England 2012

England 2012
London

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Wednesday june 16th amsterdam


The sound of the rain falling on the balcony outside our room his morning woke me before Rob’s alarm went off.  I made some coffee, Rob left for work and I wrote for about three hours; I love writing to the sound of rain.
My goal today was the west side of the city, I jumped on the 5 tram (I would have walked but the rain was pretty steady).  I had my list for the day: Nine Streets, Jordaan and a Press Corp Photo exhibit at the Old Church near the Red Light District. Though it was raining, it was not cold so with a sweater and an umbrella I set off.  This part of town left of the city reminded me a bit of The Village in NYC.  Lots of art shops (saw one with yarn and felt and thought of Tammy). I weaved my way back and forth on streets that looked interesting.  I witnessed a couch being hoisted by a huge crane into a second story window (The stairs are too narrow and steep to take furniture up them).  I came across frumpy seagull perched on a car roof eating a raw egg that by the looks of the bag, he had just stolen from the trash. 
My quest to find Peter Pan in Dutch led me to several more bookstores where I struck pay dirt at a Children’s Store.  Melissa will be stoked.  I had an amazing lunch at an American hot dog stand where the vender shared with me a photo of his new granddaughter. Near the hot dog stand was the “Homomonument” it is dedicated to the gay, lesbian and transgender human beings killed during the Holocaust, it is referred to here as “Pink Point” because the monument is comprised of three triangles made of marble.  Someone had recently placed fresh red flowers on the cold, gray marble and it was very touching.
I cut through the center city, my least favorite part of the city to the Red Light District where The Press Corp is having an exhibit of the year’s most profound photos at “The Old Church.”  The juxtaposition of the prostitutes in the windows and this majestic, wonderful old church was pretty surreal.  The photos were wonderfully moving shots of the triumphs and tragedies of this last year.  (The museum pass worked there, (Thanks Tammy!).
I headed back home on the 24 tram just in time to get cleaned up and ready for dinner with the Taylor Clan at yet another cool, obscure Dutch Restaurant.
The camera dilemma has been solved by the one and only Ewe(?) or as he is known here as
“The Buffer God” (AHHHHHHHH).  Promise photos today.

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