Van Gough and Ducks

I awoke to find the Dutch countryside sliding past our balcony. A train was crossing over a bridge that we had just passed under. The countryside turned into a small village. The village into a small city. Soon there were cathedrals in the distance and the graffiti on the bridges showed some remarkable talent foreshadowing the true Dutch Masters work that we would soon be seeing.

As we approached the dock along the river in Arnhem we passed a couple of other riverboats. We learned later that one of them was housing Ukrainian refugees from the war. A little reminder that not all of us are on vacation. The breakfast gave us a change to satisfy our hunger and reconnect with our travel companions from the night before.

With nothing scheduled for the morning we left the ship to stroll and experience serendipity. We followed the river until we crossed under a bridge seeing a building bearing signage in English “Airborne at the Bridge. We opted to visit the town square before returning to the small museum. The square with the church and clocktower were nearly deserted so I took a few photos and we returned to the museum.

The door of the museum said entrance was free, so we decided to enter. Soon a balding gentleman with glasses established that our language was English and he offered to share the significance of the place we were standing. Surrounded by WWII artifacts he explained that this was the site of the Battle of Arnhem. The bridge we had crossed under was the site of the battle memorialized in the film A Bridge Too Far. I am sure the the movie could explain the details much better than I could here.

After lunch on the Cara we joined our group for a visit to the Kroller-Muller Museum. I had selected it in part because of the fabulous masterpieces it held and in part due to the gardens with walking paths and sculptures with wildlife that surrounded it.

We were led by a knowledgeable guide using a wireless microphone and earpiece setup. She pointed out the bright orange I-beam sculpture in front of the museum made by Henry Van de Verde that looked remarkably like one that is in Sarasota. But most modern art looks similar to me. Inside we found a modest number of visitors for such a renowned museum. Some guides had larger groups huddled around more known pieces. A room with art by Paul Signac was familiar and I liked the style using small dots to make a painting that only becomes clear at a distance called Pointillism. Moving closer and further away made the experience more meaningful and the fact that we could get so close to these masterpieces was both exciting and unnerving. Other paintings were either bizarre and uninteresting or spectacular and familiar from the game “Masterpiece” when I was a child.

The draw of the collection was the significant number of Van Gough paintings including one of two renditions of “The Potato Eaters”. Other pieces where he made use of stars and his last painting with a sickle being used in a field (some say symbolizing his death). I felt sufficiently cultured and it was time to go outside and enjoy the parklike atmosphere interspersed with sculptures here and there.

There was a small pond just past a large gold vertical blob of a statue that was near some flowers. So Dusty and I wandered in that direction. Soon I spotted a mallard duck near the water. Birding and photography kicked in and my art appreciation turned to the perfection of nature and beauty of colors created by God. The mallard was approached by a wood duck and all bets were off. Who would rule the pond? Which would strike to the perfect pose and get out of the damn shade and into the brilliant sunlight? The wood duck got chased out the the pond by the mallard and into the sunlight where he puffed up in defiance. He won on both counts. The wandering continued past multiple art pieces and numerous birds until we looped back to the other side of the pond where, of course, I shot more duck shots.

On our return to the Cara we were well fed and enjoyed the wine that was included while sharing conversation with our tablemates.