Van Gogh

Here we are at the Van Gogh exhibition last weekend. I didn't know about it until a friend commented on facebook that she'd been - I always tell myself I'm going to check the museum schedules, then I never get around to it! It was a public holiday and therefore VERY crowded! The sign said the wait was 120 min., but since I'd already driven two hours, I wasn't going to give up! It ended up being a much more manageable one hour, and we spend most of that time literally moving up the line, so we felt busy. Even inside the exhibition, crowds in front of the pictures were 3-4 people deep, jammed together slowly inching past, with museum staff holding up signs and occasionally calling out to people to keep moving slowly, keep moving. We were in there for about an hour, then made our escape, and the line was just as long when we exited! Following is a collage of queues and cute kids:

Lessons learned: 1) don't go anywhere on a public holiday

2) It really was a good idea to bring an obento! We ate in the car after finally finding a carpark - after queueing in traffic for half an hour, we were barred from entering the museum grounds, and had to drive round to find a park around Dazaifu shrine. Luckily it's a really popular shrine, so there are lots of paid parking areas around it. We stopped, had lunch in the car, and were ready for the next marathon - queueing!

Amy learned: you have to draw something over and over again to get good at it. The sketches impressed her more than the paintings

Lena learned: nothing. I asked her the next day what she remembered, and she couldn't think of anything. (just now she looked over my shoulder, saw the picture, and said "goho!" (Japanese pronunciation), so I guess she picked something up after all.

Erica learned: "pictures!" "flowers!"

Highlights: The Bedroom at Arles: