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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 the 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 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), earned 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 were art that should be up to Aiden's 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 some 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 from the early 1500s Italian Renaissance to the 17^th-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 on 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 about 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.

【红霞译文】

不对，我们没在纽约市，而带有两个字母A的哈勒姆(意指“高丘”)位于荷兰，不过如同布鲁克林(意指“溪边人”)和科尼(意指“兔子”)群岛，它们实为荷兰地名，根据史书记载，荷兰冒险家曾到北美洲探险新大陆，结果发现了哈德逊河及其周边地区，幸亏一场名叫美国革命（1765—1783）亦即殖民地反抗战爆发，纽约现在所处的地方才不会被称作新阿姆斯特丹(意指“水流”)。

高丘市是北荷兰省省会，距离首都卅分钟以远，很多居民住在这里但每天跑通勤去阿姆斯特丹上班，本次高丘市之旅正好让我和妈妈更多地捕捉荷兰文化剪影。酒能通神，酒能怡人，没有一幅绘画名作离得开美酒助兴，所以我们到访高丘市必定要去著名的啤酒桶教会餐厅抓紧品尝特产啤酒，说来真是自相矛盾，没有半晌功夫三杯啤酒绝对无法下肚，好在妈妈喝得不多，至少我个人觉得。

其实美酒本身并无大碍，但跟艺术搅在一起，我不知道妈妈如何保持神志清醒。诚然，漫步于自由人·长脖子博物馆，各个画廊罕世杰作无不令人陶醉。自由人·长脖子(1852生—1666卒)是荷兰黄金时代出了名的黑色肖像大师，因“用笔刷挑战自然”的独特功力而让这个艺术殿堂冠上了自己的名字，这可不是什么逗小孩子开心的把戏，他擅长用灰色打底来衬托阴影效果，因此多数绘画还得仰仗儿歌鉴赏能力。你有所不知，但凡儿歌相中的任何艺术不再叫我走马观花。从本质上说，这类作品大有印象派画风，暂且忽略不计那位喝迷幻药人的见解。

自由人·长脖子博物馆以佛兰芒(意指“比利时、法国和荷兰地区”)绘画为主，其艺术风格以绝对优势通过儿歌鉴定，多数佛兰芒绘画都像在叙述故事，以此来透视生活全部经历；还有的作品表现浓厚的宗教主题，描绘圣徒与魔鬼之间的斗争，诸如圣安东尼抵抗邪恶势力的诱惑；也有的作品揭示生命自然规律。接下来是意大利文艺复兴时期艺术画派，它们追求顺其自然，注重人体与动作。博物馆藏品出自十六世纪文艺复兴时期直至十七世纪黄金时代，包含多种多样的绘画风格。常言道一幅画胜过千言万语，但有时我更愿用文字来倾诉衷肠，毕竟绘画只能意会不便言传，而好的作者能够用万语千句诠释绘画的意境，打破上面固有说法。不管我怎么认为，给印象派绘画美言几句并不嫌多，但我本人无心赏阅胡编乱造的东西。

置身高丘市区加深了我对荷兰人文景观的了解，我指的是，每栋楼房住宅不挂窗帘，任何路过者都能从屋外窥视到屋里，有点令人费解。显然，荷兰人觉得窗帘阻挡阳光（还算靠谱），因此行人尽可大大方方打量民居室内摆设，一些人家盛开的鲜花十分抢眼，而另一些人家凋零的枝叶令人扫兴。不管屋里植物长势如何，雨季给街上奇花异草带来生机，从破土而出的野莠到蜿蜒缠绕的葡萄藤，我竟然还意外地发现了西番莲花。

犹如雨水从天而降，荷兰文化影响到与高丘市有过交集的每个人。然而，整个城市并未叫你感受沉闷寡欢，不免让我想起北京，人口密集的地方总是年轻与古老并存，而两座城市难得阳光灿烂。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2017: Haarlem the Flower City, Netherlands(荷兰高丘市─花城礼赞)

2014: 2014 First Fall Soccer Practice(2014年首次秋季足球训练)

2012: 烟囱雨燕驻我家(Chimney Swift)