Two Wheels

Amsterdam is most accessible by bicycle, or anything on two wheels. With roughly 750,000 inhabitants and 700,000 bicycles in the city, that's about one bicycle per person. There are some unique challenges regarding footwear when getting around by bicycle, flexibility and traction are the two most immediate I can recall. Bicycles can also be a great opportunity for self expression. While living in Amsterdam, I rode "Blackbeard's Delight" everyday, rain or shine. When you are faced with finding your bike among a few hundred or even a few thousand in one place, it helps to have a unique aspect to your bike.

H0U53 NUM83R5

A while ago, I started noticing the variety and styles of house numbers. Love looking at all the details, textures, and materials.

Amsterdam Street Art

There were a couple of guys doing these giant paste ups around town and there was an article about them on www.lecool.com. Some pretty cool street art, different than Barcelona.

Cloud 9

Another store I discovered this weekend in the Jordaan. Just opened a couple of days. Great mix of housewares, jewelry, pet things, and clothes for everyone in the family. Haarlemmerdijk 119B.

Amsterdam Architecture

As the city of Amsterdam was founded in 1275, the city's architecture is quite old. You can see that aesthetic resonates in many perspectives of the culture. It's not necessarily the most important thing that it looks great, as long as it is efficient and functions well. I was quite surprised at the level of sophistication of the interiors of these old buildings. Well maintained and modern on the inside in complete harmony with the vintage exteriors. Timeless design. Many times you can also discover very new and modern buildings amidst the old, which created a nice tension.

ARCAM

This amazing building is the Architectuurcentrum Amsterdam or "Arcam". The current exhibition focuses on the history of life on boats and barges, and future prospects for floating architecture. For the Dutch, life, water, and boats are so intertwined, you can see the influence of one on the other in the shapes and textures of modern architecture.

Introduction

Why and how does European culture inspire and define fashion, art, music, and life?

The goal of this six-week immersion is to better understand those choices. For five weeks of the immersion, I wll be living in a small flat in the "Nine Streets" area of Amsterdam. I will also spend a couple of days in Milan, travel to Florence to visit one of the best shoe factories in Italy, attend a wedding in Tuscany, go to the Bread and Butter show in Barcelona, and hopefully make a short trip to Berlin. Truly the only way to really understand any culture is to experience it. Thankfully, I work for a company who understands this.