We just got back from a whirlwind trip to Amsterdam and Kenya. This was a business trip for Ed, but as is often the case, we thought it made financial sense for me to go along and take advantage of the free parts of the trip.

This was an especially hard trip to pack for. The forecast for Amsterdam was “below freezing”, and the forecast for Kenya was “on the equator”. That said, I packed better than I have in years. For once I started several days ahead, and it helped that we had an itinerary for much of the trip, so I could go through the itinerary and make sure I could dress for each piece of it with something out of the suitcase. Usually I just throw in my favorite clothes and cross my fingers. This time I didn’t pack anything I didn’t wear at least once, and was never without proper clothes. And I still had room left in the suitcase, which turned out to be important.

The last time I was in Amsterdam was twenty-eight years ago (!) when I backpacked around Europe in college. Ed had never been to continental Europe at all. All of the things I liked about the city were still true, and we both loved it this time.

The people in Amsterdam are noticeably happier than in many cities. I’m not sure why, but maybe it’s because there it is an active outdoor population. The bikes in the city are legendary. Every sidewalk and bridge is lined with parked bikes. Cyclists far outnumber car drivers. The city is bustling with pedestrians. Even though we landed in freezing fog and new snow covered the ground, it seemed that everybody was out and about, laughing and enjoying the frigid but sunny morning. We saw tiny children bundled in striped snowsuits, striped hats, striped mittens and striped scarves, strapped on their backs to sleds like little Guatemalan worry dolls, being pulled along the streets. Other children were plopped onto bikes in an unending variety of configurations because yes, people were riding their bikes on the snow-covered streets, not a helmet to be seen anywhere (even in the bike shops I checked).

Since we arrived in early morning and could not check into our room until afternoon, we stowed our bags at the hotel and headed out to walk around. We decided to visit the Anne Frank house, and got there just before the line started to grow. I had been there before, and as we climbed the narrow steps to the annex attic it was strange to think that my twenty-one year-old feet had probably landed in the exact same spots decades earlier. Not much changes in a historical building, so the memories of it came back easily.

From there we walked to the Dam and Palace. Oddly, there were several people dressed as horror movie characters in the Dam having their pictures taken with tourists.

The temperature range for the day was 0 to 19 degrees Fahrenheit, with the low a record. Ed and I wore our down coats over fleeces, and had hats and mittens, but it was still bitterly cold coming from the mild Dallas winter. We were happy to stop in a tiny place called Cafe t’Molentje for some paninis and pints. The bartender was playing old vinyl LPs as we people-watched out the window.

And then we walked to the hotel, checked in and napped for three hours. Ahhhhhh….

For dinner we went to a place called Restaurant De Ondeugd in De Pijp (a neighborhood near our hotel). It was excellent. I had cod with lavender gravy and lemon-herb risotto. Marvelous. Ed also had a white fish, but it was the catch of the day so we didn’t “catch” the name, and the staff did not know how to translate it to English. Somehow, even though gin is allegedly a Dutch invention, we had trouble throughout the trip getting a martini. The best we managed was a pour out of a dusty Gordon’s bottle in a lowball glass.

To be continued.