A bank without cash? That's the modern ABN-AMRO in Eindhoven - at least, they have no coins, and no cash desk. If you want to get money out of your account (and don't have your own ATM card) you have to transfer the money to an account at the bank, then an employee walks over to the ATM and gets the money out for you! It also means they can only pays amounts to the nearest EUR 5, the smallest denomination Euro bank note. Where do shopkeepers get small change?
I made a short detour on my journey from Belgium across southern Holland to Germany in order to close a dormant bank account that I opened in this city 31 years ago. Nothing short of a personal visit would persuade them to part with my money, but after providing a copy of my passport and signing countless forms I left the bank with the former contents of the account, rounded down to the nearest EUR 5. This trip is now funded! I could not miss the opportunity to reacquaint myself with the nearby Van Abbe Museum and was astounded at the transformation. I remember it from the 1980s as a dark and dingy place totally unsuited to the display of art. In 2011, the 'old building' is still windowless, but turns out to be a good place for video installations. The 'new building', on the other hand is great; it is 4 floors high and light and airy, consisting of irregularly shaped spaces connected with staircases and balconies (did they use the same architect as the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam?).The Van Abbe majors on Russian and Dutch art of the 1920s. They have a good collection of works by El Lissitsky, Mondriaan and others from the early days of full abstraction, pioneering new ideas for the brave new world that would follow the Russian revolution. The place tends to have a political edge, a theme brought out in the current exhibition of contemporary art "The
Apart from the bank and the museum, not much has changed in Eindhoven over the last 30 years and I was back on the motorway within 2 hours of leaving it. Omroep Brabant (the regional radio channel) is as upbeat as ever and already putting Karnaval musik into the mix. Karnaval is the festival celebrated at the start of lent. When we have pancake day, they have a four day festival of dressing-up, processions, and binge drinking. Karnaval musiek is a mindless kind of oompah with nonsense lyrics that are -allegedly- hilariously funny when you are drunk enough. Eindhoven is one of the best places in Holland to celebrate Karnaval. You have to do it once, I suppose!
I made a short detour on my journey from Belgium across southern Holland to Germany in order to close a dormant bank account that I opened in this city 31 years ago. Nothing short of a personal visit would persuade them to part with my money, but after providing a copy of my passport and signing countless forms I left the bank with the former contents of the account, rounded down to the nearest EUR 5. This trip is now funded! I could not miss the opportunity to reacquaint myself with the nearby Van Abbe Museum and was astounded at the transformation. I remember it from the 1980s as a dark and dingy place totally unsuited to the display of art. In 2011, the 'old building' is still windowless, but turns out to be a good place for video installations. The 'new building', on the other hand is great; it is 4 floors high and light and airy, consisting of irregularly shaped spaces connected with staircases and balconies (did they use the same architect as the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam?).The Van Abbe majors on Russian and Dutch art of the 1920s. They have a good collection of works by El Lissitsky, Mondriaan and others from the early days of full abstraction, pioneering new ideas for the brave new world that would follow the Russian revolution. The place tends to have a political edge, a theme brought out in the current exhibition of contemporary art "The
Apart from the bank and the museum, not much has changed in Eindhoven over the last 30 years and I was back on the motorway within 2 hours of leaving it. Omroep Brabant (the regional radio channel) is as upbeat as ever and already putting Karnaval musik into the mix. Karnaval is the festival celebrated at the start of lent. When we have pancake day, they have a four day festival of dressing-up, processions, and binge drinking. Karnaval musiek is a mindless kind of oompah with nonsense lyrics that are -allegedly- hilariously funny when you are drunk enough. Eindhoven is one of the best places in Holland to celebrate Karnaval. You have to do it once, I suppose!
No comments:
Post a Comment