westerpark in the snow (amsterdam)

The Westerpark is a park in the west of Amsterdam, to the left of Central Station and past the Haarlemmerstraat/Haarlemmerdijk. The park dates back to the 1870s, and in 1883 the Westergasfabriek, or gasworks (as seen in this post). Today, the Westergasfabriek is a cultural platform for exhibitions and fairs (like Kunstvlaai, and do you remember the Cool Globes exhibition?), festivals like the Amsterdam International Fashion Week as well as monthly Sunday Markets (see previous post).

The other day, right after it snowed, I went on an evening walk in the park. It was a Friday afternoon and parents were pulling kids along on sleds, children were making snowmen and throwing snowballs, men were skating on a small pond, dogs were rolling around in the snow…

The Westerpark is wonderful for any time of the day, any time of the year. For more events happening at the Westergasfabriek, check out their full program.

Click for more Amsterdam Insights, published every Wednesday, and here for previous Coming Up posts.

weekend in 3 (#42)

“It seems to please the public to think of us artists as weirdos, but I wake up and have breakfast every morning.” – Saul Leiter

A cold and snowy weekend in Amsterdam means biking through the snow (more like slipping and sliding), walks through Westerpark (1), sipping on homemade hot chocolate at Two For Joy Coffee Roasters (Haarlemmerdijk 182) (2), nursing frozen fingers as a result of taking hundreds of photographs of the frozen canals (more to come in the next few days!), cozying up with episode after episode of Mad Men, whipping up this delicious stew for dinner, and venturing out to the Jewish Historical Museum (Nieuwe Amstelstraat 1) for a lecture by 89 year old American photographer Saul Leiter (2) (see my post about the exhibition here). Amazing.

P.S. I’ve started a new photography project, ‘A Year of Photographs,’ as of today. Every day from now until February 6, 2012, I will be posting one photograph to the blog (and that photograph must be taken and uploaded on that exact day). Hope you’ll join me on this adventure!

recent in 5 (#5) autumn colors

November has come. The temperature has dropped, a layer of fog has settled over the city. It’s been grey. Very grey. But I haven’t really minded and lately I’ve spotted…

- The last of the leaves in the Westerpark;
- Winter bouquets at the Noordermarkt on Saturday morning;
- Coffees on the terrace at Greenwoods (Singel 103);
- The last of fall;
- Walnuts and cranberries, a wonderful combination.

Click here for more “recent in 5.”

sunday market (amsterdam)

There have been so many markets in Amsterdam the past few weeks/months, it’s hard to keep track of them all! The Saturday markets, the Noordermarkt and the Nieuwmarkt, and the daily Waterlooplein flea market are easier to keep track of, but there have been so many more. A month or so ago I posted about the Sunday Market in the Westerpark, but I wasn’t able to go. Then last week I mentioned that there was another Sunday Market coming up at the Westerpark, and luckily I was able to go this time! Here are some photographs from the market…

It was still wonderfully warm weather and people sat outside to enjoy it…

There was a real variety of stalls, from jewelry and other crafts to delicious baked goods, like these by the guys of the American Baking Company (follow them on Facebook!)…

Mmmm homemade hummus with Turkish bread at the Hummus Hoek…

There were also a few stalls in one of the buildings at the Westerpark…

And these sisters were just fabulous…

There were so many great things to purchase. I’m secretly glad I didn’t have any money with me that day, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself!

Mmm 2 boxes of strawberries for 5 euros, how can anyone resist?

That’s it for my photographs of the October 2nd Sunday Market at the Westerpark! The next Sunday Market will take place here on November 13th, mark your calendars. The one at the Westerpark after that is a Christmas market on December 18th, that should be fun too. But first, the Sunday Market will be participating at the Rainbow Warrior Festival as the Go Green Market the weekend of October 29/30 at the Javakade.

Click here for more Amsterdam Insights, published every Wednesday.

cool globes in the westerpark (amsterdam)

If you’re going to visit the Westerpark, be sure to stop by the “Cool Globes” exhibition, on display till September 25th. Featured are more than fifty globes, decorated by Dutch and international artists. The idea behind “Cool Globes” is to draw attention to global warming and other issues facing our planet…

I liked this one, by French artist Marine Peyre, called ‘Inside Earth’…

The description read,

This globe is the literal translation of the theory that to really know something is to immerse yourself in it… [The artist] used bright, happy colors to inspire relaxation and self-reflection, hollowing out a space for a passerby to sit “inside the Earth.” Reflect on what steps you can be taking to stop global warming.”

Here are some photographs of other globes featured at the exhibition…

Wendy Abrams, the founder of “Cool Globes,” created this idea of “public art with a purpose, where viewers can enjoy the artworks but also appreciate the serious message the globes bring with them: that global warming is a major problem but we can act to solve it” (iamsterdam.com).

The globes are all so different, it’s really cool to see that these artists used many different techniques/resources when decorating the globes…

Click here for more Amsterdam Insights, published every Wednesday.

Update: Thank you all for your kind comments and your “likes.” I am so flattered by all your support! Stay tuned for more Amsterdam posts!

cultuurpark westergasfabriek (amsterdam)

Welcome to Amsterdam Insights! Now that I am living in Amsterdam permanently, I thought I would start a series of posts about Amsterdam, but not your usual “what to do in Amsterdam,” tourist-style posts. Instead, I want to highlight those things/places that you might not know about and that will hopefully make your visit to Amsterdam more interesting and unique. So alongside posts about my everyday life in Amsterdam, every Wednesday I will share with you places to visit or things to do, as well as a “coming up in the next week” roundup at the end of the day.

Up first, a place that’s quite special to me, the Westerpark. The Westerpark, or “Western Park” is a public urban park in Amsterdam that also gives this area of the city its name (and this is where I’m living!) Not only is it a lovely park for biking, walking or jogging, but you can also find the Cultuurpark Westergasfabriek, a cultural park located in the old 19th century gasworks of Amsterdam.

Westergasfabriek’s buildings were designed by Isaac Goschalk and are in the (beautiful) Dutch Renaissance style (featured below). It’s kind of curious that these gasworks were housed in such beautiful buildings…

The buildings now house art studios and galleries, movie theaters (Het Ketelhuis, featured below, shows Dutch and sometimes English movies), restaurants, theaters, and nightclubs. There is plenty to do over here – how about Summer Breeze Latin Nights on Thursdays, DJs on Friday nights and Clubnights on Saturdays? Check out the Westergasfabriek website to see what events are happening during the week/weekend.

You will also find a branch of the bakery/breakfast/lunch spot, De Bakkerswinkelat the Westergasfabriek. They serve a multitude of breakfast dishes, quiches or homemade sourdough bread for lunch, and high-tea with scones, sweets and sandwiches.

Even though the Westerpark is only one of the 30 parks in Amsterdam (I’ll be posting about a few of the other ones in the coming weeks), it’s a wonderful park and I’m so blessed that it’s literally across the street from my apartment.

And for your information…

• If you’re in Amsterdam this weekend, come check out the “Kijk op West 2011” festival at the Westerpark on Sunday, September 11. From 1-6pm you can enjoy free music, theater, art and sports.
• The “Cool Globes” exhibition will be on display until September 25th, don’t miss it! Check out my photographs here.
• If you missed this past weekends’ Sunday Market at the Westergasfabriek, be sure to stop by next month, on October 2nd. You’ll find over 100 stalls featuring fashion, jewelry, knick-knacks, baked goods and more. I’ll definitely be there!

Click here for more Amsterdam Insights, published every Wednesday.