Amsterdam

July 12 - 14, 2019

Warmond and Amsterdam, The Netherlands

We were very lucky to spend three lovely days with Jos and Christa. It was the perfect end to our six week trip. They live very close to Amsterdam in the small town of Warmond and have a really cool house. It was originally two, 400-year-old farm houses, which at some point were joined together. The story is that the Dutch painter Jan Steen had lived there once upon a time. Because of the age of the structures, there are a lot of exposed wood beams, gussets, funny nooks, and odd angles. One of the most fun details is a circular brick well that has been converted into a dining room table. 

Kylie and I went out running again on Saturday and Sunday. It was cloudy, but didn’t rain so we ran out of town and around the nearby golf course.  Unfortunately, on the second day, during our speed workout, she pulled a muscle in her calf. She was limping in the way home so I’m pretty sure we’ll be taking a couple days off.

Jos and Christa had a garage full of bikes, so we decided to ride into the nearby university town of Leiden. No one in Holland wears a helmet, so, of course, we didn’t want to stick out. What fun to ride along the busy bike paths and bustling canal side brick roads. Once in town, we walked our bikes down into an underground parking garage with cool, double-decker bike racks. Awesome. 

We spent Saurday afternoon walking around town — markets, fort, old Catholic Church. Jos is a wealth of information about the history of the area. For lunch we got to try a Dutch croquet — a hugely popular hotdog shaped fast food item with a hard crispy outer breadcrumb coating and a thick stew like inner filling, usually with meat, potatoes and bread all mashed up together.  Not bad. 

Dex had spied an old game of Risk at Jos and Christa’s, so we played a couple tournaments during the weekend. Christa’s strategy was clearly superior during our first game as she easily marched across continents at the end to claim victory. 

Sunday was another grey day, (Jos assures is it is not always this way). After breakfast, we borrowed Jos and Christa’s canoe, for a slow paddle around the nearby island. I sat in the back, which meant I was supposedly in charge of steering.  As a result it was a bit of a zig-zaggy tour. We saw lots of birds and even rowed passed a couple old windmills. We always enjoy getting on the water for a while. 

It was funny to see Jos dressed up in a suit on Monday morning. Jos works for a small insurance company that provides surety bonds for large projects usually overseas. As a result, he tends to travel a lot. After college, he lived in Kansas, then later, after marrying Christa, moved to New Hampshire where their sons, Adrian and David were born. With the two young boys in tow, their next stop was Jakarta. 

For our last day in the country, we set our sights on the Rijks Museum and a canal boat ride. Jos dropped us off in the city on his way to work. The Rijksmuseum was very impressive. Apparently, the most valuable object in the building is the huge painting, The Night Watch, by Rembrandt. It is mounted on two large vertical rails, one on each side. In case if an emergency, a slot opens in the floor, the painting drops through, and it is whisked away to safety. 

The Rijks Museum

Rembrandt's, The Night Watch

We enjoyed the canal tour. Amsterdam’s golden age was in the 1600’s. The city was growing very rapidly due to trading of the Dutch East India Company, so many people became rich from tobacco, real estate speculation, flowers etc. That explains the impressive row houses lined up along so many of the canals. 

Although, it had never really occurred to me, the Netherlands, situated in the Atlantic, has plenty of beaches. The closest to Jos and Christa’s house is only 20 minutes away in Noordwijk. For our last night together on Monday, Meg and I suggested having dinner at the beach restaurant where we’d been shut out our first night there. Though the weather remained cloudy and drizzly, we enjoyed a nice stroll along the beach and had fantastic dinner together. Here’s to good food and good friends.