Amsterdam Picture Spam - Or: The Adventures of the Musical Ignoramus Continue ;-)

[bimo]

Thanks to Cavendish's friend R., a professed music nerd in every sense of the word, we got tickets to Robert Wilson's version of Madame Butterfly at the Amsterdam Opera House. What better opportunity to combine a marvellous cultural event with a grand day out. Being an interested lay person, I've seen quite a few operas over the last couple of years, but never one which was staged so artistically convincing. Both the minimalist stage setting with its background of subtly lighted silk as well as the singers' reduced, ritualized movements gave the whole performance the flair of a traditional Japanese painting. The singers' voices, especially the lead soprano and tenor were easily among the best I have ever heard. A whole different class than what I'm used to from the undoubtedly solid "Deutsche Oper am Rhein".





Cavendish's friend R. and I freezing outside Amsterdam Central Station



City of unconventional looking pubs and coffee shops *g*



Interior of a not quite so unconventional pub at lunch time :-)



The Amsterdam branch of Madame Tussaud's. Obviously Jack Sparrow got here before I did *g*



Surrounded by canals...



A three storey Chinese restaurant



Yup. It's exactly what you think it is...



The Amsterdam Opera House





Proof that cavendish was there as well *g* (And also the only picture taken by yours truly. All the other ones were done by Cavendish ;-))







Dutch doughnuts and cakes....The missing link between German and English ones!