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Once again, Day One of another crazy adventure through one river. One moment ago, I was still standing in line waiting to board one tiny AA plane to fly across one not-so-tiny ocean from one place to another. Granted, one would not really care as much as we do about one continent if the continent wasn't Europe. The Rhine River is one of the biggest rivers in the world. Its importance lies not within the waters but on the shores to us.

The second river cruise trip within a month of the previous seems awfully illogical. Fresh with the Danube Castles and Legends in my memory, the Rhine Getaway can easily compare and contrast the two major European rivers. However, unlike the last cruise, we are beginning from the mouth of the river, near the North Sea. Immediately, I realized the sheer cultural difference the Rhine River would have compared to the Danube River. The Rhine's destinations are seemly well-known towns and cities, and its cultural stops have depicted the hearts of Europe since the Holy Roman Empire. The pre-cruise began at a major position on the north coast of the Rhine. Today, we flew to Amsterdam feeling quite drowsy, and you know what goes well with a tired mind? A museum of art. To be honest, I hate museums. Unless it's like the Please Touch Museum, I don't really carefully seek out every minute detail of every painting. However, it is a museum dedicated to Vincent Willem van Gough (1853-1890), a Dutch native artist throughout his entire life. The museum consisted of his many self-portraits and scenic works, accompanied by a darker theme of peasant life.

Admittedly, I dozed off during a few audio speeches, but Mom understood that jet lag and the lack of sleep had their moments. However, I was unhindered for the second half of the museum immediately after I was hit by a strong urge to use the restroom. The museum began as a grave exhibit, showing dying peasants and tough labor. I merely glanced at each one, as one thing they all had in common: poverty. As van Gough progressively approached his later years, the paintings moved away from sorrow and closer to the natural wonders surrounding us. There were some astounding highlights about the Potato Eaters, the Yellow Houses, Sunflowers, Almond Blossoms, Wheatfield with Crow, etc. Trees, forests, and other plants took up a large section of van Gough's life, essentially until his suicide in 1890. In the end, he saw many similarities between man and plant, both deeply rooted within society (pun intended).

Amsterdam is the largest capital city in the Netherlands, but the old town is small enough to walk through. Mom and I traversed it within the day, but more information will be given tomorrow during a walking guided tour via Viking. As I said before, there already is a difference in culture. For one, there aren't giant churches all with amazing facades on every block. The sense of religion is much subtler. A light going here and there. A casual singing at twelve o'clock at noon. This city is quite pleasing to see, reminding me much of Copenhagen, Denmark. Bikes everywhere, as well as an extensive canal system, and weather that always seemed to get better but never did. Luckily, the weather was okay for today, which surprised many locals. That's what happens when Aiden comes to town!

【红霞译文】

又是穿越一条河进行疯狂冒险的第一天。刚才我还在排队准备登上一架不太大的美航飞机从不太小的海洋一边飞到另一边，恐怕没人像我们对欧洲大陆这么上杆子，莱茵河虽算得上世界长河之一，但对我们来说更为重要的不是流域多少而是沿岸各地。

莫非上次我们玩得不够过瘾，以至于一个月内重又杀回河流游轮。正因为“多瑙河城堡与传说”仍然记忆犹新，“莱茵河之旅”很容易拿来比对欧洲这两条主要河流，不像上一次河游，这回我们从濒临北海的河口逆流而上，所以一踏入这方水土，立马让我感觉出莱茵河与多瑙河之间风土人情迥然有别。莱茵河流域城镇乡村似乎遐迩闻名，以前曾是神圣罗马帝国的风水宝地，现在可谓欧洲文化心腹重镇。乘游轮前我们先进驻莱茵河北岸，今天抵达阿姆斯特丹(意指“喜力河坝”)时感觉晕晕乎乎，你知道什么对疲劳有好处？艺术博物馆，说句心里话，我讨厌博物馆，除非像费城触摸博物馆之类的场所，用不着每时每刻仔细端详绘画的每个细节，然而这是专门为荷兰土生土长艺术家统治者·护使·梵高（1853生—1890卒）兴建的艺术殿堂，里面展览很多出自他笔下的自画像和景物作品，外加反映农民生活的深黑色主题。

当然，我在听个别录音讲解时打起盹来，想必妈妈对时差和缺觉深有体会，要不是急于解手，恐怕我的后半段时间绝不会困意全无。博物馆基调深沉，用来表现快要死去的老农和辛苦劳作，打眼一看，所有展品的共同特点：贫穷。随着梵高逐渐进入临终的日子，绘画由悲情暗淡色转向更为接近生活的自然景观，其代表作有《吃马铃薯的人》、《黄房子》、《向日葵》、《盛开的杏花》、《麦田群鸦》、等等。树木、森林以及其它植物充斥着梵高大部分生活，直至1890年自杀为止，最后他看到人与植物之间有很多相似之处，两者都深深地植根于社会（双关语）。

首都阿姆斯特丹是荷兰最大的城市，但老城面积很小，足以靠徒步走遍大街小巷，我和妈妈仅用一天功夫就转了八九不离十，但具体详情还要仰仗明天峡湾游轮导游的步行观光。前面我说过文化差距十分抢眼，这里特别值得一提的并非每条街都有正面独特的巨型教堂，恰好表明宗教意识相当淡薄，倒是远处不时传来教堂钟声，正午十二点汇集成一曲大合唱。阿姆斯特丹景色宜人，令我禁不住想起丹麦首都哥本哈根，骑单车的人无处不在，运河系统四通八达，天气状况似乎趋于好转，但始终未能真正好转起来，幸亏今个儿天公作美，结果让不少当地人受宠若惊。儿歌驾到，气象万千!

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2014: YMCA Camp─Day @ Home(基督教青年会营─赋闲在家)

2009: 孩子手记(Kid's Writing)