CHEP2013 in Amsterdam. I'll not bore you with the physics or computing. Being in the conference 0830 to 1830 nearly every day, combined with poor weather at the start, meant we didn't get to see much of Amsterdam, in daylight anyway. My main impressions were of constant bustling; trains, trams, buses, bikes, thousands of tourists and building work everywhere.
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| Tram by Beurs Van Berlage |
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| More bikes than I've seen in my life |
On Wednesday they let us loose in the afternoon. I went to the Amsterdam Museum and a bit of a wander down the streets.
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| No two buildings the same, and bohemian smoker at window |
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| Hopscotch or something else? |
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| Be thankful for sea walls (just like in Lincolnshire), dotted line is sea level |
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| Catholic statue of Virgin Mary defaced (literally) by Protestant rebels |
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| "Women Only": lacework, made by reformed fallen women, being inspected by governesses |
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| Intricately carved elephant tusk presented to dutch Governer by the Chinese |
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| Dr F.M. Wiebaut, Dutch Socialist |
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| Painting of famous Dutch people (central figure represents the Netherlands) |
The most interesting part of the museum was an exhibition of Mondrian paintings, covering his life and works in the Netherlands.
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| Dying Chrysanthemum |
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| Evolution (one of three pictures, but I couldn't use a wide angle lens in the gloom) |
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| Riverscape with row of trees |
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| Girl with flowers, the eyes were striking in real life |
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| The Call by Peter Alma, communists crying out against authority |
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| Communist artworks |
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| Jordaan by Henri Braakensiek |
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| Conversation over billiard table, nobody knows what it was about |
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| Children Asking Questions by Karel Appel |
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| Lights and Mirrors, corridor to the exhibition |
As I was finishing in the museum I saw someone just starting...
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| Man with Beard with Man with Beard |
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| These two again |
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| Recovered street art |
Then a little look around the river area by the hotel at the end of the day.
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| Tall ship by Nemo museum |
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| Nemo Museum |
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| Chaotic buckets |
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| Long ship on the IJ river |
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| Amsterdam |
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| Amsterdam |
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| Amsterdam Centraal Station (designed by the British) |
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| Torture for sale |
Some pictures from within Beurs van Berlage where the conference took place.
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| Effectenbeurszaal in Beurs van Berlage |
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| CHEPers |
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| More CHEPers |
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| Glass cube in one of the halls |
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| Lunchtime in the Grote Zaal (great hall) |
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| Spot the Steve competition |
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| Grot Zaal |
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| Amsterdam in evening light |
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| Mural for Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands |
On the last day we finished early so I had an hour or so to wander round while getting souvenirs. There wasn't a queue at the fries bar so I got a medium cone. Very nice but roasting hot and I couldn't finish them all.
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| Chips with mayonnaise (I was feeling like Vincent Vega here), they were fantastic |
A fun fair was set up just down the street from the conference. Very noisy and tourists everywhere.
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| Crowds, trams and chaos at the fun fair |
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| The nicest Grim Reaper you'll ever meet |
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| Tourists stream into Amsterdam from the station (this never seems to end) |
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| Try not to get run over by the trams |
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| Waiting at Schipol |
I made sure I had my camera ready on the way back but 30s after takeoff we went above cloud and never saw land again until just over Liverpool.
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| Back to Blighty, flying over Liverpool... (I can see my office from here!) |
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