I Lost 5 Pounds!!!

Good morning…from Maryland. Dad and I have been back in the States for a few weeks. Last night I was reflecting on our trip…our adventure…and realized that I had not written anything since leaving Paris. OK…I had an excuse. My stomach was going crazy from Bordeaux on…and by Paris, I was just trying to survive, going from square of grass…to street…to grass…to street. I’m sure you get the idea…but it was quite...well...I was always on the run! So much has happened since Paris…so much continues to happen and change daily…and I just wanted to take a few moments to share the journey home from Paris…and Amsterdam, glorious Amsterdam. Amsterdam was like coming home…Dad and I always felt so comfortable there and have such fond memories of the Dutch…the Dutch people we engaged with both in Amsterdam and along the journey. As we look back, while we met so many wonderful people, the ones who really stood out were Dutch. Ill try to get my thoughts composed and translated to Dad before I see a squirrel or another dog to bark at…or its time to eat!

So, we arrived at Centraal Station in Amsterdam and were met by our good friend Pieter. Pieter was as happy to see us as we were to see him…I immediately jumped on him and he gave me a huge hug! With Pieter in the lead, we headed back to the flat on Prinsengracht Street…amidst the sights, sounds and smells...the hustle and bustle that we remembered from our last arrival in The Netherlands. Pieter was the same…he is a constant…so kind, thoughtful and informative. We all laughed and talked on the way. Once we arrived at the flat, Dad took time to unpack and shower…and then, the REALLY BIG SURPRISE…Dad left a bag of freeze-dried Steve’s Raw Dog Food at the flat. So, for the first time in weeks, I had a familiar meal. I wolfed down the bowl of Turducken and licked the bowl….ahhhh. While I have loved Europe, I do miss my raw diet from the states. As you faithful readers know, my stomach has been a bit dicey since Spain...the familiar food was comforting to my stomach. I’m sure my diarrhea will be gone in no time.

Dad and Pieter headed out to dinner. I know that Dad is tired so dinner will be quick. When they returned, Dad told me that they had checked out several really nice restaurants but Dad wanted something simple. They ordered a spicy Peruvian Chicken with fries and ate on the second floor of a bar while enjoying a coupe of Belgian beers. Dad developed a taste for Affigem Beer and also enjoyed a local dark Octoberfest Brand beer…very smooth. Dad slept like a rock…full of chicken and beer and the wonderful sights and sounds of Amsterdam.

The next morning, we got up and enjoyed coffee, granola and yogurt (and Turducken) for breakfast…and we were off to the vet. Of course Pieter came along. I had a magnificent check-up. A wonderful young female doctor examined me…and was thrilled that I actually lost weight during my 3 months in Europe...5 pounds. (Don’t worry Paul! I’m sure I will gain it back when I get home.) I think Dad also lost weight…maybe 10-15 pounds. All that walking hauling my stuff and his. I must say, I was willing to help out but Dad insisted on carrying everything...macho man. Dad and the Doctor discussed my EU Pet Passport. I needed a rabies booster…and she told Dad that if I had the booster there, she could update my passport. If I waited until we got back to MD, Doctor Longo wouldn’t be able to update the passport…must be an EU Doctor. So…I got a shot. It wasn’t too bad and Dad was thrilled when he went to pay the bill and saw the cost…we love Dr Longo but Amsterdam Vets are less expensive. Dad also picked up some natural anti-diarrheal medication recommended by the Doctor. While I hate taking pills, this is one medication that I welcome…I’m really tired of my “condition” and fear the flight back to the states will be difficult if its not corrected.

Dad, Pieter and I walked back toward the flat, stopping at a little bakery along our route for pastry and…Cappuccino. Dad is really going to miss his coffee when he gets home…every restaurant has an espresso machine and the coffee is consistently good. So was the muffin…or at least it LOOKED good. Dad has learned his lesson about feeding “people food” to me. Of course, I got none. Grrrrr. The guys took me back to the flat and checked into our departure from Amsterdam. Dad had a wonderful surprise when he checked in…American Airlines offered to upgrade us to Business Class for $500. Dad couldn’t agree quickly enough…will certainly be easier on me. Early boarding and more space…plus we will have our own little capsule. Yea! Dad couldn’t sign up fast enough. Dad and Pieter discussed our journey to the Airport. Dad thought it best to take an Uber or the tram to Central Station for the train ride to the Airport. Pieter insisted that taking the metro would be easier and faster…and cheaper. Dad agreed so Pieter patiently outline our metro/train trip to the airport. At least it SOUNDS easy…but, knowing Dad, things will get dicey. Pieter and Dad bought tickets to the Amsterdam city museum. I still can’t get into museums, despite my good behavior, so they took off on their own. Ill get a full report when they return...but, in the meantime...NAPPING! While Dad is not a huge lover of the Dutch Masters (in candor, I think he spent most of the time wandering around looking for the Cigar Box painting), he was entranced by the museum…lots of paintings depicting Dutch history and Dutch artists, from modern VanGoghs to Rembrandt. They were restoring one of Rembrandt’s most famous paintings, The Night Watch. Dad spent a lot of time watching and reading about the restoration process…very interesting. He wasn’t sure what drew vandals to the picture…it was attacked by an acid wielding madman and then by a knife wielding idiot…these two did some damage but only to the varnish. Sadly, the third knife attack was serious and very damaging. The villain sliced through the canvass in several places shredding this beautiful piece of art. The Dutch are leading a massive restoration effort to repair the painting and to restore the original colors of the paints. Intricate machinery abounded…no one was working when Dad and Pieter were there but they could witness the machinery and watched a video documenting the painstakingly slow process of restoration.

While Dad does love Post Impressionism, including VanGogh, he really appreciated the detail of the Dutch Master paintings. Pieter’s Dutch heritage and passion really came out in a good way. He was quite incensed over a pair of early Rembrandt portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit that the Amsterdam museum “shares” with the Louvre in Paris. I guess they rotate the two paintings between the museums And that really bothers Pieter who considers them Dutch treasures (Don’t tell Pieter, but the Dutch Museum and the Louvre bought them together...for a LOT of money.) Actually Dad’s favorite piece was the renowned painting of the Battle of Waterloo by Jan Willem Pieneman. Dad found the Dutch leadership in the battle fascinating…although again Pieter’s Dutch heritage came out. The contributions of William of Orange were much minimized by the artist as the Crown Prince and future King of the Netherlands was positioned obscurely being carried off of the battlefield. The center of the piece was Wellington…not surprising that history focuses on Wellington in this critical defeat of Napoleon and the French army. Dad has fallen in love with the Dutch people and history during our 2 visits. The museum was a rich learning experience…the curators have done a wonderful job of highlighting both Dutch ingenuity and the significant impact the Dutch have had on world and European history. Of course, I know little of history…world or American…but Dad has always felt limited and uneducated on the history of Western Civilization. He was in such a rush to get through College that he did not take advantage of many of the courses that would later become so interesting to him. History and Art History primarily. It’s funny, until Dad went to the beaches at Normandy on a previous visit, he never knew that the area was settled by the Vikings and that Normandy was a derivative of NorseMan. Who knew!! Also, the King of England was…French.

After an enjoyable afternoon at the Rijksmuseum, Dad and Pieter returned to the flat and took me for a long walk through Amsterdam…across the canals, down the little streets. Pieter’s knowledge of the city is encyclopedic. For dinner, Dad and Pieter ventured out to the Sicilian Pizza Restaurant and enjoyed pizza with mozzarella and prosciutto…and Italian Wine (of course!). They both retired early with anticipation of journey out of the city to see windmills tomorrow. Good news, the anti-diarrheal medication was working…yea!!! I am not sure if the meds or getting back to my normal Annapolis food. Either way, I’m glad my stomach is feeling better.

So, we are ALL off to Zaandam to see historic windmills and dikes. Dad is really excited…he asked Pieter if this is where the little Dutch Boy put his finger in the hole to save his town. After Pieter shook his head and rolled his eyes, he let Dad know that there was no truth to the tale…and that it was actually written by an American. I think Dad knew that…just wanted to rib Pieter. We took the express train to Zaandam…a 15 minute ride through the outskirts of Amsterdam and into the country side. It was windy and a bit cold when we left the train. I didn’t care…but Dad was freezing. We walked to a short bridge over the main canal…to say walking over a bridge over a canal in the Netherlands is kind of like saying that you are waiting for a walk signal crossing the street in New York. They are everywhere. As we crossed the bridge, we got our first look at the ancient windmills in the distance. While the Netherlands is home to numerous windmills…many still in operation…Zaandam is unique as the home of the oldest historic windmills. We took pictures on the bridge and then strolled into a little “touristy” town much like the Dutch version of Williamsburg. We passed restaurants and windmills, each offering cups of hot cocoa (not espresso) until we reached the end of the road. Of course, we took pictures all along the walk. Sheep…big fat sheep! They were grazing on the fields across from the windmills between the dikes…and, for the record, the dikes really weren’t that big. Looked much like the embankments Dad saw in Texas as a boy…the farmers used them to direct the water when they irrigate their fields. Dad and Pieter decided to go inside one of the windmills and selected one that served as an operational lumberyard. OK…stop the presses. Dad paid the 5 Euros and shrugged going inside, going through the motions. We all sat and watched a short film about the windmill…the further we got into the documentary, the more interested Dad became. This windmill, Het Joong Shaap (the Young Sheep), had an amazing history. When it was first built, in 1680, it was one of 200 windmills sawing lumber with wind-power. How important was this technology? According to the history books, these lumberyards vaulted The Netherlands to the pinnacle of shipbuilding. For the first time, man was able to harness nature to precisely and quickly saw timber into the boards needed for shipbuilding. Unfortunately, the original windmill was torn down just prior to World War II, but the owner meticulously diagramed every part in the windmill, creating a magnificent set of mechanical drawings. In 2007, a foundation raised funds and rebuilt the windmill to the exact specifications of the original…except everything was new. The film showed the process of rebuilding the windmill…Dad was mesmerized. After the film, we took our hot chocolate into the working part of the lumberyard. We watched the men haul a log out of the water and true it up on the sled…one of the men smiled and suggested we stick around for 10 minutes to see something amazing…we were IN! Well shortly thereafter the foreman said that they needed to stop and readjust the sails…too much wind. When the sails were modified, the process started. It’s hard to explain how they trued up the log on the sled and locked it in…but soon the log eked slowly toward the 12 saw blades, moving up and down in synchronous rhythm. We watched the men make the initial cut in the log…we watched the log move through the saws…and then stop while the workers locked the log from the other side of the blades…and then it began moving again. Dad was transfixed…he didn’t ask any questions…he just watched with amazement as the men worked. We were there almost an hour and a half…at one point the foreman looked at us and smiled…telling us that we were way past our 10 minutes and that they might have to charge us double. After a while we went downstairs to see the underbelly of the mill…with photos and drawings of the mill and the lifestyle around the community. These were hard, rigorous jobs…moving logs through the saws and then cleaning and stacking the lumber, identifying the best pieces from the heart of the log. And sawdust…even while they collected most of it…it was everywhere!

After our time in the mill we strolled back towards the bridge…Pieter stopped in the little village to see the house where George Washington lived. According to Pieter, both George Washington and the Czar of Russia spent time in the village learning about Dutch technologies…I can see why. Dad’s friend Paul had suggested that we needed to go see the dams around Amsterdam…we didn’t make it but rest assured, the technology must be as amazing as Paul said. Pieter even offered that Dutch engineers went to New Orleans after Katrina to help redesign the levees protecting the city. So back on the train after a really interesting day. Pieter insisted on stopping by the metro station that we would use the next morning to get to the airport…we were prepared for our journey home…well except for final packing.

So, our last evening in Amsterdam…and in Europe at least for now. So many memories to think on…so many things seen…and learned…and experienced. So many wonderful people we have seen, met and interacted with. But for now, we are tired and happy…finishing laundry and packing for the journey home…

Thanks for staying with me…and sorry to be slow to post this. We have been busy since returning to the states…as you can imagine!

So long for now…

Maggie (and Doug)