go back to Amsterdam

I spent my honeymoon there last year. I hope to go back every anniversary.

My new husband is half Dutch & looks like a local. Tall, blond, blue eyes & very very hansome ;) We had lots of people asking us directions or just saying hello! (The Dutch are very friendly!) He had to keep saying “spreekt u engels?” or answering in broken Dutch learnt from his father.

Although don’t let that put you off, EVERYONE speaks english.

It’s a beautiful place, offering a wide range of things to see & do within quite a small radius.

I went to Amsterdam in april this year and LOVED it, I really wanna go back so bad! Its so beautiful and if anyone hasnt been i advise you too :( aww i wanna live there, i miss is sooooo much.

I had the birth date wrong, my aunt would have turned 100 in October. This past weekend my cousin phoned to let me know my aunt was dying, she’d been bed-ridden and refusing to eat for the last 10 days. I was able to speak to her by telephone. Even though she was no longer responding I have to believe she heard me. On Saturday the 10th she passed away at age 99 1/2. I was not able to fly to Amsterdam for the funeral, fares being astronomical. The funeral was on the 16th and the earliest I could have arrived was Sunday, for any reasonable price. My cousin had offered to pay for my ticket out of her mother’s estate. I just wasn’t wiling to have her spend over $3700 for an immediate flight. I’ll be going to visit my cousin later this year and she will finally be able to come visit me but this wasn’t the story I wanted to tell.

My father’s last surviving sister turns 95 this October. I really want to be there for her birthday celebration. I hope I can wait that long, I know she’s mostly forgotten her English but I speak enough Dutch to carry on a decent conversation and my cousin will be there to interpret if we have trouble communicating. I just need a few more frequent flyer miles to get there without spending money on airfare. She’s the only one who ever came to visit me in Oregon, even though she was in her 70’s and 80’s at the time.

I will be using my Vacation time this year to have knee surgery yippee. NOT
maybe the chemical enhancement after surgery will be the same .

and it was magical. I was by myself and the whole visit was just…spectacular. Sure, you can go there and party, but I was just blown away by the quality of life there. Everything was so beautiful. I definitely want to visit again. Soon!

thats the plan, going going gone!

It does! Aside from the touristy places like the infamous Red Light district with its abundance of debauchery…Amersterdam is an amazing place to visit. Pricey…oh yea…the compared to the euro, US dollars don’t go far at all. But don’t let that stop you from having a meal at one of the many pubs. The locals (at least to me) were friendly, helpful and fiercely proud of the Netherlands. Great city…public transportation rules. It’s amazing to see all the bikes everywhere.

Went back to The Dam November 2005 with a group of friends, and managed to pack so much into 2 days! I was determined to explore this time, visit loads of coffee shops and smoke loadsa the green stuff… and so i did. Went to the famed Grasshopper,(overpriced) the Bulldog Energy (very chilled) Baba (big elephant statue) The Bush Doctor (my personal fave, bit of a trek out, but well worth it) and loads more that have ahem slipped from my short-term memory. ;) There was this quite seedy cafe in the Red Light District that had all the charm and decor of a 1970’s seaside cafe in Clacton-on-sea, but still, the ambiance improved with a hot cuppa caffine and a dooby of fat proportions in hand. I have a new Dam-related ‘43 things’ thing now… own my very own Cannabis Cafe!

I had already seen all the Big Things (Anne Frank Huis, Rijksmuseum, etc.) so I had more time to just wander around and do other things, like go to Artis Zoo—quite possibly the greatest zoo I’ve ever been to.