Maxima

Tuesday:

Breakfast with 15 items on the buffet and Dutch coffee and an omlet made with chives from her garden. We were joined by another international couple. A guy from San Francisco and his wife from Iran. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Minnesota (small world). We had a fun conversation for an hour about our traveling experiences and different cultures. We walked back to the Dam where we had a smoothie, strawberry for me and banana for Blips. Carrying an umbrella to keep away the rain, we spend 3 hours walking the Jordaan, one of Amsterdams most elegant neighborhoods where slightly older yuppies reside. This is a delight to see a real city without the entertainment area.

Back at the Royal Palace, the doors remain fenced with big iron gates . No chance to ring the doorbell to get in. A sign said, “Closed due to Circumstances”. So, we wandered, having some ice cream and walked through a door marked Amsterdam History Museum. We found ourselves at the Begijnehof, a cluster of houses originally built for women to live without a husband and without becoming a nun. It has the cities oldest house (1425). There is also the Engelse Kerk (English Reformed Church, 1607) and Roman Catholic Chapel (1671). Very few people were there, maybe 10. It seemed like such a secret find. Out another arched door and onto a busy Amsterdam street again. We are looking at the American Book Center. We stop in and Lynn, my classmate from highschool is behind the counter. I stand there just tickled pink to listen to her speak Dutch and see her success as a Dutch business woman(she owns the place). She notices me and we are both a little surprised we recognize each other since we have not seen each other for at least 25 years. Our conversation is short but very nice, sharing laughter as we update our lives. As we leave, she refuses to let me pay for a book I want, stating….”your money is no good here”…an old Minnesota saying

It now was 3:30PM and our lekker breakfast is wearing off. Blips is hungry for chicken satay and I am hungry for muscles. We take a chance on Petit-Restaurant De Rozenboom. Our lunch/dinner is excellent and we enjoy it very much until we get the bill. The waiter had given a Dutch couple across from us free coffee but ours was 3.80 Euro. So, this ticked off Blips which equals NO TIP! He was also ticked off that we were charged 1 Euro for mayo and ketchup, but I convinced him that is normal around here. Again it rained while we had dinner but the entire day I have not needed to open the umbrella.
Looking for a t-shirt souvineer shop, we found ourselves in the red light district. We both noted that the women in the windows looked older, fatter and to quote Blips, “ugly”. So much for a sexy high paying job.
Tomorrow the Van Gogh Museum.
We got back to our room and “As the World Turns” was on the TV with subtitles in Dutch. How funny! This is the soap opera that my mom has been watching for over 50 years. I could tell by the story, that they are about 1.5 years behind the story in the States.
No tatoo yet. And BAM,we still have our fake wallet. You know the one that the pick pockets are supposed to find while your real one is somewhere else.