Amsterdam

The second day of our trip was Friday, and we woke up early, grabbed ham and cheese croissants at a bakery around the corner, and hit the Van Gogh Museum. It's an excellent museum that walks the viewer through all the stages of Vincent's development, supplemented by excerpts from his letters to Theo to give background. In addition, there were two paintings that were previously stolen, which had been recovered and put on exhibit, so that was neat. I have to say, Van Gogh is overall one of my favorite artists. I've read Lust for Life and Letters to Theo (Irving Stone isn't the most reliable historian, but he does make it interesting), and I've studied Van Gogh's life and works since I was a teen. I just find him incredibly fascinating, tragic, genius. The style he developed throughout his too-short life speaks to me. It was profound being able to see so many works in one place.

We didn't think we'd have enough energy for the Rijks, but we were right there, so Genevieve, Scott and I went for it. Ruby was just there last year, so she went shopping with Chloe while Hubert went back to the hotel to rest his ailing back. We had three short hours to see everything at the Rijks, which is a crime, but it was all we had the energy for anyway. It was perfect. Towards the end, Genevieve said, "Is saturated a word in English to use here?" Yes, we were fairly saturated with art. :)

Street musicians

Friday night, Alex and Cor had made reservations for us at a restaurant near our hotel. These are the people who were kind enough to host Ruby for a week last year when she felt like she'd burst if she didn't go somewhere far away for spring break. Her solo trip to the Netherlands at 17 was life-changing and satisfying, and I'm grateful to the Brinkers for making it happen.  Alex lived with my family for the school year when I was in 9th grade and she was a college girl. We had so many capers. We stayed up late many nights in fits of laughter. I adored Alex! It's sad but true that raising kids robs you of much of your previous life. Looking back, I lost touch with many friends I hold dear, for the better part of twenty years. It's good to be back, and we loved catching up with Alex and meeting her husband Cor, whom I only knew from pictures. They're coming to stay with us in July, and I'm looking forward to it. Another friend Scott and I are looking forward to catching up with is Gene Stein, who lives in Boston. We'll see him in September. Gene and I had lots of capers during our college years. We traveled and partied and had fun. Gene came to Utah a couple of times. He even broke his pinky finger playing basketball with Scott and our other friends at the U. So it's will be fun to see him.

But anyway, here we all are, outside the restaurant. I love all these old friends.

And new friends, as Scott and Cor hit it off great. These are bitterballen? I can't remember the spelling. They're made to stick to your ribs, lets just say that. The other food we enjoyed was chicken satay, an addition to Dutch cuisine left over from their Imperial days in Suriname.

This guy served me up some yumminess at the Albert Cuypmarket.