Wednesday, February 07, 2018

Beach with Steve...

We were thrilled when we found out that Steve would be coming to stay with us for three nights after a conference in Amsterdam in late October. We happened to have access to a car, so we took him to Wassenaar Beach. Kati was happy to lead us through the woods to the final stretch along the bike path to the beach.  
We had a nice walk along the windy beach.
Despite the cold water, Steve couldn’t resist walking in the North Sea for the first time.



Monday, February 05, 2018

One Man’s Junk is Another’s Treasure...

On our way to Hannekes Boom, a cool bar, Jimmy rescued this painting, apparently in the style of Jean-Michel Basquiat, from the trash heap. He had no desire to keep it, rather he tried to give it away three times. First, to a tattoo artist who was closing his shop for the evening.
Then to a bartender at Hannekes Boom, who pointed out that all the bar’s walls were made of glass.
The bartender was very sweet and gave Jimmy, whom he assumed was the artist, two free beers for his efforts.
On his third attempt, Jimmy was finally successful when a Dutch university student not only took the painting...
...but sent Jimmy a picture the next day of it in her dorm room.

A Colorful Amsterdam Night...

It was a beautiful night, so after the hash Jimmy and I decided to walk to Amsterdam Centraal to catch a train home. Along the way, we saw some colorful sights, such as this rubber duck store...
...and this beautiful bridge.
I’m not great at nighttime photography, but Jimmy helped me catch these cool shots.
In case you’re curious, they’re crooked on purpose.  

Friday, February 02, 2018

On Trail in Red Dresses...

Our bunch of lovely ladies at the start of the trail posing for Melissa and her selfie stick.
The weather was great for a long run through Vondel Park with plenty of tourists and locals to witness our zaniness. Here is Senorita Opee skittering across one of the big lawns...
 ...and then climbing across the adventure playground.
We couldn’t resist posing with a red dress displayed in a store window.
 The whole group gathered for a beer break at Musemplein.
Perhaps hard to tell, but we’re posing with the IAmsterdam sign.

Red Dress Hash...

After a late lunch we headed over to Lisa’s house for the start of Amsterdam’s Red Dress Hash. Sweet little Norah was wearing an old hash shirt that Pieter lovely converted into a dress. 
Jimmy, wearing his old senorita dress, was especially intrigued by Richard’s wild hair.
Lisa and I goofing around with Lee and Steve.
What a nice surprise when Lisa presented little Norah with her own AH3 romper.

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Funky Sculptures...

We enjoyed wandering through the Rijksmuseum gardens to see the tragicomic sculptures of French artist Jean Dubuffet, who died in 1985.
The 12 sculptures originated from Paris, Lisbon, New York and London. 
Some were more colorful...
...than others.

Sightseeing with Norah...

On Saturday, we went to the Markthal in Rotterdam in the rain. I didn’t bring my camera, but Melissa took a few photos on her phone.
Luckily it cleared up on Sunday and I took lots of photos during Norah’s first visit to Amsterdam. 
Not surprisingly, Norah wasn’t awake for all of our photo ops.