tinguely in the Stedelijk Museum

Did I mention that I had an appointment to renew my passport on January 23rd?

It so happens that the American Embassy in the Netherlands is on one corner of the Museumplein in Amsterdam, so when Astrid and I knew we'd be there, we planned a day of it, making sure we'd capitalize also on our museum card.

My appointment at the embassy (top and bottom-left) was at 10:45 a.m. on one of our colder days.

We passed it at both the beginning and end of the day, since we parked nearby.

See the Rijksmueum (bottom-right)?

If you know the Museumplein (museum square), you know about these museums:

the Van Gogh and the Rijksmueum are the best known.

And directly across from the Rijksmuseum is the Concert Gebouw (hall), left-center.

Then, just to the left of the Van Gogh Museum is the Stedelijk Museum, on the same square.

It was less than a 5-minute walk from the embassy.  A no-brainer and a first for me

Because it was lunch time when we got there after my appointment, but not where we planned to eat,

we had a rare sugar fix in the museum's café to tide us over till our afternoon lunch.

This was the Monday after Saturday's Women's Marches held around the world.

Approx. 3,000 women and friends marched in Amsterdam.

When we were ready to start our tour of the Jean Tinguely exhibition inside the museum,

Astrid first ran down the hall to see if the big staircase was still there.

She remembered it from her last visit 20 years ago.

YES.  It was still there.

Other exhibits were in the museum but the only one interesting us that day was Jean Tinguely's.

This was his Machine Spectacle from 1 October 2016 to 5 March 2017,

25 years after his death.

Before we did anything, we participated in the one interactive exhibit at the entrance.
As you can see in the video below, the movement of this sculpture is maintained by the visitors.

THIS is Jean Tinguely (1925-1991), a Swiss painter and sculptor.
He's "famous for his playful, boldly kinetic machines and explosive performances.
Everything had to be different, everything had to move."

"Tinguely's art satirized the mindless overproduction of material goods
in advanced industrial society." --Wiki

There were 166 works in the exhibition, 66 of which were machine sculptures.
Some exhibits were just...exhibits.

Only 42 of the 66 machine sculptures were functioning,
but you could at least see the others and imagine what they could do.

The favorite room for both of us was this one, with all the shadows.
Wheels within wheels and shadows of wheels within wheels.

This particular exhibit was H U G E and could be seen at its length, width and depth.

My biggest surprise, however, was seeing Tinguely's collaboration with Niki de Saint Phalle:
HIS WIFE.  Who knew!
She goes all the way back to Hannover, Germany, for me, in 2005, and Atlanta in 2006.

If you know Niki de Saint Phalle's work, you see the collaboration.

The last exhibit of the day was a room filled with rusty farm equipment.
In fact, you can hear the screeching sound of it at the end of the following video.


Here is a video showing only 6 of the machines in movement.
The machines may look sturdy but actually are extremely fragile and cannot run constantly,
lest they break.  Some hadn't been working for years and had to be restored.

Interestingly, Tinguely believed that "Everything in motion will eventually destroy itself."

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Talk about working up an appetite!  Besides'the museum (and passport renewal, of course), our other main goal of the day was to eat at our favorite Wagamama noodle-bar restaurant, just minutes away.

So, from the Stedelijk Museum we walked towards the Rijksmusem,

where we spent a few minutes watching the skaters on the iced-over pond.

Directly in front of the museum is one of Amsterdam's two IAMsterdam photo-op sculptures.

The other one is at Schiphol Airport, where, if you visit us, you'll probably have your photo taken!

But, finally, here we are at Wagamama to end our day.

Comfort food for the soul.  It doesn't get much better than this.

And guess what:  it took only 9 days for me to get my new passport back from the USA.

Now I wonder if "they" will allow my Dutch wife to return with me later in the year???

Amy & Angie in Amsterdam

It doesn't get much better than this! We're the 3rd day into the long weekend with the girls and have had nothing but wonderful weather and great memories, packing a lot into the minutes we have and yet taking time to eat on the cafe terraces and people watch.

Amy said she wanted photos of the two of them together because their company will want to have an article on this trip, since the girls used their bonus money for this.

You don't have to ask me twice, Amy!

When we went to the Van Gogh Museum yesterday, we had to take photos in front of the "I amsterdam" logo, in front of the Rijksmuseum nearby. Talk about a photo op!

Here's Amy...

...and with Angie.

They both brought their own cameras, of course, and clicked away everywhere we walked. Speaking of which, we DID walk. Everywhere.

At the nearby Leidseplein, we had more fun people watching and looking at the street art.

The artist had a great time explaining the different pieces he painted.

And yes, he gave them a good deal on the pieces they settled on.

All of that was yesterday! The day before, soon after we arrived and they had a 2-hour nap, we went to the Anne Frank House and then walked to various places of interest, like Dam Square, the Red Light District...and to Amsterdam's only windmill, which even I had not yet seen. Woo Hoo!

Tomorrow is our boat ride along the canals of Amsterdam with James and Matt. If the day is as glorious as today, we'll all be in heaven.

So, in case you wondered, we're having a fabulous time!!