2017-08-15

【Aiden in English】

        No, we're not in New York City. Haarlem, with two a's, is still in the Netherlands. However, like Brooklyn and the Coney Islands, they are actual places in the Netherlands. History shows the Dutch explorers traveling to North America and discovering the Hudson River, including many areas around it. Luckily, a colonial rebel known as the American Revolution (1765-1783) came through, and we don't have a New Amsterdam sitting where New York is today.

        Haarlem is a capital city of the North Holland Province thirty minutes outside of the giant Amsterdam. A lot of residents living here work in the city, traveling there daily. This trip to Haarlem allowed mom and me to paint a better picture of the culture in the Netherlands. However, no painting would be complete without alcohol, so the tour included a quick beer tasting in the famous Restaurant Jopenkerk. That itself is an oxymoron, as tasting of three Jopen beers should most definitely not be quick. At least mom didn't overdrink. I think.

        Alcohol alone is no problem but mixed with art, I'm not sure how mom stayed awake. Admittedly, it was pleasant to walk through the many galleries in Frans Hals Museum. Frans Hals (1582-1666), earning this title of the museum because of his skill and expertise ‘to challenge nature with his brush', was known as the master of darkness in the Dutch Golden Age. No, it isn't some cringy kids show. He was just really good at manipulating the shades of grey to produce shadows in paintings. Therefore, most arts was art that should be up to the Aiden inspection. If you don't know, the Aiden inspection is any art that doesn't make me want to move on after five seconds. Essentially, that targets Impressionism, as I don't really care for the perspective of a person under the influence of LSD.

        The museum specialized in Flemish Paintings, certainly an interesting style that mostly surpasses the Aiden inspection bar. Most Flemish paintings told a story of sort， deciphering it was what made the entire experience. Some targeted a strong religious theme, showing various saints and evils of the world in battle, like St. Anthony resisting the temptation of demons. Others explained the natural laws of life. Then came the Italian Renaissance, a change of nature within the paintings, where the focus zoomed in on the people's bodies and poses. The museum featured time frames of the early 1500’s Italian Renaissance to the 17th-century Golden Age, a large change of styles. And although they say an image is a thousand words, sometimes I actually prefer a thousand words. However, when an image can be taken in many ways, it can become tens of thousands of words. Furthermore, good writers can elaborate over a picture for millions of words, invalidating the saying. Regardless of what I think, Impressionism is a thousand words, but I also personally don't enjoy reading gibberish.

        In the area of Haarlem, I learned much of the Dutch culture. I mean, it is kind of hard to not when every building has no curtains and anyone can peek inside. Apparently, the Dutch think curtains block the sunlight (that's kind of the point). Therefore, people openly gaze into the private homes of residents. Some welcome your eyes with blooming flowers. Others reject it with dead flowers. Regardless of the plantation inside, the rainy weather encourages miscellaneous plants to sprout on the street, from weeds to winding grapes. I even saw a Passionflower unexpectedly. 

        Like the water falling from the sky, the Dutch culture affected everyone walking through Haarlem. However, the city didn't make you feel soggy, gross, and disgusting. Somewhat reminding me of Beijing, young and old lived together in a tightly populated area. And in both cities, the sun rarely shines.

【紅霞譯文】

        不對，我們沒在紐約市，而帶有兩個字母A的哈勒姆位於荷蘭，不過如同布魯克林和科尼群島，它們實為荷蘭地名，根據史書記載，荷蘭冒險家曾到北美洲探險新大陸，結果發現了哈德遜河及其周邊地區，幸虧一場名叫美國革命（1765—1783）亦即殖民地反抗戰爆發，紐約現在所處的地方才不會被稱作新阿姆斯特丹。

        哈勒姆是北荷蘭省省會，距離首都卅分鐘以遠，很多居民住在這裡但每天跑通勤去阿姆斯特丹上班，本次哈勒姆之旅正好讓我和媽媽更多地捕捉荷蘭文化剪影。酒能通神，酒能怡人，沒有一幅繪畫名作離得開美酒助興，所以我們到訪哈勒姆必定要去著名的啤酒桶教會餐廳抓緊品嘗特產啤酒，說來真是自相矛盾，沒有半晌功夫三杯啤酒絕對無法下肚，好在媽媽喝得不多，我個人覺得。

        其實美酒本身並無大礙，但跟藝術攪在一起，我不知道媽媽如何保持神志清醒。誠然，漫步於弗蘭斯·哈爾斯博物館，各個畫廊罕世傑作無不令人陶醉。弗蘭斯·哈爾斯（1852生—1666卒）是荷蘭黃金時代出了名的黑色肖像大師，因“用筆刷挑戰自然”的獨特功力而讓這個藝術殿堂冠上了自己的名字，這可不是什麼逗小孩子開心的把戲，他擅長用灰色打底來襯托陰影效果，因此多數繪畫還得仰仗兒歌鑑賞能力。你有所不知，但凡兒歌相中的任何藝術不再叫我走馬觀花。從本質上說，這類作品大有印象派畫風，暫且忽略不計那位喝迷幻藥人的見解。

        弗蘭斯·哈爾斯博物館以佛蘭芒繪畫為主，其藝術風格以絕對優勢通過兒歌鑑定，多數佛蘭芒繪畫都像在敘述故事，以此來透視生活全部經歷；還有的作品表現濃厚的宗教主題，描繪聖徒與魔鬼之間的鬥爭，諸如聖安東尼抵抗邪惡勢力的誘惑；也有的作品揭示生命自然規律。接下來是意大利文藝復興時期藝術畫派，它們追求順其自然，注重人體與動作。博物館藏品出自十六世紀文藝復興時期直至十七世紀黃金時代，包含多種多樣的繪畫風格。常言道一幅畫勝過千言萬語，但有時我更願用文字來傾訴衷腸，畢竟繪畫只能意會不便言傳，而好的作者能夠用萬語千句詮釋繪畫的意境，打破上面固有說法。不管我怎麼認為，給印象派繪畫美言幾句不嫌多，但我本人無心賞閱胡編亂造的東西。

        置身哈勒姆市區加深了我對荷蘭人文景觀的了解，我指的是，每棟樓房住宅不掛窗簾，任何路過者都能從外面窺視到屋裡，有點令人費解。顯然，荷蘭人覺得窗簾阻擋陽光（還算靠譜），因此行人盡可大大方方打量民居室內擺設，一些人家盛開的鮮花十分搶眼，而另一些人家凋零的枝葉令人掃興。不管屋裡植物長勢如何，雨季給街上奇花異草帶來生機，從破土而出的野莠到蜿蜒纏繞的葡萄藤，我竟然還意外地發現了西番蓮花。

        猶如雨水從天而降，荷蘭文化影響到與哈勒姆有過交集的每個人。然而，整個城市並未叫你感受沉悶噁心討厭，不免讓我想起北京，人口密集的地方總是年輕與古老並存，而兩座城市難得陽光燦爛。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2014: 2014 First Fall Soccer Practice(2014年首次秋季足球訓練)

2012: 煙囪雨燕駐我家(Chimney Swift)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

Netherlands(出遊荷蘭)

Europe(歐洲掠影)