Judy’s 2023 adventure

  We’ve been busy!  Last night Claudia and I went to Restaurant Blauw for Indonesian rijsttafel.  We were amazed!  It was so good — 15 dishes, all levels of spice, sauces that ranged from peanut satay to sweetness to savoriness and flavors I couldn’t identify, served with rice and pickled vegetables.  It was so much fun to try everything and they let us stay at the table into the next seating so we could really savor the experience.  In addition to the endless rows of bicycles that are used by Amsterdam’s commuters, there are bikes decorated flowers many places.  We couldn’t resist taking a photo (or two or three…). We had timed tickets this morning for the Van Gogh museum, but our excitement at seeing no line in front of the museum didn’t last.  There was no line because everyone who could possibly want to be at the museum was inside already.  There were some highlights — paintings I hadn’t seen before — but the overall crowd, dim lighting a...

We had a pretty easy flight last night — only 6 hours from Newark airport to Amsterdam! — but arrived this morning sleepy and glad we’d booked the hotel overnight so we could go to bed right at 7:00am when we got here.  The Hotel Ambassade is beautiful and our room has a gorgeous view of the canal.   This is in the courtyard at the Begijnhof, a former woman’s religious community with houses around a beautiful courtyard that dates to the 14th century.  We happened on it as we were walking on the way (and it’s not on the way… we were turned around) to the Anne Frank House. The entrance to the Pulitzer Hotel.  We will have to go back there for drinks! Apple “pie” at Winkel 43.  It’s similar to the Jewish apple cake from a place like Wagshal’s in  DC — it doesn’t have a pie crust, nor does it have a strusel top like the American version of Dutch Apple pie.  It did have huge apple chunks, buttery cake and delicious whipped cream.  There are bikes every...

After a long, long time in the DC area, I've packed up my possessions -- retaining few and furnishing many apartments and houses of family and friends along the way -- and sent a POD to Seattle. Before I am reunited with the clothes, bed and art I sent ahead, I'm going to take a last trip to Europe while it's still only 7-8 hours away. Once I'm living on the West coast, I expect I'll travel less and maybe plan a future Asia trip. My plan is for 5 days in Amsterdam, then 7 days in Madrid. When I head back to the US, I'll stop overnight, pick up my dog and she and I will fly to Seattle. It's been such a hectic time the past two months that while packing my last boxes, I looked at a wallet with euros from past trips and couldn't imagine what I was going to do with them. Oh right -- I'm going to be in Europe next week. I have many great recommendations from friends for things to do and places to eat on my trip. And I have the very exciting good f...