Amazing Amsterdam

In the foreground the fabled gabled Amsterdam rooftops looking along

Leidsestraat towards Leidseplein. I came to this city where I fell in love in Martijn for a weekend of meetings, a conference, a speech and hanging out with good friends.

An evening interrupted: I arrived in the city on Thursday evening, February 4th to meet with the energetic vice-chair of Democrats Abroad, Netherlands, Claire Taylor. After an animated dinner meeting at the Jo Coenen Central Library, Claire offered me "the Dutch-back-bumper-bike ride" to the home of Sjoerd and Merle Soeters on the Prinsengraat, my hosts for the weekend. Oops, we tumbled hard enough that Claire crushed her ankle. Sjoerd came to our rescue transporting us to the emergency clinic. Claire had her broken ankle cast and we got her safely home. Ouch. She'll be 4 - 6 weeks recovering!

It was Claire who originally notified me that the Reverend Jesse Jackson was to speak at the last event in a series hosted by the John Adams Institute, an American cultural forum based in Amsterdam. The Reverend Jackson delivered a fiery and inspiring speech to a sold-out crowd. I had invited my friend Merle along, and we both found the event very worthwhile.

Saturday Merle took me to the market just across from their incredible canal house. As the blizzard raged on the United States east coast, I purchased this cute hat, scarf ensemble in wintery solidarity.

It was great fun cooking in Sjoerd and Merle's wonderful kitchen that afternoon in anticipation of the arrival of Ton Schaap and partner, Herman Rouw, above tasting a fine wine with Sjoerd. We feasted and I got to practice active Dutch language listening.

Back home in Maastricht I had the bittersweet task of saying goodbye to my housemate of the past 6 months, Carmen Echávarri Zalba, pictured here second from right, as she left this evening for her new adventures in Amsterdam where she is trying to secure a grant for her PhD work in neurology, specializing in disorders of dementia. I will miss her sorely. We've developed a warm friendship over these past months and I wish her well. This is a photo from the welcome party at my home some months ago. That's my dear friend, Bob Wilkinson, left, Anna, Pilar and Marie, Carmen's friends from Spain, Pia Brand, next and Sueli Brodin to the right of Carmen. Yours truly is kneeling at foreground.