MY GREAT WORLD

Recently I took a several day photography course at an institute in the beautiful city centre of Amsterdam. The institute was located in a small street somewhere between the Herengracht and the Keizersgracht. There I rediscovered the beautiful city where I was born some while ago. I left Amsterdam at the age of 16 years old, when I moved together with my parents to a suburb around 25 km from Amsterdam and that’s where I currently still live.

On the last day of our course I strolled along the canals, as we were instructed by our photography teacher to make a trilogy of pictures to display the techniques we had learned up till now. I was thinking about a subject for my trilogy and I started to walk along the canals, while the weather was beautiful and sunny. At first I thought of taking pictures of cute and funny looking littles boats alongside the canals.

Suddenly a beautiful Crown lantern on one of the stately premises drew my attention and I took a picture of it. Immediately I made the decision that his would the subject for my trilogy, as I saw several beautiful other ones. I always have had a soft spot for beautiful colors and since I also have a great eye for detail, I was immediately attracted to the detailed and golden embellishments of the lanterns. I was very happy with my discovery. When I showed my pictures back at the institute, my teacher was happy with the choice for my trilogy and with my quality of the pictures! I also started to look on the internet if there was more to find out about these beautiful Crown lanterns.

In the below articles (in Dutch) there’s more to read about the return and preservation of the Crown lantern.

http://www.amsterdamsebinnenstad.nl/binnenstad/223/gevellantaarn.html

http://www.amsterdamsebinnenstad.nl/binnenstad/243/gevellantaarns.html

http://www.amsterdamsebinnenstad.nl/binnenstad/245/gevellantaarns.html

Back to my stroll along the canals.

When I continued my walk, I arrived in the area where the “9 Staatjes” are located. The 9 Straatjes stands for nine cosy and picturesque shopping streets. In the middle of the World Heritage Canal Belt. This delightful neighborhood is brimming with unique shops, charming eateries and great ambience.

De 9 straatjes: http://de9straatjes.nl/en/home

Since I’m a great jewelry lover, I also had a mission to go the 9 Straatjes as I wanted to visit BLGK Edelsmeden – http://www.blgk.nl, which is located at “Hartenstraat 28”. I was interested as I had found them on the internet and I had never been there before. Since it was a Monday, they were closed unfortunately. I could have known, since a lot of shops are closed on a Monday. I was a bit disappointed, but on the other hand, it is definitely a good reason to come back to Amsterdam and the 9 Straatjes soon and make a visit at my own pace.

Other great and inspirational spots in the Amsterdam city center for me as a jewelry lover/creator are:

Blou Amsterdam – http://www.blou.amsterdam

Oogst Sieraden – http://oogst-sieraden.nl

Copenhagen beads – http://www.coppenhagenbeads.nl

Goudsmid/Juwelier Gort – http://www.juweliergort.nl

Uno de 50 Amsterdam, Heiligeweg 41-  http://www.unode50.com/en/int/storelocator

Last but not least I want to mention a place where I had some great sandwiches for a few times during my photography course! If you ever have the chance, I would definitely recommend to buy a sandwich at a delicious juice at this cute little shop, located at the Prinsengracht 705a, http://www.cora-broodjes.nl

In conclusion I can say that thanks to my photography course, I fell back in love again with the beautiful city were I was born. I intent to visit Amsterdam more often again during the coming summer, together with my husband, to enjoy, shop, stroll, discover and have a nice lunch or dinner!