Amsterdam - ok, we've been home for a week , but we're still catching up.

To end up the vacation I always dreamed about we visited Nils and Debra in Amsterdam. It was a perfect ending. Debra (you are the woman of my heart) requested Chinese food for lunch.  The concierge suggested a restaurant that was also a house boat. After wondering aimlessly for awhile Nils looked up and said maybe it’s that Asian boat. It had a pagoda top.  Hurray, Nils. While the food was wonderful the waitress did not become my BFF. She was pretty critical. She made it clear we ordered too much food. And then I asked for sugar for my tea. Well, I didn’t mean to be culturally inappropriate.  She was adamant sugar wasn't to be used. So I drank bitter tea. 

 To get a lay of the land we went on a canal tour. I was the only one who liked it but to be honest I fell asleep as soon as the boat started. Amsterdam is a great place to walk and walk we did. A beautiful city. As an American it is wondrous to see building so old.

 Next day, we walked all over and had a fun shopping spree, yes David excused himself and left us. David’s credit card wouldn't incur the ridiculous extra charges of using it out of the country, so I borrowed David’s card. We had a brief moment of angst when the saleswoman looked at the card and said the signatures aren’t the same. I was using a felt pen so I said that was the reason and she accepted it. The real reason was IT WAS DAVID'S CARD WITH HIS NAME ON IT NOT MINE. Interesting that she noticed the signatures were different but that I probably wasn't “David Zimet” but, oh well.

We went the the Van Gogh museum one morning.  It was interesting to view his work in a historical perspective and see how it changed. And what a treat to see some of our favorites in person.  What was particularly striking was just how much more powerful the actual works were than their copies.

The works jumped out a grabbed you.  Lots of art, lots of walking, and thank goodness for the tram system!.  We took a brief stop at the flower market before grabbing lunch and heading back to the hotel for a siesta. The flower markets sold cannabis starter kits and I thought, a better gift for the kids than t shirts but David nixed the idea. Something about customs. 

That evening we went to the Anne Frank house.  The visit is not something I can ever describe. It was of course in a word, powerful.  What I want to mention is right after the visit just when we were all depleted and grasping for positives we look up and there was a clown riding by on a bicycle.  We have no idea why he was there or what he was doing but I want to thank him for helping me to see there is fun left in the world.


 Bicycles, everyone rides around on bikes and God help you if you wandered  into the bike lane. We took a taxi and the taxi driver was a hoot. David asked how it was to drive in this city. He said difficult with so much traffic, bikes, and strange streets. Plus, he said, everyone’s stoned.

Nils, again the hero, found a wonderful gluten free Dutch restaurant.  Also the waitress didn’t harass me so that was a plus.  Thanks, Debra and Nils for a great time.