Friday, July 24

Linda has been wanting to see a temporary exhibit at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam - our objective for the day.

I think sometimes we really act like we live here permanently - we started by picking up our cleaning and then over to Baarn to pick up custom cut curtains with a tulip print that we had ordered for our DC condo.  Then, since we were already in Baarn, we drove over to the train station and parked and into the city.

At Amsterdam Centraal we caught the #5 tram and took it to the museum. Feeling like a real native.

Into the museum with no line and no paying because of our museum cards (thank you Kees). Unlike all of our other trips, this was only to see one exhibit that we couldn't find, even after asking. What we did find was a display on women's fashions throughout the years (16th century to 20th century) and fashion magazines. Mostly the prints used in the publications.

In the 1500's, good posture was very important for both men and women. They pushed out their chests and sometimes padded their bellies to exaggerate the effect.

And, then there were the hairdos and hairdresses that got more and more ridiculous. We saw one that included a sailing ship at the top of her "do".

Couldn't resist this. He seems to be getting to know her better.

And, in the 20th century the ladies were a bit modest, especially at the beach.

After the museum and the museum gift shop (can't miss that), we walked over to the Hans and Gretel Cafe for lunch. This is a regular place for us to eat. While we were eating this cat came by. It reminded us of Gretchen's cat, Wilma. 

We found ourselves sitting next to two young men from California and joined in their conversation. They both work for separate IT companies in San Francisco and have traveled all over the world. We compared notes, but what was the most interesting were their comments about Singapore. Its a very regulated place. If you want a car - you have to buy it there and it has to be new and there are huge taxes and you can only keep it for 5 years, maybe 7 if you have special permission and there really is no place to drive it. But, there are a lot of rich people who buy cars like Ferraris and race from one traffic light to another. Sounds really nice - wow.

We were eventually joined by an American couple who consult on healthcare systems and compare other country's system to ours. So, the discussion went in that direction. They stated that only England and Sweden have a real national healthcare system and that others in Europe have something much more like our Affordable Healthcare Act. We mostly listened.

Amsterdam remains a cool city and you see these types of things along the way. As we walked along, it started to rain, so we ducked into a cafe with big umbrellas (a place that we have used to get out of the rain before) and had our espressos.

Took the tram back to the station and got on the train with 5 minutes to spare.

Back to Baarn, then to Albert Heijn to get some groceries. Peter and Liesbeth leave tomorrow for their 3 week vacation and we invited them over for dinner (tacos and nachos and wine). 

Everyone seemed to like the meal and ate almost everything. We expected lots of leftovers, but not a whole lot. And, of course, as we sat around after dinner there was some reflexology for Peter and each of the kids.

We won't see them again until next year. It makes for a really nice visit to have this relationship with the family.