Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Five Month Catch Up

Long time no write, I know. I could say I was busy - and I have been. But not so busy that I couldn't jot down this and that from time to time. Just needed...whatever it is that made me open up this blog and click on "New Post".

A lot has happened since New Years. Our immediate future is coming more into focus, as our extended year in Amsterdam marches to the halfway point. But I shouldn't get ahead of myself. January starts the year (as it always seems to), and here in Amsterdam we had snow and ice on the ground for the better part of a month. Pretty, yes, but tricky when on foot or two wheels. It was a rare occasion that I was driving in the city, and a car next on our right slid and bumped the car in front of it. In early February, Radhika had a meeting in London and stayed a little extra to visit with friends from her boarding school days. I took that opportunity to go to the Naples area of Italy, and visited Pompei, Sorrento, Capri, Palermo, Positano, and Amalfi. I was practically by myself as it was too early for tourist season and the photography was great. We will try to get back there this fall. As soon as I fly back to Amsterdam I'm trying to get snow tires put on our leased vehicle. I was told it was too old and they would give us a newer car with the winter tires already installed. It was a hassle, as all dealings have been with GE Fleet, but we finally got a Volvo, which was a nice step up from the Ford Focus we had for the last 3 years. We got it just in the nick of time, because I was driving it down to Milan to pick up Dolly and John, who were coming in for some Dolomite skiing with side visits to Venice and Verona. I stopped in Zurich on my drive down to visit Orestes, a friend who was my tennis partner and was in the group of basketball guys before he left Amsterdam for a new job.

Italy was great as it always has been. John and Dolly came in first from JFK, and they were pretty fresh considering the long flight. Radhika came in a couple of hours after them. The distances between our skiing area and the cities we visited were all under 3 hours, so no long drives were needed, but they were just long enough for everyone to grab a little shut eye (except the driver, of course). We enjoyed our skiing, all the food and drink, the places we stayed and the things we saw. So much gelato was consumed! John and I found it impossible to pass one up as we walked the streets. Once, no sooner had we finished a cone did we start on another from the next shop! They flew back out of Milan, and I took another day in Venice to make some pictures during their Carnivale, but I must say it was disappointing, both photographically and otherwise.

March came and I proceeded to do serious damage to my left ankle playing basketball. Never recall ever feeling a pain like that. One so serious and acute I yelled uncontrollably as I went to the floor. Over 10 weeks later and I'm still rehabilitating it. I spent over a week on the couch icing, compressing, and elevating it. Still slight swelling remains which no doubt will take a while longer to subside. Along with this excitement I taught a few workshops and the organization I volunteered with shut down it's Amsterdam office at the end of the month. Radhika and I visited Antwerp over the last weekend, and enjoyed ourselves there very much.

April saw John Marshall, who is a professional photographer from the US who has been here over 20 years, and I put together a Field Trip Workshop to the Artis Zoo here in Amsterdam. Through much planning and emails to past and new students, May 29th was the date set for that to run. I started physical therapy for my injured ankle on the 13th of April, and then drove off to Lisbon with overnight stops at Mont St Michel in N. France, Bordeaux, Bilbao, Spain, Porto, Portugal, and finally Lisbon, where I met Radhika, Justina, and Gary who flew in the day I arrived. Lisbon is a fantastic place - yet another location where we would relish the chance to go back to. We were there for 4 nights, with me staying one extra to photograph a couple of places of interest nearby. Then I left the next morning, driving a total of 14 hours out of Portugal, across Spain, and stopping south of Paris around 11pm to get a place to crash. I finished the drive the next day with a much shorter 5 hours. I was back in Amsterdam for a couple of days before we flew to Helsinki for a long weekend visiting Tallinn in Estonia and Riga in Latvia. I must say Helsinki, what little we saw of it, was disappointing, but the other places were great sights and worth seeing. It was my 50th birthday trip, and it was quite unique if only for it's uniqueness.

We came back from that trip on May 5th and two days later Radhika held my birthday party at Foam Museum, which is the photography museum of Amsterdam. It was a "Live Long and Prosper" party, with a Star Trek theme, of course. Most of the attendees dressed the part which was very much appreciated, and all had a good time with their creativity. My cousin, Jennifer, has a colleague who makes birthday cakes, and mine was memorable for sure, as Radhika had a Halloween picture of me costumed as Spock from 2008, and that was on the top of the cake. It was great! We went to Geneva the next week, as Radhika had a GE meeting to attend and I went with. Never had been to the city, and must say it was nice. Made some fine photographs there. Took a train to Zurich after her meeting ended on Friday, as Radhika had never been. We also saw our friend Orestes, who we stayed with for 2 nights before we flew back to Amsterdam on Sunday. Good times.

That's the Cliff Note version of the first 5 months of 2011. Hopefully I can write a few more of these before...whatever resolution materializes in regards to our residency here. We'll know more, hopefully, as the weeks go by. Until then, stay tuned!