You're Never Lost If You Don't Care Where You Are: The Trip that was: September 5, 2013 / 2014.

2013.

This is the earliest in September we had been in the Netherlands, having arrived early on September 4th. We had a special reason! In 2013, Dutchboy's parents were celebrating 50 years of being married and there was a special party planned. We flew in a few days ahead of the party because the kids had planned to surprise their parents with photos. Of course Dutch people don't like to pay for photographers when you have a perfectly nice camera, and can get photos printed in an hour at Hema! So, on our second day of vacation, I played photographer for the day and shot lots of photos of Dutchboy and his sisters in Bloesempark. The park is part of the Amsterdam Forest (Amsterdamse Bos), and is known for it's amazing Japanese cherry trees. Cherry trees don't bloom in September, and may bees don't fly then either. No maybes about one thing-- it was hot. It was one of the hottest days on record for September, in the upper 80's. The leafy shade was a welcome respite from it! I took hundreds of photos, but I'll only share a couple that make me smile. Seeing Dutchboy with his sisters is always a treat. It's a way I don't see him any other time. And let's face it, they adore teasing their brother. And I enjoy that way more than I should. I considered his exasperation with them my payment for services rendered.

2014.

This was a day again spent in Amsterdam. I'm afraid you'll see a lot of that in the next month or so. This was our first full day in Amsterdam in 2014, having flown in on the previous day. I like to spend my first day in the Netherlands in Amsterdam, eating fries and wandering through the streets that I love so much.

First stop-- Museumplein! This may be the first in what would become the recurring photography series entitled, "Big GIANT Dutchboy". Don't you LOVE that the guy that looks like a little angel tourist on Dutchboy's shoulder? Seriously, though, if you're in Amsterdam this is a great stop to people watch, catch street musicians, and eat the krentenbollen you packed for a snack.

Courtyard for the Amsterdam Museum

That huge statute? It's "Dragon DJ" by Hamid El Kanbouhi. Apparently, he was trying to express the complexity of religion, by showing how "religion would look as a person." Oooookaaaaaaaaaay. I don't see it.

An exciting discovery: My shoes were MEANT for this city. The stitching matches the city emblem!

One of our other traditions is taking the free ferry shuttle across the IJ to have a drink at a restaurant called De Pont and watch people bike furiously towards the departing ferry, and then laugh when they miss it, or cheery when they make it. It's great fun!

The building with the banners is the former Shell Building,now the A''dam Tower. At this point in 2014, it was a work in progress, but it is now open and you can do cool things like drink in the rooftop bar, or pay to swing in a giant swing over the side of the building. No. No thank you. You can see in this picture the weather was turning gray. Weather changes so quickly in Amsterdam. Cool and cloudy is the norm for our holidays, and a sharp contrast to the previous year.

The joy of finding your wine matches your shirt.

The rest of this day was spent along the Prinsengracht and the area around Westerkerk. Dutcboy and I both love the lettering on the building, juxtaposed with the very old canal house and the black fronted, old warehouse (now apartments).