Despite the industrialization of the area my favourite place to go was the Ruhr area in Germany. When I still lived in the Netherlands, it was a car journey of 1,5 hours from our house.
The area became the “European Capital of Culture” in 2010. This meant a facelift for a region that had been a dirty, neglected orphan since the mines and steel industry slowly came to a halt.
There are a lot of interesting places nowadays, but my favourites are Insel Hombroich and Zollverein Essen.
When I still lived in the Netherlands, Insel Hombroich was a car journey of 1,5 hours from our house. I have visited the location often with friends and family and it was a favourite day out for my staff and me.
An average museum visit lasts between one and two hours. Visiting Insel Hombroich can easily take up a whole day. One of the reasons why it is perfect for a short getaway.
The area is a breathtaking landscape full of little buildings, beautiful vegetation, and most of all a lot of art in all disciplines and genres.
A landscape is often beautiful in itself. Nevertheless, a conscious addition by an artist can be of great added value. It contributes to a different experience of the environment.
My travels have already taken me to several places with landscape art on display or as part of the collection, such as Insel Hombroich in Germany, Museum Kröller-Müller in the Netherlands, and the Beaufort event in Belgium.
In this article, I will tell you about another great location that is well worth visiting: the organic winery Chateau la Coste.
After 2 years of lockdowns and restrictions, we were able to take a trip abroad in June 2022. Our first visit was to Arles. Tom and I had seen a documentary* about the LUMA experimental cultural centre on the European TV channel Arte and were very excited about it.
*Unfortunately, the documentary is no longer available.
We live in a culture-poor area. This is why we took every opportunity to experience art during our holiday. Fortunately, we were often also able to combine this with another activity we cherish so much: nature walks.
Several Modern Art museums in Valencia are so worthwhile to visit.
Valencia is one of my favourite cities for a midweek trip. It is only 3 hours by car from my village and offers a huge variety of art, culture, and nature. The latter, in the beautiful botanical garden or in the immediate vicinity with beaches and marshes.
There are all kinds of museums in Valencia, plenty of choices. However, we like modern art the most, so those are the museums we visit more than once.
Until now we went for architecture and art, but a chance conversation with a compatriot during our visit to Bombas Gens has made us aware of the opera and dance culture that can also be experienced in Valencia.
We saw a beautiful museum today. And with beautiful I mean the building. Modern. Raw concrete and zinc. Magnificent shapes. Yes, there was art in it, since it was a museum of contemporary art. But too bad, the art didn’t mean anything to me.