We’re wrapping up our stay in Amsterdam and flying home tomorrow. We’ve just enjoyed a great ten-day visit from our friends Kay and Dan from Ann Arbor, exploring Delft to the south, several quaint villages to the north, sights all over the city plus an orchestra concert at the Concertgebouw and a ballet at the Opera House.
Here's cheese in Edam:
Tourists and pleasure sailing in Vollendam:
And the bleak old fishing village of Marken:
We’ve also reclaimed our stools at our favorite coffee bar and visited six more museums (four for the second time). Without our museum cards, we would have spent €510 on museum visits this month.
We've toured grand homes and gardens from Holland's 17th-century Golden Age:
We've taken a few flower pix with our iPhone:
We even saw a few friendly bikini-clad ladies in dim windows in the Red Light district and some interesting food items at the market:
But mostly we enjoyed watching people, boats and canals:
Here's cheese in Edam:
In the square below us we watched guys do astonishing tricks with soccer balls in the “European freestyle football championship”:
We even saw a few friendly bikini-clad ladies in dim windows in the Red Light district and some interesting food items at the market:
We haven't seen all that much diversity, nor any pot-smoking or disgusting sexual exhibitionism (drat). But neither have we seen any obese or homeless or obviously needy people or slummy neighborhoods. Only a few quiet political protests, this one against the current military takeover in Egypt:
So .. if you're still with me .. we can say that we did enjoy living for a month in a prosperous and liberal welfare-state society where public systems work and the culture seems supportive of the common good. One survey rates Holland's children the happiest in all of Europe. Indeed, they have much to be happy about, and not just that their moms take them everywhere on their bikes.
If you’re contemplating a long stay in Europe, consider Amsterdam. It’s easy to live here because so many speak English so well, because public transportation is a snap, and because there’s lots to see and do, some of it world-class. And at reasonable prices, especially now when the dollar is strong. You may have heard that anything goes here in super-tolerant Holland, but there’s also a Dutch phrase that says “just act normal, that’s crazy enough.” So you’ll be safe here, largely uncrowded and unstressed, and you’ll find the people friendlier and more helpful than most any place we can think of. Go for it!
We will leave in high spirits with great memories. Thanks for letting us share it with you.
If you’re contemplating a long stay in Europe, consider Amsterdam. It’s easy to live here because so many speak English so well, because public transportation is a snap, and because there’s lots to see and do, some of it world-class. And at reasonable prices, especially now when the dollar is strong. You may have heard that anything goes here in super-tolerant Holland, but there’s also a Dutch phrase that says “just act normal, that’s crazy enough.” So you’ll be safe here, largely uncrowded and unstressed, and you’ll find the people friendlier and more helpful than most any place we can think of. Go for it!
We will leave in high spirits with great memories. Thanks for letting us share it with you.
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