12.04.09
Amsterdam
I had a wonderful, FUN, day in Amsterdam today! My last trip of the year and I’ll be moving into my new apartment in San Clemente, California – yes California. I plan to spend more time on the ground there in 2010!
But today I had a day to explore. I started out to walk around Amsterdam. As I left the hotel I saw a lot the bikes, as I had seen all over the city the past few days. I decided to ask if I could hire a bike. I could! In fact, the concierge, just gave it to me for the day…. Off I went.
I wanted to get something to eat. I road past several cafes and then into a park. I saw a café with a nice garden – I parked the bike and went in – low and behold it was a center for spiritual growth. Everything was in Dutch, but I certainly felt at home. I had coffee and cake and then went on my way again.
I rode over toward the museums, and intended to go to the Van Gogh museum. Then I saw the Rijks museum with works from Rembrandt, Vermeer – the Dutch masters. I decided to go there, and Van Gogh in the afternoon.
After the museum, I rode through town along the canals with the little Dutch houses lining the streets. Next to the central train station is the wonderful, 7 story library, overlooking the city and harbor. There is a café on the top floor. I enjoyed a lovely lunch. They have large banks of computers on every floor, and seating where you can essentially hide yourself from other watchful readers. I did just that and took a little 15 minute snooze after my lunch.
On my way back I rode my little push bike through the red light district. It’s actually quite fascinating. Not that I like it, but it seems so much more civilized than I imagined. I suppose legalization and taxation make sense.
I got a little lost, but just kept asking people and finding my way. Eventually I found the museums again so I went into Van Gogh. I was pleased it’s not too large and spent just an hour looking only at those paintings that called to me…. The colorful ones.
It took me another 30 minutes to find my way back to the hotel and it is now dark. It was quite a day! I’m going to relax for awhile, and then have dinner with a woman I met on the plane to Beijing last September. She is Australian, lives here in Amsterdam, working for Accenture. We met the other night for dinner and had a lovely time. We’ll do something fun tonight!
It was quite a day!
