My Favorite Place - Amsterdam

Quiet, quant, and magnificent - such adjectives are only but a blimp of the brilliance that the Dutch capital of Amsterdam exuded. Having spent a good portion of the summer in Europe, I had the opportunity to see a variety of European cities: the cosmopolitan London, the artsy Paris, and the quaint Amsterdam. Of course, as my title indicates, the latter was my favorite; never have I met such nice, happy people who cared so deeply for people around them and for their environment. Almost everything in Amsterdam ran on bike - children, men and women alike traversed the city on their bicycles, making cars seem like an anomaly. Just take a look at this picture, which captures the heart of the city's vibe - what place on Earth can beat that!

A view of a street in Amsterdam along one of the city's numerous canals
National Geographic. Source: NatGeo

Comments

  1. Laura GibbsAugust 24, 2017 at 4:05 PM

    I am a huge fan of Amsterdam also, Vinay! I lived in England for a while, and when going to the continent, I would always prefer to go via Holland instead of France... any excuse to visit Amsterdam, even just for a day or two! And I love (LOVE) the National Museum there; the statue of Shiva there was a big part of how I became interested in studying Indian stories and art! Here it is: the Nataraja of the Rijksmuseum.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownAugust 24, 2017 at 10:32 PM

      We actually visited the Rijksmuseum while there, too! It was a wonderful experience - although I have to say, we were unfortunately "museumed-out" by the time we got there, since we had visited numerous museums in the U.K. and France before we arrived. It was still very wonderful to learn about Dutch history and culture through it, though! I think I remember seeing that exact same Nataraja statue there, too...

      Delete
    2. Laura GibbsAugust 25, 2017 at 8:42 AM

      At the time (I had just graduated from college), I knew nothing about Shiva: NOTHING. I just knew that the statue was amazing, and that made me want to learn. Now I feel so lucky to be teaching this class at OU: I didn't take a class about India when I was an undergraduate, but now I am getting to teach a class. :-)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction to a Future Doctor and Leisure Philosopher

Image
Hello all! My name is Vinay Kalvacherla, and I am a sophomore Religious Studies, pre-med major. Many people wonder why I chose this major - when I introduce myself to people, one of their first questions is usually always, "what are you going to do with that?" That question usually becomes clear when I tell them that I am pre-med; but regardless, people often wonder why I'm not a stereotypical biology or biochemistry major. My reason for pairing Religious Studies and medicine stems from many things. Primarily, I came to college to learn more about people. I believe that it's impossible to be an effective healthcare provider without knowing about people and being able to interact with people. And, more specifically, I feel that religion is a foundational aspect of understand why and how people think the way they do - another consideration that can significantly impact patient-provider interactions. Having said these things, does that mean that my sole purpose of stud...
Read more

Week 3 Story: The Ordained Horse

Image
The Ordained Horse Grass tastes good. Luscious, green, dripping with dew; these images are enough to make any horse's dream. If only I could eat in peace, without those Brahmins monitoring me in the distance. They don't even eat grass, anyway! They've been following me for about a year, now. It was relatively agonizing when I first saw them. The feeling of being watched would initially never desert me; I bet you humans know exactly what I speak of. You probably wouldn't like it if you were constantly followed around with, say, a camera, would you? What was more disturbing than the fact that they were watching me at all was the fact that I didn't know why they were there. They let me roam as I pleased, let me chew on my scrumptious grass as I pleased - only under their supervision, however. Why did they need to be there at all? Eventually, I got used to it. I just let them be now, although I cannot say that I enjoy their presence. I go back to munching on my...
Read more