It’s been a while since we’ve written a blog. Last summer, I didn’t really finish our cruise blogging. Life and work got in the way.

But, I’m motivated again. To catch you up a bit . . . Jim had his aortic valve replacement surgery in February and it has made a huge difference. We are so thankful for the amazing surgeons and modern medicine. His heart is working beautifully and we are working on getting his muscle strength back.

Today, we are in Amsterdam, acclimating to the current time zone (Seattle + 9 hours) before we board our riverboat cruise to Budapest. Yesterday, after landing in the morning we got to our beautiful hotel on the Amstel River, the Amstel Intercontinental, and immediately went out walking on a beautiful sunny day (which apparently are as rare here in May as they are in Seattle).

I’m struck by how familiar the architecture is and I guess, it shouldn’t be surprising. New Amsterdam (now New York City) after all was where I grew up. All the beautiful canals are another story. The semicircle rings of canals radiating out from the city center require over 1,200 bridges with most of the best views from the middle of each bridge. That plus all of the bicycles make strolling here quite fascinating. It’s different from anywhere else we have been.

Everyone warned us about all the bicycles so, we were prepared. And we made it through our first day without any close calls. And yes, some of those bicycles have huge “baskets” (some look like small bathtubs) in front to carry children, groceries and other cargo.

We’ve been blessed once again with sunny weather to explore the city. And we walked 4 miles acclimating to our current time zone (about 9 hours ahead) before settling in for a yummy lunch at an outside canal side table at Maria’s restaurant, watching the little tour boats cruise by. Then we walked some more before exhaustion set in and we went back to the hotel for an afternoon nap. Jim’s rehab is certainly being put to the test!

Three hours later we woke up and headed out for dinner at a nearby local restaurant: De Ysbreeker (“The Icebreaker”), also next to a canal.

Amsterdam Day 2: Of course, we woke early this morning and both felt pretty good given the time change.

After a beautiful breakfast, we are taking a bit of a break before heading off for the Van Gough Museum.

Once again we are blessed with “tourist weather”. It’s much more usual for it to be rainy and cooler here, much like Seattle. But as we roamed the streets to the museum district the sun shined down. People were at outside tables at all the cafes, smiling with faces to the sun. We passed one person who was wearing a great t-shirt. I didn’t get a photo but it said, “Don’t blame me, I was left unsupervised.”

We met up with our guide Fannie for our Van Gough tour. She was a tall, energetic, art historian with a well crafted narrative of the exhibit and the Van Gough history of painting. We all know the basics, but she was able to add so much knowledge of quality and growth of his painting from dark realism to the vibrant pointillism and colors we’ve all come to appreciate.

After taking a break at the museum cafe, we wandered over to the Anselm Keifer special exhibit. Keifer was inspired in many ways by Van Gough and early in his career won a grant to travel the same journey from Holland to Belgium and France. His paintings are enormous, layered and overwhelming.

There is no way to experience the size except by being there. How on earth they move this exhibit is a huge question. As another person standing near us said, “very carefully!” I was blown away. Now we want to see the 2023 documentary “Anselm” and it would be amazing to visit his art compound in person. But what a great experience to see the exhibit here.

On our way back to the hotel for an afternoon nap to keep up our Jet lag recovery program, we stopped for gelato. Back at the hotel, we swam at the lovely pool and then we headed out for a nearby late dinner at a local Indian Restaurant.

Strolling back to the hotel on this temperate night, we passed some young men practicing some field hockey techniques. Turns out this guy is quite famous amongst field hockey aficionados, his friend boasting about Olympics and European championships.

I had an interesting observation walking around yesterday. People don’t wear clothing with a lot of color. Tans, black, browns adorn the inhabitants of Amsterdam. The people are lovely. It doesn’t mean anything really, just interesting. They choose to blend in with the usually grey weather.

Tot zines voor nu (Goodbye for now)

True Love Adventurers in Amsterdam, Fawn and Jim