Amsterdam

Saturday, August 1 - Tuesday, August 4
We left Paris midday, again on the fast train. This time, though, our seats faced the direction of travel. On the way to Paris our seats (they are assigned and the train was full, so we couldn't change) faced opposite the direction of travel, and we got pretty dizzy from watching the scenery go by backwards at the high speed. I was also trying to write, but that didn't work well at all. We opted to keep our eyes closed. It was a little better on the return trip, but we still couldn't write or read.

After arriving at Central Station we took a tram to the hotel, which is less than a block away from the stop. The hotel is in a quiet street in the Museum Quarter, a small hotel in what was probably a wealthy town house at the turn of the last century. They do have a lift, so we don't have to walk up the steep flight of stairs to our second story room. On many occasions I have opted to do that, however, to offset some of the food and wine I have been taking in. In Paris we were on the third floor and in Rotterdam on the seventh. I took the stairs often there, because the elevator was very slow.

Our hotel is just off the Vondel Park, a large green space in the middle of the city, named for the Dutch Shakespeare. After settling into the hotel we took a walk through the park and enjoyed the sights. There was a large gay pride parade going on in the center city, and there were several offshoots of it making merry in the park. We window shopped and finally stopped for soup and wine at a restaurant next to the Koncert Gebouw concert hall.

We limited our intake of Amsterdam as we had of Paris. Our 2 planned activities were to visit the Rijksmuseum, recently reopened after a 10-year renovation; and take a canal tour. We enjoyed the Rembrandts, Vermeers, and Hals in the museum (we stopped with those) and heard a lot of interesting tidbits about Amsterdam on the canal tour. Much of it Willem had already told me as we walked along the canals and through the Leidseplein, with its concentration of restaurants and bars.

On a more sober note, in talking with Willem's cousin, Mas, this afternoon and then with the Lithuanian hotel clerk, we were surprised to learn how worried people are about Russia's next moves. Although this had not come up in previous conversations about Ukraine, increased Russian aggression is apparently a big concern. Mas even said she is glad that we are leaving now.

Paris

Paris
Wednesday, July 30 - Saturday, August 1
Wednesday morning we took the high speed train to Paris. From Rotterdam Central Station to Gare du Nord in Paris, traveling at 180 kph,  took only 2&1/2 hours, even with brief stops in Antwerp and Brussels. All of the transportation is incredibly efficient and departure times have no fudge factor.

Speaking of transportation, the bike still rules in Holland. There are special lanes for bikes on sidewalks as well as in the street, and stiff penalties for ignoring right of way priorities: pedestrian, bike, car. People confidently ride without helmets. Women ride in skirts and heels, and there are various ways of carrying children and groceries or other goods. I have seen them eating an ice cream cone, texting, talking on the phone, and holding an umbrella - all while riding. All ages ride, and it is not unusual to see even the very old pedaling.

The bike is fairly prevalent in Paris as well, although it is trumped there by the scooter. Parisian bike riders also eschew helmets, wear no special clothing, and use the bike as  just another way to get from A to B.

We decided in advance to do Paris "light"- meaning low key, without a lot of running around, We took a "Hop On, Hop Off" bus & boat tour, but didn't go inside any monuments or museums. When we hopped off it was to have coffee or a beer or wine, to eat something, or just to sit in a cafe and watch the action.

When we got off the boat tour near Notre Dame, there were several artists doing charcoal portraits. We decided to have ours done. I'll post a photo of it and you can decide whether or not it looks like us.

Parisians still smoke a lot. It seemed to me that there were many more smokers than in Rotterdam. It was common to see people smoking while walking or riding a bike and to find cigarette butts on the street.

We had a chance to ride train, tram, boat, and metro, and to come in contact with locals as well as tourists, so we felt pretty Paris-ized in spite of the short time there. Willem and I can both get along in French, and that certainly helped; but the people seemed friendlier than I remembered from previous trips. Maybe it was because August is here and many of them will be going on vacation soon. We found out that the woman who staffed the breakfast room and also cleaned the rooms in our hotel was about to leave on a 5-week vacation back to her home in Yugoslavia. 

One other thing we noticed about the locals is how many of them come from former colonies. Africans abound, many of the older ones wearing traditional dress. It makes the street scene very colorful. There are also many Middle Easterners, with women in varying degrees of coveredness; Asians of several stripes; and Roma, unfortunately holding up the stereotype.

Cousins

Tuesday, July 29
Since this was the actual date of Mas' birthday, we had planned in advance to spend it with her and Ma, the 2 favorite cousins. First we had lunch with Ma, then went with her to Mas'. Mas had arranged for us to visit her upstairs neighbor, who has a panoramic view of the city from her wrap-around balcony. We also spent some time looking at old picture albums. I enjoyed seeing baby and childhood photos of Willem and also photos of his parents, sister, and other family members, including Mimi De Jong and Jan van Hurk, who had both been in the Dutch resistance during WW II. Mimi is even pictured in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC because of her work rescuing American pilots shot down over occupied Holland. She was Willem's first cousin.

Delft

Monday, July 28
Our weather luck finally changed and we woke to typical rainy Dutch weather. Since we had both brought rain jackets, we decided to just suck it up and continue with the plan. We took the inter-city train to Delft, just 20 minutes away from Rotterdam. There we visited both the Old and New Churches, saw where all the Orange van Nassau royals are buried, and took a picture of a statue of Willem of Orange above his tomb. He was assassinated and the man who shot him was drawn and quartered! Civil people, these Dutch.

By afternoon the rain had stopped and we had lunch at a cafe in the central square before heading back. That evening we had dinner again with Fred and El, this time at a place that was like an Asian tapas bar.

The Birthday Party

Sunday, July 27

This was the big day and the catalyst for the whole trip - the birthday party for Mas, Willem's first cousin who turned 90. The party was held in Krimpen at an old windmill-turned-restaurant, called Schellevenaar. In Dutch custom the birthday person organizes her own celebration, and Mas did a terrific job, with time to mingle followed by a delicious buffet lunch. There were about 50 guests, mostly family, but also including some of Mas' friends whom she took bike trips with back in the day. They call themselves the "Group of 9". I enjoyed meeting the people I have heard so much about over the years and getting to know them a little. Willem and I organized a group photo afterwards so we could make a framed memento for Mas.

Dordrecht

Saturday, July 26
After breakfast and a couple of coffees, we took the ferry to Dordrecht. It is a quaint little 15th century walking town with canals and very narrow brick streets. Not much to say about it. We enjoyed just meandering around town, looking in the little shops, and having lunch in the central square. I posted a photo from that day to Facebook.

Pilgrimage

Friday, July 25

Since we had slept through breakfast the first day we decided to start setting the clock. We made it on time this way, and it was worth getting up for. Breakfast is buffet style, with all the Dutch yummies: several kinds of rolls, breads, and crackers; cheese; sliced roast beef; ginger/molasses cake; pound cake; boiled eggs; bishout (sort of like zwieback); chocolate sprinkles; licorice sprinkles; yogurt; vanilla pudding; muesli; granola; fruit; juices; coffee.

After breakfast we met Fred and El again. They had offered to drive us around the "Krimpenerwaard", the area around the city where Willem was born. We joked being on a pilgrimage, going back to all the major spots of Willem's youth. We started in Krimpen aan den IJssel, the city he was born in, and went to the 1669 house where his mother had been born and where she also gave birth to both of her children. It was a very picturesque street, built on a dike. When I get the photos out you'll have a better idea of it. All of the houses are from that same period - mid 17th century - but very well kept and still lived in. We also saw the houses of some of his aunts (his mother was the youngest of 10), the school where his maternal grandfather was head master, and the canal where he learned to skate.

On the other side of the river in Capelle aan den IJssel we saw his Opa Offerman's house and the pub where he went on Sundays while Oma was in church. Sometimes he and Willem cycled there together and Willem was sworn to secrecy about the trip. We also saw the ferry house where he took the ferry across the river to go to school. When it was warm he would take the ferry across with his bike, then ride into Rotterdam to school, picking up friends along the way.

From Capelle we stopped in Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel for lunch at a charming little place in the old town and saw the spot where a skipper had shoved his barge into a hole in the dike during the flood of 1953. His action prevented the dike from breaking and extending the flood all the way to Utrecht.

After lunch we did the university period, going to Waterloostraat where Willem had his boho apartment; and to Bikini, the college hang-out where he partied hard and long.

We got back to the hotel around 5:30, just in time to change for dinner with his best friend from school and college days. They used to bike together to elementary and high school. We had a lovely dinner with him and his wife in a private club located in a downtown park. After dinner we went to see their new condo on the 17th floor in a building right in the park, with 360 views of the city from floor to ceiling windows.

Afterwards, we walked the short distance back to the hotel and fell exhausted, but happy, into bed.