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May 19 Friday sunny (mainly) Bicycle touring Holland Breakfast consisted of bread, jams, and coffee. Tried kiwi jam, but it is too tart for me (nowhere near prune, though). Gerard drove us to the train station. Five minutes later we were headed for Amsterdam. When we asked a young woman which was the right train, she said, "Follow me." Diana goes to college in Amsterdam. She want to be a sports' teacher. She turned out to be a neighbor of the Schrik's. She gave tennis lessons to Niels last summer. Small world, huh? And she plays on the same competitive interclub team as Paula. We transferred trains in Haarlem. In a total of twenty minutes we arrived at the central station in Amsterdam. The VVV (tourist info) had several lines of tourists (mainly backpackers) already lined up. I tried to buy a city of Amsterdam map from a coin operated machine, but it wouldn't take my money. A sticker on the machine read "In case of malfunction, inquire at desk." Looking at the massive line-up again, I decided we really didn't need a map. After all, isn't that what God created other human beings for? To give directions? As we walked past the "toilettens" I looked in. Showers: 14 guilders. Just figures. People try to travel on the train at night to avoid the cost of a room, so the powers that be get even by charging $14 for a shower. Times two people = $28. Probably could get a hostel for about the same price. Outside the station, we look at the tram and bus info. Most trams and buses go downtown from the station. There are canal buses, too. Actually boats that run along the canal. Looks like fun. We have a ticket booklet from Paula, so we hop on the next bus. It is a punch your own ticket, we figure out later, but since we're almost there we go for the free ride. We get off at what looks near where we want to go: the Rijksmuseum. We go into a business to ask directions. We're about five blocks away. Lots of rail lines, bike paths, and car lanes crisscross the street. I'm not sure which way to look as everything appears to be coming from every direction simultaneously. We spend the day in the Rijksmuseum. Many of the paintings are by Rembrandt, including his huge famous "Night Watch." It's unbelievable that part of it was cropped when it was too big to fit between two doors at city hall where they wanted to hang it. We saw lots of paintings by Dutch masters. Also saw the study hall paintings where we had to leave our passports to get in. I asked the woman attendant guard why the paintings were here instead of upstairs on display. "Because they're old," she said. Also saw the museum of Dutch history, doll houses, and sculptures. Asian art, too. We took a tram back to central station -- this time we even stamped our ticket. The train left the station at 5:30 PM back to Beverwijk. Half an hour later we are back home enjoying supper with Tiny and Girard. Rice with a sweet and sour sauce. Green beans. Strawberries and rhubarb for dessert. We went to Haarlem to visit their eldest daughter, Lina, 40, and her husband Hank, and their two sons, Vincent and Mel. Their house is also three stories. Lina has a studio on the third floor where she gives Yoga and meditation lessons. She has a certificate from Den Hague. She is artistic. Several of her paintings grace their house. They are impressionistic works. Some of the kids' art is framed and hung in the living room. She also has some Native paintings that remind me of the Navajo Indians around New Mexico. The style and colour is very good. Hank has a grocery truck that stocks nearly everything. He says milk is his staple. Guess that's why we haven't seen fresh milk in the store -- it's delivered. He gave us a bunch of different Dutch candy to sample as well as a wooden butter mold in the shape of a sheep. Vincent and Mel do very well in school. Vincent gets 9s mostly and was showing us his English workbook. He like computers and has a Nintendo and Sega video games. He collects USA basketball team hats and the caps where kids play a game in which they throw a cap at a stack of caps. Whatever caps flip over they win. The cars here have an L on the roof if the driver is a learner. We saw a car on the bike path -- figured that must be where the learner's permits drive. We see cyclists go by with kids on the front of the bike, kids on the back of the bike, and even kids on the front and back. Must do something for family planning. If a young girl is riding beside a guy, a lot of times she will hang onto his arm or hand, and he helps pull her along. He can't get too far ahead that way. Sharon wants to try it out. We see guys doubling girls on the back of their racks -- the girls ride side saddle with their feet crossed. Sharon says you really have to like someone to offer them a lift home. I did note however that no one has fat girlfriends. A lot of little old ladies have motors equipped on their bikes. Lots of girls have girl's frame bikes. It is common to see them riding with long dresses. When the weather is hot we have even seen women riding bicycles in mini skirts. Talk about causing accidents. |
