This past Thursday I left for Amsterdam. As opposed to my other trips, in which I left at insanely early hours of the morning, this flight left at 6:00pm. I wanted to make sure that I was actually IN Amsterdam on Thanksgiving, and thankfully, everything worked out wonderfully. I landed in less than an hour, Mike met me at the airport and we drove back to his house.
Now for those who don't know, Mike and Anita are some of my parents' closest friends. Not only that, they were also my children's pastors when I was about 9 years old. AND, their daughter, Grace, is my sister's best friend. As you can see, I know this family pretty well, so I was more than excited to spend the weekend with them. Mike and Anita are working as missionaries in Amsterdam right now (although technically, they live in a city called Leiden). They're in the middle of a four year period in the city and in 2013 (I think), they will return to the States for one year before moving back to Amsterdam again. Oh, you should probably understand one more crucial thing about Mike and Anita. They are some of the funniest and most sarcastic people I know. It's true. In fact, they are the only people I know that love Seinfeld as much as my family. And that is saying something. I knew it was going to be a good weekend.
The night I arrived, it was too late to do any sight seeing, so we just sat around the kitchen table and talked as I ate leftover turkey and stuffing. We talked about London and Amsterdam, old memories from way back when and our favorite episodes of The Office. The next morning, Anita and I took off towards the city. She determined that the best way to see the city was to take a boat tour. This is something quite similar to a bus tour that can be taken in London or New York, but Amsterdam is full of canals, so taking a boat instead of a bus allows you to see much more. The tour was only about half an hour long, but we were able to see nearly all of the city. Amsterdam is so interesting looking. It looks older than the other cities I've visited and although the buildings are all lined up next to each other, each one of them has a different design. I suppose the best word to describe it is quaint, which is ironic in itself. I say it's ironic because Amsterdam is one of the most liberal cities in Europe, or perhaps the world. Gay marriage is legal. Prostitution is legal. Drugs are legal. In fact, you can pick up some marijuana in any number of coffee houses in the city with absolutely no problem. Now, since I don't particularly feel the need to light things on fire and inhale the contents of said product, I was perfectly happy to just see the historical side of Amsterdam. And I sure did.
Following our boat tour, Anita and I grabbed some lunch and then headed toward the Anne Frank house. Confession time. I have never actually read The Diary of Anne Frank. I know, I know, I have to read it, it's so good, I'm a terrible person for never reading it, blah blah blah. I promise, one day I will read it, but I still wanted to see her house. The museum is really fascinating. Visitors start off on the ground floor of the Frank's house and proceed upstairs through a maze of rooms that were occupied by the people Anne wrote about in her diaries. We were able to see the bookshelf that covered the entrance to the secret annex in which Anne and her family and friends hid from the Nazis. At the end of the museum, Anne's actual diaries are seen on display and it is truly an amazing thing to view.
Next up was a visit to The Rijksmuseum, a museum holding hundreds of pieces of art done by Dutch artists. Most notably, many of Rembrandt's works are seen here. Sadly, I didn't know most of the other artists very well, but I always enjoy looking at art, no matter how great or small my knowledge of the pieces. By the time we had explored the museum, it was getting later and Anita and I decided to head back home. Earlier that morning, Anita had parked her car in a parking garage and we took a bus into the center of the city, so of course, we had to take the same bus back to the garage at the end of the day. When the bus arrived, Anita hopped on while I turned to throw something away. By the time I turned back, the bus doors closed in my face and took off down the street. I motioned to Anita that I would just get on the next bus as I laughed at the situation. Luckily, I am not one to easily panic, so I just waited a few minutes, hopped on the next bus and met Anita at the next stop. No big deal, although I did tell Mike later, "Your wife deserted me today!"
That night we went out to dinner at a great restaurant that serves pancakes. Well, not what Americans think of as pancakes. These are more like crepes and they can be served with any number of toppings. Anita and I shared one with ham, cheese and mushrooms and another with apples, cinnamon and sugar. DELICIOUS. After we got home, we all relaxed on the couch, catching a bit of various football games on TV and eventually we decided the watch the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving episode. It was almost like being at home! It was so nice to be able to sit on someone's couch and eat good home-cooked food, rather than leaning over a desk in a cramped room and discovering vomit in my kitchen sink.
The next morning, Mike showed me around Leiden. The neatest thing about this town is one of its churches. You may not think it looks that remarkable, and true, it does look like the classic cathedral, but this church is special. Back in the 1600s, before journeying to America, the Pilgrims found refuge in Leiden and attended this church. There's even a special plaque dedicated to this small group inside and across the way you can see one of the houses in which the Pilgrims lived. I remember learning about the Pilgrims in first grade and knowing that they spent some time in Holland, so it was amazing to be able to see exactly where they walked spent their time.
The rest of the day was devoted to a true Thanksgiving feast. Mike and Anita had invited about 20 of their missionary friends over for a potluck lunch and we spent hours eating and talking and eating and talking, etc. etc. etc. The food was fantastic and I was able to talk to some truly extraordinary people, some who have spent more than 20 years serving overseas. We ate until we could eat no more and after all the guests were gone, all the dishes were washed and everything was put away, we sat down, discovered that The Muppets' Wizard of Oz was on TV and proceeded to watch the entire thing. Yes, three adults, laughing our way through a Muppets movie. Don't judge.
This morning, I flew back to London and was reminded that I have only three weeks left in this splendid city. I feel like there are still things I haven't done and I'm worried I won't be able to fit everything in. I also have final presentations and papers coming up, which just doesn't excite me at all. But I suppose my semester of pleasure has to contain at least some work, right? Yuck.
Cue non-stop Christmas music for the next month.
Ah, Laura, I miss you.
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