Berlin

The morning after Queens Day, we made the 6+ hour drive to Berlin. Actually, we stayed a little outside Berlin in Potsdam. The drive took a little longer then expected due to some lane closures and traffic. Also, strangely enough at one point, the highway passed through the center of a small town with several traffic lights (think I-95 cutting through Deland). The German sense of humor, I guess? Anyway, the western landscape between Amsterdam and Berlin is quite nice. Gently rolling hills with small villages dotting the terrain. That's how you know you've left Holland... the land actually has variations in the elevation! I thought Florida was flat until driving out into eastern Holland. An ant hill could be considered a "peak" in eastern Holland! So, small, picturesque German towns and villages... very nice. We arrived at our hotel around 2:30pm, checked in, relaxed a bit, then drove and parked the car to the train station 4 kilometers away. Catching a train, we were in Berlin about 15 minutes later. There was still plenty of light as it gets dark here around 9:30pm now. We walked around checking out the Brandenburg Gate, Potsdamer Platz, the outside of the Jewish Memorial, and the surrounding area. It was May Day, and the city was finishing up the celebration they had, with food booths and stages being disassembled. We grabbed a bite at a German restaurant, with both of us having "Curry Wurst". Yeah... east meets west. Quite an unusual, unexpected, but tasty combination! We got back to the hotel around 11pm or so, and crashed. The next day, we went back to Potsdamer Platz and toured the Jewish Memorial Museum (3-4 hours). Quite interesting and moving by the stories they told. We also went to the top of the German Parliament building where they have a glass cupola which provides a beautiful 360 degree view of Berlin. These 2 sights took up most of our day as the line for the cupola was long. But they were well worth it. Again a little late, we found a place for dinner.
Back at the hotel before 11, I went to the sauna for a little heat, sweat, and relaxation. Laying there I was loving the pretend Florida heat, when someone came in. I opened my eyes and there she was right in front of me... some naked German woman! Okay. I just turned back and closed my eyes, wondering if I should leave, checking my towel making sure I was covered, wondering if she thought I was a dufus for wearing a towel, checking the towel again, listening to her breathing heavily, wondering why is she breathing heavily, listening to the wood creak every time she shifted, then the door opened and I thought she was leaving... but no... now a naked man has come in... this is not cool. My Florida dream has vanished. They start talking and it's obvious they know each other. So, I'm the only chump in their with a towel, which offers me comfort in one way but also tells me "Idiot... you're not supposed to have a towel in here!". Now it's not like I had a full body towel from armpit to calf and another in my hair like the ladies do. Just a regular towel around the "man zone". But just as I thought I could make an easy exit, I hear the boards creaking loudly in their direction, and they left! I was thinking maybe they came in there for some "sweaty fun" and I gummed up the works. But before I could vacate, they called it a night. I exited 5-10 minutes later when I thought enough time had passed, and immediately told R my predicament for her amusement.
The next day, waking up, I noticed that R had made little happy birthday signs, a little paper crown and boats, even floating one in a cup of water! She's got the creative juices in her too! Today, we went to Checkpoint Charlie, and found it and the area surrounding it to be very cheesy. It was poorly organized, and really a blown opportunity to tell the story of one of the most compelling events of the last century. The line was long, handled poorly, and the entry price was high and unposted, causing a good number of people to turn around and leave when they got to the counter and saw the price. We had a negative vibe by the time we got there too, but went in anyway. There's a lot of information inside, but it seems haphazardly displayed and constructed. I am mixed on saying whether to see this, or not if you are ever in Berlin. We went to the Bauhaus Museum as I studied about this movement in photography classes (thanks, Rick), but they were closed. But it was good to check out a different section of Berlin. The city is big, and we only scratched the surface on this visit. We found a really cool place to eat, and Radhika managed to sneak away from the table to tell the server to bring a slice of chocolate tarte with a candle in it for my birthday. That was really sweet! And, there were about 12 have drunk young Germans who had just attended a football game who sang "Happy Birthday"... sorta... as the slice came out. One even ran over, grabbed my camera, and took our picture after he pretended he was going to run off with it. Back at the hotel, another sauna session (this one without my friends) and then a good nights sleep. The next morning, we visited a castle a park nearby Potsdam, and spent several unexpected hours there as it was quite tranquil, and there were 2 nice cafes nearby to eat lunch. Unfortunately, we ordered what we thought was one thing (we wanted), but got another thing (we didn't). A big hunk of pig meet on a tiny piece of bread. Oops! Mustard, ketchup, and a waffle with ice cream made it better. We left around 2pm, not getting back to Amsterdam until around 10 due to no fewer then 4 major, long, slow downs due to lane closures, construction, and traffic. Then, we discover that my bicycle has been stolen! It's always something, isn't it?

TULIPS, TULIPS, TULIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man... I have never been much of a flower guy... or so I thought. Gardenia's always did it for me!! Best smelling flower by far, and delicate white. But tulips... damn... how can you not like tulips?!?!? We have had an enjoyable time during the tulip festivities that last about 3 weeks or so here. As you may know, tulips are one of the symbols of Holland, but they have been surpassed by other flowers here in terms of production. But the tulip in all it's varieties (I believe I saw 600 somewhere) remains close to the hearts of the Dutch. We made 2 trips to the northern growing area about 45 minutes from Amsterdam, one with Dolly and John, and then a return the very next weekend. You can buy them there, or if you're willing you can pull over and harvest them yourself as they have somehow spread to the sides of the roads and shoulders in some places. Our apartment was home to about 60 flowers at one point. They have all wilted and died since we returned from our 4 day trip to Berlin (watch for the next post on that!), but what a joy to have them in our place for as long as they lasted. I'll see if I can keep from killing the bulbs I have for next year (as my non-stop struggle with my lawn and shrubs at home attests) as my luck with any vegetation has never been much above abismal. Driving around the 18 kilometer circuit through the farm country is almost like the wine country route above San Francisco. We had a nice time, a little adventure, and massive color in the apartment for a couple of weeks. We look forward to doing it again next year!

Queen's Day 2008

Okay, brief history. The present Queen's Mother was born on this day, April 30th. When Beatrice became Queen, she decided to keep Queen's Day on the same date, as her birthday is during the winter. And who really wants to be out in that mess trying to have a good time??!! So, festivities start the night before, with boats trolling down the canal, people in the streets, taverns, pubs, and every type of social gathering place occupied by revelers. On the canals, one will see anything from a small kayak to very large boats with stocked bars, full kitchens, grills, DJ with high end audio systems, and plenty of people. The streets are just as packed. People are generally friendly, having a good time being out in the middle of it all. Radhika and I walked around the major points in the morning. Vondelpark next to our place, is devoted to the children, and that was quite enjoyable seeing the kiddies playing games, selling their toys, performing for donations. I forgot to mention that this is the one day a year where you can set up a place on the sidewalk and sell anything you want! There were booths and tents set up everywhere. After Vondelpark, we went to Museumplein, which is behind the Rijks and next to the Van Gogh museums. It's a big grassy area where a main stage was set up for performers throughout the day. Food and drink vendors were everywhere, and most people sported a little orange in their clothing, in their hair, on their skin, or all over! From there, we went to the Leidseplein which is also near our place, and it had a small stage set up for performers, as well. People were all over the place here too. We continued our walk to Rembrandtplein where there was yet another stage. You could not pass through with any ease. It was the worst body-to-body night club experience only outdoors! It took forever to creep the length of the square. Grateful to be outta there, we grabbed 2 somosa's for a snack from a street vendor, and walked along until we squeezed into a good spot on a bridge to watch the endless procession of boats going past. Those people were having serious fun... and not one fool fell into the water, although there were several close calls during a few slight collisions. The people who piloted the boats couldn't enjoy themselves as much as their passengers, because they had to react to the 50 boats within inches of their own!! It was fun to watch... such a spectacle! I would encourage all to plan if they can, including Queen's Day into their schedule when thinking about Amsterdam in the future. I have NEVER seen anything like it in any celebration event!!! Times Square several years ago was a poetry reading compared to Queen's Day!!!!

Conservatives In A Liberal Land.... pt. 4

Wednesday, noon again! Dolly and John went to meet someone that a colleague of Dolly's knows, and after Radhika and I met them at The Anne Frank House. That is a pretty cool experience, and gives a better understanding of what it must've been like to hide in such small quarters for that long a period of time. This was our first visit there, and I would recommend it to visitors. Seeing as how we were in our old neighborhood, we walked to where our first apartment was in the Jordaan. It was nice to see the trees on our old street starting to "green up". We took the tram from there back to the stop at Leidseplein, and walked home from there. I made a nice dinner, typical of what our meals are here, and then we decided to hit the streets one last time. It was somewhere between sprinkling and misting outside, but a coffee shop experience was in order. We went into one at Leidseplein, sat down, received no service, we were unimpressed, so we left. We walked towards Rokin, going into another coffee shop but there was no place to sit as people were in from the rain and it wasn't too large anyway. We passed several before we ended up in one near the red light district. It was nice, small, local not touristy. A football game was on the TV, several young ladies were at a table beside us, and a couple at a table near the window. Perhaps 2 people were seated at the bar, where a man with very long dreads and a Jamaican look was stationed. He came over, and in the mellowest of voices asked us how he could be of service. We placed our order, and enjoyed our refreshments. After a spell, we walked through the area on our way back to the apartment. The "B" team was most definitely on duty tonight, what with it being Wednesday night and very few people on the street. We managed to get home in one piece without anyone diving into a canal. Not such a late night, I would have to say 10pm we were back in the apartment. I had a couple of cookies, Radhika looked into the pantry and fridge 6 or 7 times each, never wandering more then 2 feet from where most of the food is stored, and Dolly made an egg sandwich for herself and Radhika. We all went to bed at the same time, with everyone easily getting a good nights sleep, with the exception of John, who said his eyes were wide open for a while before finally drifting off.

Thursday morning came, with Dolly and John going to the Van Gogh museum around opening time, 10am. Some felt a little "fuzzy" from our coffee shop experience, but we were back to our robust selves in no time. They came back from their abbreviated visit to the museum around 11:30, as their flight for London took off at 1:50pm. We dropped Radhika off at work and then proceeded to the airport where they had plenty of time to soak in their whirlwind visit before the flight took off. Back at the apartment... it was so quiet... back to normal, cleaning after being occupied for 5 days. This place is easily the "dustiest" I have ever been in. Swiffers should be stored in every room!! Now, it's on to planning our 4 days in Berlin and 2 week trip to Scandinavia in a couple of weeks.

Conservatives In A Liberal Land.... pt. 3

Tuesday, and another day that kicks into gear around noon. I found a place about 45 minutes northeast of Amsterdam that has a high concentration of tulip farms. We had never driven in that direction, so the scenery was new to us. It was quite nice... flat, rural, with a few old-style windmills and many energy generating ones. There were also a few farms along the side of the highway, with fields of bright reds, yellows, pinks, oranges... we were in tulip country! We stopped in a city based on the info I gathered from the internet that I had entered into the TomTom. I was expecting a farm! Luckily there was a tourist information center so John and I went in and a nice girl figured out where we were trying to go, and gave me an address and map. Once plugged into the TomTom, we were on our way again for another 15 minutes. It seems there's an 18km route that one can drive to see various farms and sights during tulip time. Kind of one the scale of wine country north of San Francisco. We found the farm and parked. They had a general store for the locals, as well as a small place to buy tulips and chachki's, and a small eatery too! We paid our admission (1 euro), I grabbed a bucket, and we went out to the fields to pick out tulips! It was a lot of fun, and each tulip was only 25 cents. There was a "tower" (think lifeguard stand) that you could climb to see over the fields of color. It was nice. As Radhika and I looked for colors and picked what we wanted, Dolly and John decided to trespass onto the adjacent farm and get chastised by a woman no shorter then 10 feet tall with shoulders as wide as a battleship! This came as no surprise to us as they always find ways to get into trouble. Dolly was especially irritated, as she is usually on the "giving" end of verbal lashings in her position dealing with high school students every day. But, with their tails between their legs, they scurried back to the right side of the fence. John seemed to get much entertainment out of the experience, doing a great impression of the death threats this fascist female unleashed upon them for walking on the dirt. From that point on, Radhika and I didn't let them stray too far out of our sights.
After our flowers were picked and stored in the trunk, we decided to try our luck at the eatery they had set up. The menu had no English, so we went with the familiar word all recognized... hamburger. And what a burger it turned out to be! It had an egg on it, some cheese, and a sauce unrecognizable. I'm sure our blood took a beating, but it was a very unique, tasty, burger. John even said it was the best he ever had (perhaps that had something to do with our waitress looking like the woman who gave them the verbal beatdown in the field earlier?) We all had the burger but Dolly, who had some soup that was quite good too. We were there until they closed, which was about 5:30pm. With still having several hours of sun left, full bellies, and the whoopin' administered by the "Tulip Nazi" fading, we drove around looking at the area, stopping here and there to take pictures in the late day sun. One field along the road, John and I were able to sit on the ground, with hundreds of thousands of red tulips at eye level!!! It was gorgeous! I got some really nice images there, with the late day sun casting warm light all over the flowers. With the light about gone, I set the TomTom for home and we were back in Amsterdam in no time.

Conservatives in A Liberal Land.... pt. 2

Well, what would become the standard during this visit... we were able to leave the house no earlier then 12 noon. I forgot we were dealing with retiree's in their early to mid 40's! The only thing missing is the "blue plate" dinner special at 3pm. But, we made the drive up to Brugge on a very pleasant day. First time this year that the thermometers "smashed" through the 60 degree barrier!!! Of course some in the car nodded off to sleep here and there, but their identities will remain draped in secrecy to hide their shame. Radhika sat in the back, talking with her sister, which did a fine job of keeping the "backseat" driving down to almost non-existant. We parked the car in one of the many underground garages in the city around 2:30pm, and proceeded to walk around this gem of a city in Belgium that is probably overlooked and unknown to most Americans who come to Europe. We did the touristy things... took a horse and buggy ride, bought Belgian chocolates, took a boat tour down the canals, sat at several outdoor cafes drinking and people watching, and had a nice dinner. This was our 2nd time there, going once before with Dimple back in February. Obviously the weather was much more pleasant now, therefore there were many more people. We left around 10pm, with another round of "auto-napping" for some, getting back to the apartment in Amsterdam around 12:30am. We pretty much went to sleep soon after, as Dolly and John had a full day of sightseeing ahead of them on Monday.

Of course, Monday started around noon for everyone with the exception of Radhika, who had to go to work. John and Dolly made it out of the house (you guessed it!) around noon, to go to the Rijks Museum. It's less then a 5 minute walk from the house, so it is very convenient. I was still feeling a little ill, so I decided to stay and rest to hopefully get back to 100%. Of the many things that were uttered by John while they were here, "I'm on vacation." was the early favorite when Dolly would bust his chops concerning whatever it was he was doing or saying that got a reaction from her. Those two are quite the comedy team. After the museum, they took a 2 hour boat tour on the canals of Amsterdam. The weather was absolutely perfect to be outside. It's the first time I had the windows open at the apartment. They came back around 5:30 or so, and Radhika came home from work not long after. We went to dinner at the Nepalese restaurant near our apartment around Leidseplein. R and I really like the place, this being our 3rd time there. Dolly seemed to rub our server (who recognized Radhika and me) the wrong way, and he threw a little verbal smackdown on her (only a warm-up however, to what she would experience in a few days at the tulip farm). Things settled down eventually, although Dolly is now banned from eating in any Nepalese or Tibetan restaurants throughout the world. We walked to Dam Square, again enjoying the night air and checking out different areas of the city. We got back to the apartment pretty late, watching a little TV and then calling it a night.

Conservatives In A Liberal Land.... pt. 1

.... Will either ever be the same? Dolly and John (Radhika's oldest sister and her husband) arrived from NY Saturday morning. Delta did their best to make it a bad experience (no surprise to me), but they made it and that's the important thing (silver linings are getting extreme in the air travel industry!). Dolly had a surprise fainting spell on the plane, but overcame it and got plenty of sleep, as opposed to John, who didn't probably due to severe shock when one of the other passengers hypothesized that Dolly fainted because she was pregnant!! That probably also accounted for John's zombie-like state when we met them at Schiphol airport. I think he has fully recovered now (mostly due to viewing the sweet ladies wearing special outfits in the windows of the red light district). But, let's not jump ahead. We got them settled in their room and they toured the apartment, being very complimentary (perhaps a little concerned we would put them out on the street if they didn't bring what we considered enough of Mom's great Indian dishes, frozen and carefully packed for the trip). We accepted their kind words, and quickly had them hand over the food! After full inspection and informing them they were not welcome to any of it, and being content with the amount, they relaxed a little, we chatted, and then they pretty much passed out (kinda like me after 2 beers). After waking them, John needing a cattle prod to get him close to vertical, we went walking around the Leidseplein, checking out eatery's and stores, making our way around the area of the centrum. We "accidently" found ourselves in the red light district, where Dolly found it hard to walk with both hands covering here eyes. The "talent" was in top form that night, as opposed to what we have viewed the previous 2 times we had been to the area. The streets were crowded also, it being a Saturday night. We ate at an Argentine restaurant which was pretty good, and then proceeded towards Dam Square where there is a carnival and rides now covering the square. By then, it was quite late, so we made the walk home, checking out store windows and enjoying the (FINALLY!) pleasant, evening air. We crashed somewhere between 12 and 1am I believe, with a trip to Brugge ahead of us for Sunday.

Rotterdam

So, we drove to Rotterdam last Sunday for fun, minimal sightseeing, and support for Brad and Natalia who were running 10K and 5K races, respectively. Unfortunately from the spot we staked out, Brad's 10K finish line was across the street, and somehow we missed Natalia coming across her finish line. So no pained, sweaty expressions of their misery to post, but I have a few that are "postable". Rotterdam is less than an hour away, so I'm sure we will revisit in the future to get a better picture of the city and what it has to offer. The day was a tad hectic as there were many people running in the various races offered. The headquarters for us was the Westin, as Brad works for ABN AMRO and they had special access and perks, like breakfast, lunch, and dinner served at appropriate times of the day. Serving areas were scattered between a couple of locations where one could grab a plate and take it to a table, couch, or other area to eat, drink, and talk before or after a race. Their races started at 11:15, so we had a little breakfast before they went to their starting areas. We went down soon after to find a spot where I could get some unobstructed shots in anything interesting, but the way the finish area was set up made that nearly impossible. I finally crawled under a platform that abutted the 5K finish area that had no fence or barrier, but either Natalia finished before we got to that place or we didn't recognize each other when she came across. She was already at the hotel heading to a shower when Radhika made contact with her when we figured she should have crossed the line by then. So, we ate a little lunch back at the Westin after they came down from changing, watching the marathon on a big screen projection inside the hotel. There were also roughly 30 people giving 5 to 10 minute massages near where we were sitting, so the 4 of us got massages. I got a nice 10 minutes on my back and shoulders, and then maybe an hour later got the back of my legs done. Luckily, I had on hiking pants where I could zip off the legs. Don't know if I would've shimmied down to my skivvies to get my legs done as many men did. We stayed until about 5 or so after dinner was put out. It was a fun day all around. Brad and Natalia were happy with their results, and everyone was pleasantly surprised by the extra offerings that the race organizers supplied. Tomorrow, Dolly and John come in from NY for about 5 days. That will be a story that must be told, I'm sure.