home again home again jiggety jig

i arrived in amsterdam monday afternoon and walked around waiting for folpmer to finish work. i got a nice stroll around the canals, basically just wandered about and stopped in places that looked interesting. i saw the rembrandt house, which they had restored to look like it had when he lived there - a very nice house and well furnished. i also saw the oude kerk, the oldest church in amsterdam. good stuff.

the next day i went to the reijksmuseum and the anne frank house after getting gloriously lost in southeast amsterdam. in the evening folpmer and i made dinner (delicious!) and went out with his friend irving to a couple of nice bars (you can walk in and order "three beers" like in the movies! you get just a standard pils unless you ask for something special) and had a generally good time.

wednesday was more wandering, i started off late and didn't stay out long because it was fiercely windy and raining - i got caught in a couple of downpours and spent most of the day being rather damp. i found a neat little catholic church hidden on a canal and enjoyed being the only person in there and dried off for a bit before i faced the weather again. i did get some shopping in though - a couple of pairs of nice slacks at h&m for 15 euro each. the euro is much kinder to my wallet than the pound! which is nice because i paid about 10 euro to get into every museum and church in amsterdam, where all the public museums in britain are free.

wednesday evening after a much needed nap, folpmer and i went to a very amsterdam style 'brown cafe' which refers to the dark and cosy interiors, and had a traditional dutch dish of smoked sausage and potatoes mixed with a spinach-type vegetable. very good! folpmer made me read the menu in dutch and translate - a fun exercise!

my last morning folps went into work for an hour, then i met him in town and he gave me a lovely walking tour of insider places. there are so many little streets and as much as i thought i had walked all over, i missed a ton of stuff! i really enjoyed the tidbits he had to offer. then we had croquettes - another dutch treat - and were off to the airport.

here are the dancing houses - some of the most prominent examples of houses settling due to the 400 year old piers.

and here is the Night Guard in 3D! pretty awesome.

a HUGE thanks to all of my hosts for making my trip so comfortable and fun!

Brian and Jacqui, for making me feel like one of the family always,

Neil, for letting me decorate his Christmas tree,

Keith, for pouring the strongest drinks,
Richard, for literally sawing off the AC converter so I could charge my camera battery,
Folpmer, for sharing his lust for life,
and a huge thanks to my parents, for all their help and support before, during, and after my trip.

it's a shame we don't live in the same town because i would love to see all these people all of the time, but our paths will all cross again soon. it's nice - and weird - to be home, and i'm looking forward to hanging with all my seattle friends!

love,

mcnabbs