Amsterdam windows

One aspect of Amsterdam I will miss tremendously is the opportunity to look into so many windows - vignettes into other worlds. The most common view is of a front room in a small apartment. The typical layout includes a kitchen area; a seating area with a television and at least one very full bookcase; and a long table for eating, doing homework, completing office tasks, and being a family. Ikea furniture is everywhere, but the rooms never look exactly the same because each one seems to have one unique piece of furniture, often an antique, giving it character. Perhaps that explains the predominance of stores advertising one-of-a-kind items; I can't understand how they stay in business otherwise, as no one one could possibly need or want all these odds and ends.

Or maybe they could. . . . Here is a window I passed on the way to the ballet last night. I'll never call myself a hoarder again! (Actually, I think it's intended as an art installation.)

This was in the basement of a grand home along perhaps the finest canal - the Herengracht, or gentleman's canal. In other windows, I glimpsed ceilings with frescoes, fine antiques, and exorbitant flower arrangements, as well as dark old beams and leaning walls.


Last week, I passed a taxidermy studio. That's not something you see much in cities any more. The window did have a sign cautioning viewers that the animals were sourced humanely. Still, there's something gruesome about the idea of having kitty stuffed for your window (see the bottom picture).

I will miss these interesting moments!