Amsterdam, Holland Friday June 12

When Jeannette and I left Mr and Mrs Zwannenburg, she told me he said a few times that "I look at her and I see her father. She looks like him."
We went up tp a campground 15 or 20 kilometers from Baarn. The place had a large center where people set up their "caravans" for the summer and camp. At the edge around the property is a wooded area where we seet up a tent. Someone later said, Oh! you are in the forest! Jeannette left to visit a friend and I talked with two men from Manchester who were looking for a beer, but the restaurant was closed. They had flown over for a 7 day bicycle holiday through wildlands, and the one complained, I bought new padded shorts but my bum is still sore! He said to remember when I went to the Scottish highlands that "they 'ave midgies there", little no-see-ums. He said "an old fond torture was to tie you out naked in the square and leave you there, to let the midgies 'ave you!" People use nets over their heads to protect themselves. Forewarned!
In the morning it was off to the train and to Amsterdam. The buildings are old, tall, large, colorful, solid, impressive. We went to a herring stand, where the traditional way to eat a herring is raw, fresh, with chopped onions and stright up and down the the hatch. Jeannette told me to put my chin up, neck out, look up and eat. So I did, almost got it right except for the sticking out of my tongue. We had cappucino in a coffee shop at the edge of the city square, and a couple was smoking cannabis in front of us. A man palyed guitar and sang, people laughed, the sun was warm and bright after recent rain.
We walked through the town and every so often would smell marijuana drifting from a building. We stopped at one "coffee" shop where they had a menu for their product, for attitude, taste, size. We made pictures of it and the accompanying pipes and bongs. We walked through a couple streets of the red light district, very sad to look in the eyes of some of the women. The buildings everywhere are old, usually 200 years plus. We rode the tour boat through the city and made lots of pictures, of a church begun in the 1300s and it was still being built on in the 1500s, of homes, political buildings, of businesses. There are many miles of canals throughout Amsterdam, and so many very old buildings. In olden times the buildings were taxed on the width so they were built narrow and deep and tall to pay less tax. The canals have a low rail to prevent cars from rolling into the canals but an average of one a week goes in. Once a year the city removes bicycles from the canals and collects hundreds.
We made arrangements for my train for Saturday, and left to go west to the North Sea. We went to Haarlem, then Zandvoort, a beach town on the ocean. I went swimming and loved it, being a little warmer than up north, and it was delightful. I rode the waves in and out a few times, and reluctantly got out. Wonderful!!
We took the train back through Amsterdam, posted cards, and rode back to Bussum, where we were camping. The night was chilly, and we each had several layers to keep us warm in the tent. What a different and incredibly r-i-c-h day!