Full Tourist Mode!

That's what my friend from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent, Ohio called our adventures in Amsterdam. Full Tourist Mode. John and his spouse Varsha joined us for several days over the past week. Our friend/Friend Karen Warren from Santa Cruz Meeting also joined us during this time, so we've had quite a full house. Lots of good meals together, many long walking days, and plenty of ice cream. We also had many long conversations covering such diverse topics as fly-over country, child rearing, millennial behavior, India, and fine art.

The first few days of hosting the temperatures kept rising to record levels. 96 degrees met us on Friday for museum day. We once again started off with the city archives Stadsarchief. Our guests posed in front of the famous iamsterdam sign before entering the even more famous Rijksmuseum for the afternoon. They then went on to visit the world famous Van Gogh museum while Nancy and I rode home to prepare dinner.

Our guests had a checklist of things to do and experience when visiting Holland. The list was partially informed by John and Varsha's Dutch neighbor and friend Johan. He suggested that they visit three of his favorite cities to the north of us. Once again we all bought 10 euro day passes and headed north to Hoorn, Edam, Volendam, Marken, and Monnickendam. We did change things up a bit by walking the seawall from Edam to Volendam and by taking the north south ferry into Marken. As we walked out of Edam along an inland canal we were able to view a bridge being raised and the lock to the Zuiderzee being opened. The sailing vessel was captained by a three year old lad with a special seat before the wheel. Pretty fun. The same ship followed us as we walked the sea wall, motored along next to our ferry, and finally docked at the same harbor. A good two hours of back and forth.

Saturday's food Market was very pleasant in the morning. On Sunday John and Varsha headed off to the Anne Frank Experience and Karen revisited more museums. Sunday culminated with another boat ride around Amsterdam's famous canals. It was a great final outing for the night before our friend's departure. We motored down the famous Prinsengracht to the famous Amstel river, then up the Amstel to the Windmill De Riekermolen built in 1636. It was a special highlight as Varsha had asked several times since her arrival, 'But when will we be seeing one of those famous Dutch windmills?'

This afternoon, our last together, we finally made it to a famous pancake restaurant for famous Dutch pancakes and were also able to sample some not so famous Dutch Poffertrjes mini pancakes. Over the meal we had a chance to do a little more planning for India in December. These people do things right when on the subcontinent, so it sounds like luxury and Maharaja's palaces are in our future.

More photos can be found here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hjXDr9rNZqA8Eg2NARead more