From Amsterdam in the Netherlands

I am writing from the new central library. There are lots of computer terminals for the likes of me. A bit circuitous getting here, but then that's my style. It's quite near the Central RR station but the area has a lot of construction.

Anyway I am here and have had a busy 3 days. I will try to be brief (not likely) and unfortunately I didn't bring the connection for the camera to share photos, but this will bring you up to date on my initial part of this journey.

I flew to Chicago Friday early a.m. In the afternoon I met with the DuPage Foundation and AIANEI exec re the Larsen scholarship. It was a productive meeting generating ideas for further publicizing next year's scholarship. I was also pleased that with the market downturn the scholarship funds had not taken a big hit.

On Saturday Emily and Brett picked me up and we went to Michaels. He was working but we were able to spend time playing with granddaughter/niece Katherine who at age 11 months is babbling and patty caking and all sorts of other talents being demonstrated. Emily brought some books for Carl and Josh, Karen's boys and they really enjoyed them. We then went to Oakbrook for Emily's birthday lunch at Clubhouse. Delightful outdoor setting on a beautiful day and great food too. Last stop was a quick visit with friends Perry and Laddie Bok, the latter of whom is recovering from a recent hospitalization. It was great to see him up and around.

I checked into the airport in plenty of time. I was delighted that I had no seat mate on the plane so was able to stretch out a bit. Still it was a short night when we arrived in Dublin where I changed planes for Amsterdam. On arrival here I went to the wrong luggage carousel and it took a while to resolve that but my suitcase was among the few still circling the belt.

Then it was on to getting a train ticket, another challenge involving a machine. Then finding the correct track for my train. I had instructions sent by the Bed and Breakfast. Finally onto the train where I stood with another woman near the door as I was only going one stop. Turns out she was only going one stop. When I asked her destination and she discribed the same B & B where I was bound, I had a new friend, Grace. Together we found our way and it turned out our rooms were adjacent and we were to share the toilet, shower, and kitchen facilities!

It was a beautiful day and we took a walk through nearby Vondel Park. It was great fun to see all the people enjoying the day. Bicycles everywhere and many with children in a cart attached to the front. I even found my Thursday hotel right outside the park. Grace headed off to do some other touring. She lives in Dublin where she is a professor of Spanish. She's delivering a manuscript of her book to the University of Leiden today so her Amersterdam visit was short.

I headed back to the B & B for a nap. At 7p.m. she returned and we headed off to dinner. Our first choice had a long wait and we ended up at an Indonesian Restaurant Sumatra. Unfortunately the service was poor and we had a long wait for our food. However we had lots of time to get acquainted.

Monday Grace decided to join me in going to Anne Frank's house. It is every bit as moving and impressive as advertised. Fortunately the wait wasn't too long. Afterwards we had a total change of pace and went to the Tulip Museum where we learned all about the cultivation and harvesting of tulip bulbs. We also visiting the Delft porcelian store and had lunch nearby. I tried one of the local specialties, a savory pancake with spinach. Grace had a huge bowl of steaming hot mussels.

We then visited Neuw Kerke (New Church about 600 years old) where they had an excellent exhibit "Black is Beautiful" tracing the use of black skin people in art over the ages. It was very well done and fascinating how they displayed using elements of the church structure. We decided to go to Oude Kerke (Old Church 700 years) since it was enroute to Rembrandt house. Their art exhitit was very avant garde and the church is undergoing major renovation and seemed like a construction zone. I did inquire re graves as I have learned I may have an ancestor there from the 1600's. Unfortunately I did not have the name of the person with me but made arrangement to meet with a staff member on Thursday with the information. Rembrandt's wife Saskia is buried there and we saw her stone in the floor.

Arriving at the Rembrandt house we were turned away as it was too close to closing. It was a disappointment particularly for Grace. She headed off to make use of her I Amsterdam card on the last canal boat ride of the day while I worked my way (literally struggling to get the tram connections correct) back to the B & B. I had a dinner engagement at the home of Julie and Marc Dinsbach. Julie is the daughter of my cousin Jim in Maryland. She's been in the Netherlands 7 years and married to Dutch native Marc for 2 years. They are expecting their first child in a month. She's required to stop working 4 weeks prior to the birth and receives 4 months paid leave. Their house is an easy walk from my B & B and we had a delightful evening together including a Skype call with her parents.

Today Grace and I had breakfast together. She's done the shopping so we have fruit and toast as well as the cereal provided. I was sorry to see her go but hopefully we will connect on the internet. She gave me her I Amsterdam card to use as it was still good until 2 p.m. I used it for the Riksmuseum which features the work of Rembrandt and the Van Gough museum. It was a good way to spend a rainy day.

The B & B is outside the center city but easy connections by the frequent trams. It has a neighborhood feel which I prefer to the hotel, tourist areas. My room is quite large with a sofa as well as a bed. There are a number of shops and restaurants near by and the park is about a block away. Canals are everywhere, more than in Venice they say. I am surprised how many types of boats are on the canals both pleasure and working.

So that's my first on the road post. Hopefully I will post again on Friday with some photos. Friday afternoon I join my barge and bike trip group and we'll board the barge and have our first ride on Saturday. Hopefull the weather will improve. It's quite cool with rain and wind today. I'm happy I made a last minute decision to include my wool sweater. My best to you all.

Slideshow

I didn't want to leave again until I had posted my summer photos. You'll see I finally accomplished this but without captions or music which I was hoping to add. You can click on the side show or just watch it in the blog. You will see some additional photos of the iceberg as well as some other events of the trip. Hopefully as I travel to Europe I can add some as I go but also add another album when I return. (I should write down how I finally achieved this!)

Trip Preparations

Today my euros arrived from Bank America. It turned out to be an easy process. I had been tracking the dollar vs euro on the msn website: http://moneycentral.msn.com/Investor/market/exchangerates.aspx?selRegion=3&selCurrency=1
and compared it with Bank of America's foreign currency information. BA varied from .08-.10 above the msn rate quoted. They also charge $7.50 to send it whether it goes directly to the customer or to a bank. I was hesitant to order at the end of last week as delivery could have been interrupted by Ike's path. I saw Monday the euro had gone up. Tuesday morning the BA site quoted the lowest I had seen. I guess they run a day behind though I was told the rate could even change during the day. I quickly placed my order online. By 3 p.m. Fed Ex arroved with my Euros. Compared to when I first began watching the rate I did save. What will happen it the next two weeks is a toss up, but that's one thing I can cross off my list.

The decision on whether to use this blog is also made. Although my next travels will be quite different, I think keeping this blog is a good idea. No sense cluttering up the net more!

I am spending my time reading as much background material as I can. I also am doing some family history research to learn more about my Dutch ancestors in the Deweese/Dewees line. My great great grandmother was Martha DeWeese born in Greensboro, Guilford County, NC in 1834. I've located another's research that shows her father descended from the original immigrant Gerret Hendricks Dewees born abt 1640 in the Netherlands, emigrated in the late 1600's and died in Germantown PA 1701. While I still need to do some verifying, the research seems reliable. I'm hoping to pinpoint some information I might check while in Amsterdam. It would add a personal element to the trip.

I hope also to visit my cousin's daughter who lives in Amsterdam and is married to a Hollander. They are expecting their first child around the time of my visit. It could be the first of the family line born back in the old country in almost 400 years!