Day 1

This was my first flight in five years due to Covid and my irrational fear of turbulence on the plane. Happily, with a small pill of Adavan and the expertise of the pilot and luck with the wind currents, it was a very smooth flight to Heathrow this morning. It is always a miracle to me that people can fly thousands of feet in the air and change time zones and cultures within a day. I loved Virgin Atlantic. The food was delicious and there was a wide selection of great movies to watch. I watched some of “Ferrari” with Adam Driver and discovered that the selection of movies included ones made specifically for people with dementia (that are about five minutes long). It seemed that families everywhere decided to start their travel abroad today and I was feeling sheepish about my suitcase size and soon realized that I was in the minority compared the ginormous suitcases others were toting.Many people had a massive suitcase in each hand making them wide and wobbly. Going through security at Logan was a zoo with some equipment not working and lines of all of us with our gear having to move through other lines to other scanners. I worry for the small dogs that are being dragged amongst the rolling suitcases.

After landing in London I took the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station whose scaffolding is so elegant. I kept imagining Paddington Bear racing along trying to catch up to the trains and of Hogwarts students going through the tunnel of invisibiliy to the other side. I’m so grateful to movies for helping me travel virtually.

I needed to get from Paddington to St. Pancras Station for the Eurostar connection to Amsterdam and used Google Maps to tell me what bus to take since there were delays on the subway line. Apparently I am the last to know about the power of Google Maps to help you get around. I think I’ve been using apple maps which has served me well driving but is totally low level compared to Google maps which now has all my saved places that I intend to visit on this trip with notes. One hilarious thing that happened was that all the suitcases on the bottom of the double decker bus had wheels and every time the bus turned a corner all the suitcases would roll randomly into people or down the bus aisle. A man asked his ten year old son to help keep the suitcases under control but eventually I got up to help too since I didn’t want my suitcase hurting anyone or any small dog, like the adorable spotted dachshund that got on the bus. A girl climbed on and shrieked with excitement to see the dachsund on his owner’s lap. The dachshund looked terrified.

I found my way to St. Pancras and was instantly drawn to the Gothic building which was the original St. Pancras station. The new one is next to it and below it and the original building has been turned into a hotel and a spa with historic rooms that can’t be changed from the way they were in 1880. It is incredibly elegant and made me wonder how there could be hotels like this and Best Westerns in the same universe. I had a delicious lunch in the center atrium of fish and chips and wished I could have taken out my sketchbook and painted. I photographed instead.Such a light filled space with high ceilings and beautiful stonework and woodwork.

This beautiful Gothic building next to the modern St. Pancras station has been retrofitted as various bars and restaurants. Here is a photo of the restaurant in the old ticket area. The bar used to be where people stood to buy a ticket. Outside this area was the main new station with a couple bronze statues commemorating love and a poet named John Betjeman who apparently saved St. Pancras from being demolished. The story is pretty interesting but feel free to skip this part…

(from Wikipedia) The poet John Betjeman (1906–1984) was an early supporter of Victorian architecture and a founding member of the Victorian Society.[1] At the time of its founding in 1957, appreciation of Victorian architecture and its architects was at its nadir: critics wrote of "the nineteenth century architectural tragedy",[2] ridiculed "the uncompromising ugliness"[3] of the era's buildings and attacked the "sadistic hatred of beauty"[4] of its architects. The commonly-held view had been expressed by P. G. Wodehouse in his 1933 novel, Summer Moonshine; "Whatever may be said in favour of the Victorians, it is pretty generally admitted that few of them were to be trusted within reach of a trowel and a pile of bricks."[5] The Victorian Society met with an early defeat when, in 1961, British Railways destroyed the Euston Arch, Philip Hardwick's Doric entrance to Euston Station.[6] British Railways proved a perennial opponent and in the mid-1960s, they announced plans to demolish both St Pancras Station and the attached Midland Hotel,[7] and King's Cross station.[8] As vice-chairman of the society, Betjeman led the campaign to save St Pancras. In June 1966 he wrote to Sir John Summerson, noted architectural historian and curator of the Soane Museum; "would you be prepared to write an appreciative article on it? You count and I don't". Summerson's initial response was unsupportive, "every time I look at the building I'm consumed with admiration in the cleverness of the detail, and every time I leave it I wonder why as a whole it is so nauseating. I really don't think one could go to a Minister and say this is a great piece of architecture".[9] Summerson subsequently recanted, and his support was instrumental in achieving Grade I listed building status for the station and hotel in 1967, a designation which ensured its survival.[10]

After another crush of people, kids and small dogs and massive suitcase congestion at security and customs at St. Pancras, I boarded the train and settled in next to a really nice woman who was working in Brussels. After negotiating changing trains in Brussels and eating my first waffle, I finally disembarked in Amsterdam at the Centraal Station and was struck at the beauty of the clouds and the way the locks in the distance seemed strangely out of a Dutch masters landscape. I sat on a bench at looked at the water and admired the two guys next to me talking who had fantastic patterned socks. I then took the subway and then the bus to my airbnb using the Iamsterdam card which I had on my phone. All worked beautifully.

Day 2

This has been a very full day packed with observations, interactions, music, food and thought-provoking art. My airbnb host Paul offered to make me breakfast for 12 euro this morning and I thought it would be a great way to get to know him as well as have whatever he made to start the day. He provided the most beautiful and delicious spread. The fruit was an artfully stacked design of chopped mango underneath covered with chopped cherries, then fresh strawberries arranged in a star patterns and daubed with lebne. He provided a hard boiled egg fresh from their own chickens, delicious coffee and sliced cheese, and……wait for it….sprinkles (aka jimmies) in several flavors to be put on matzah or bread with softened fresh butter. I had no idea that sprinkles came in more than two options, rainbow and chocolate, or that they could be used regularly on toast. And lest I forget, a huge jar of nutella was included.

One of Paul’s passions is collecting flags from every state in the U.S. and from all countries. He doesn’t have everything, but his collection is nevertheless enormous. He was proud that he could fly the Massachusetts flag for my visit and I realize that the reason I had never seen this flag before or even knew that it existed is because it couldn’t be more aggressively colonial and racist in the way it depicts a native american below a white crooked arm weilding a knife. I asked him what he did when he had no visitors and he said he finds out what holiday it is somewhere and then flies a flag for this. Below you can see Paul’s crates of labeled flags. He has been on the news and on Dutch Public Radio. Below you can see his flags and the room with a ukelele and flugelhorn and an image of the old bath house which was this house when it was communal showers for the neighborhood.

One of the highlights of the morning was interacting with Paul and Esther’s two small dogs - a toy poodle named Coco and a labradoodle named Flortje who looked mournfully on as I ate my breakfast and didn’t give her anything. Coco played ferociously with her enormous soccer ball and then Paul gave her a new toy, an octopus which you can see her play with in this video

After breakast I took the bus towards the NDSM area where eventually I would take the Ferry to Amsterdam Centraal. The sun was shining and I found a beautiful cafe to enjoy a second cup of coffee. I wandered through open industrial land which must be freezing when it is cold and windy, and appreciated all the red poppies growing and bachelor’s buttons. I was headed towards a huge building that had been for building tankers and now was used for artist studios. Unfortunately almost all of the studios were closed but I wandered around and appreciated the individuality and free expression everywhere I turned. There were enormous flags hanging from the ceiling and I read about the project called HBX (Hope Box) Kites, Hope Yourself where kites were flown to connect warring groups from Gaza to Havana from Hanoi to Johannesburg to strengthen and spread the messages of hope and freedom. I noticed how the machine still there worked to bend the hulls of the great ships thanks to diagrams and explanations. I thought how much Dad would have enjoyed seeing this. I noticed the huge fake spiders on the sides of one of the artist studios and also how some people were in a meeting up in a little wooden pod in the middle of the vast space. It made me long to be in a creative environment more often but happy to see all of it. After going to the grocery store and photographing more art in windows, I took the ferry to the main part of the city.

I wandered northwards and then west towards the central area of canals that would eventually take me to Westerkerk where I planned to hear a free half hour organ concert. En route I passed a plaque showing the house of Peter Paul Rubens. After seeing so many Rubens paintings it was so cool to see his house and studio on a little side street. You almost could miss this small plaque. Eventually I made it to Westerkerk. Listening to the program (all music I have played many times) was so thrilling to hear on this instrument and in this gorgeous space. You can hear a snippet of Air on a G string here. I sat next to a woman who looked about 80 and asked her if she heard these recitals regularly. She said she did and asked about me and I told her I was an organist. She said it was very rare to ever meet a woman organist and that in all these years no woman had ever played at this church for a concert. It was fun talking with her. On my way out of the church entrance, a man was sitting on a stoop and looked me in the eyes and sang the first three notes of Bach’s famous prelude and fugue in d minor (which had just finished the recital) and I chimed back in with the answering phrase and we both laughed. It was a wonderful moment.

I meandered my way to Dam Square where I had a delicious omelette and coffee and did my first (terrible) sketch of the Magna Plaza building next to the Royal Palace. It’s been quite a while since I did any watercolor sketching en plein air. The waiter was wonderful. After lunch and sketching I went into the Neuekirk which had a installed display of prize winning and extremely depressing press photos from all the tragedies unfolding around the world in climate disasters and wars. I didn’t linger but seeing the suffering on huge photos and reading some of the stories behind them made me especially grateful for the life I have had and am living right now, and sad that there is so little I can do to help these large problems. I realize that the power we all have is in one to one human and animal connections of attention, listening, encouraging, and bringing beauty however we can.

After leaving the exhibit, I turned on Rick Steves audio tour of the Jordaan district on his app and listened in my headphones trying to avoid being flattened by the hundreds of bicyclists coming from all directions (none of whom are wearing helmets). It made me think that all the pedestrians should be wearing helmets.

Then I wandered and meandered from canal to canal, houseboat to houseboat, statue to store window, hollyhock to rose bush, towards the more built up and 19th century part of the city where the Rikjmuseum and the Concertgebeow are located. I had walked almost 20,000 steps so far. I passed over the Vondelpark on a bridge and noticed the bikers below. Maybe I’ll rent a bike and go there? I also videoed a raven on the side of the steps down from the bridge eating a balanced meal of pepperoni pizza leftovers with salad. Enjoy! Ravens are probably ruling the planet.

In the final part of this glorious evening I found a beautiful cafe diagonally across from the Concertgebouw and ordered delicious warm pita that was puffy and hollow inside with lebne and spices and olive and a gin and tonic. The perfect light dinner. I got into conversation with these two sisters who were so exuberant and friendly. Then I saw one of the great concerts of my life.

I am so glad I found out about this concert led by these twin sisters (who are also ravishingly beautiful and could be models) but that is irrelevant to their brilliant musicianship. The concert was a revue in the style of a jazz revue only with arrangements in different styles of standard classical pieces including Ode to Joy, O mio babbino caro, When I am laid from Dido and Aeneas, Sanctus from the Fauré Requiem, music from the Nutcracker and Swan Lake with a modern dancer in shorts expertly navigating a complicated stage full of pianos, drums, contrebass, electric harp, and all these stands holding ipads which is how all musicians now read their music. She was amazing to watch and I loved how she interacted with the musicians as she danced. There was an astounding string quartet and a jazz pianist (Ruben Hein) who also sang When I am Laid. There was no written program or bios and like a jazz or rock concert, the musicians were all talking in between pieces (in Dutch and to great audience hilarity) and were acknowledged at the end by the two sisters who are a phenom. I highly recommend checking out this link https://youtu.be/wZWGESldN1I and this page

https://www.stadsschouwburgendevereeniging.nl/programma/7477/met-dudok-quartet-ruben-hein-en-remy-van-kesteren/clean-pete-s-klassieke-revue-24 to read more about them. If they came to the U.S. they would need projected subtitles in instant translation but it would be a huge hit. The harpist (Remy van Kesteren) was astounding and played two different harps in different styles and also a solo piece with accompaniment he had recorded on a korg synthesizer and which he operated with his feet while playing virtuosically on the harp. I took the tram and metro and bus back and fell asleep hours later because I was still on U.S. time. An amazing and full day.

Quick note: I did eventually find out about the clock. It’s a sundial!