An update of the last two days...

Goedemorgen! Slaap goed?

Saturday was a day spent on the football pitch. The rain cleared while we were visiting Ton's old soccer club. We found out that his old team was playing at "Aufsay". I had no idea what Aufsay was. In fact, I spent a good thirty minutes trying to figure it out on the tram. I looked at the maps and still didn't see anything. Unfortunately, Dutch didn't know WHERE "Aufsay" was either-- that's not right. He DID know but he forgot. Color me surprised. *eyeroll* A two mile walk later, we come upon the Amsterdam Football Club, aka AFC. Ah. That makes more sense than Aufsay. Anyway, we watched his old team play and he disappeared into the locker room with them at half time. While this fuels many fantasies, I can't say there was a team mate worth fantasizing about!! :-P

After departing the pitch, we went into Amsterdam proper and wandered around Waterlooplein, to Rembrandtplein and the Muntplein. Muntplein is the location of the Munttoren (Mint Tower), definitely a city landmark. It's a gorgeous area to wander through and we took lots of pictures. I'm converting them now but uploading takes longer than expected. I'll try to post a few tonight or tomorrow. We also visited the flower bulb market and it's beautiful! Did you know they sell cannabis starter kits? Isn't that coolness?!? They also sell cannabis lollipops.

Our dinner that night was at an absolutely lovely little Indian restaurant that overlooked Muntplein. We walked up these narrow little stairs into a tiny little place with a beautiful view. The food was excellent! I had chicken tikka marsalla and Dutch had chicken Tandoori. The tea was delightful-- real woodbark and berries steeped in steaming water. It was amazing, really. The naan bread was to DIE for.

After dinner, we wandered back to Dutch's old neighborhood, which was a bit nostalgic and bittersweet. His downstairs neighbors, who were very old, had apparently passed on and there was no one there he knew. But it was so lovely to be in the place that I fell in love with on my last trip, and hear the tram driver call the stop for "Javaplein". The #14 will probably remain my favorite tram ride, ever.

Sunday was a "family" day! Dutch's sisters and their families descended on him and swept him away. I went with his mother into the city to see my first ballet. The National Ballet company was performing a tribute to their great dancer and choreographer, Rudi van Dantzig. The performance was vignettes from his famous ballets. It was amazing! It was such a wonderful treat to see it! And the building is absolutely glorious, with a wonderful view of Waterlooplein, the Blue Bridge, the "Skinny" Bridge and the canals. You can see the building here. After the show, we returned and had "chinese take-out" (which is a misnomer-- I had Sate Kip met Nasi. That's chicken satay with lightly fried rice for the uninitiated and Dutch had Roti. Both are not chinese!)

Today, we're back to the city for a canal cruise and more wandering. I'll sign off now and catch you soon! Tot Ziens!