Depot

My original ticket back to the UK was for last night but after WhiskyFoxtrot posted a blip of the Depot, and I discovered it wasn't open on Mondays, I deferred my ticket home and booked myself an overnight stay in Rotterdam. 

I had a short guided tour of the Depot this morning but still can't quite make out its role for visitors. It's the place where artworks belonging to the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (closed for refurbishment 2019-2030, yes, 11 years!) are stored, conserved and restored and where research on artworks takes place. I understand why they would put on an exhibition about the various ways glass can degrade and their research into why (fascinating), but I don't know why other apparently random artworks were on display (in glass boxes under our feet, over our heads, and in front of our eyes). Our guide told us that the building is deliberately complicated so that visitors get lost in a 'maze', which is what discovering and understanding art is like. But actually, even though it's mostly see-through, the building was not at all confusing to me - it seemed quite logical.

But it was a fascinating visit. The atmosphere-controlled space has less oxygen than air (to prevent or slow fire) and, because human warmth and humidity is bad for artworks, we were ushered out of the storage room we visited after only ten minutes.

I spent the rest of the day looking at more buildings. Look carefully at the balconies in my extra.

Then
I
started 
my
long
journey
home.

I got to my own bed at 1.30am tomorrow, body-clock time.