Wednesday in Amsterdam

Something was happening that made us suspicious. Or maybe superstitious. Why, from the moment we landed, were there a series of 'firsts' or 'rarities' in Almere and Amsterdam? Why, for example, the moment we landed, Bob was late (actually he met us on time but he had planned to be at Schiphol much earlier) because the trains were not running that day? Why was there an unusual heat wave in the 90's/ 40's (only 3 days long however) that was as rare in the Netherlands as snow is in Ethiopia? Why, when Bob and I went to his local store in the morning to buy a few breakfast items, was there no milk or eggs or other products due to 'logistic complications'? Why was there another break in the train service on Tuesday, another singular event quite out of the norm?

Could we be the ones who made all this dysfunction happen? Could we be jinxing Holland? We laughed about this with Bob & Miriam but on Wednesday we couldn't help but wonder why us, why now? We planned our tour of Amsterdam and made sure we had our transport cards to get us around on the trams and buses, but soon after we said good-bye to Bob at Centraal Station hecame back to tell us that the trams and buses were all on strike, we would have to walk until 3 p.m.! A walking tour. Ok, we'll do that. So we headed up the main thorough fare north towards Dam Square, taking it easy. No need to hurry now. Our plans changed. No Rijks Museum, too far for the family to walk. We'll try the Anne Frank house. We made it there but after the noon hour and there was a line up. We had been told it could take up to an hour to get in and we hadn't eaten yet so we gave up going on this day. Maybe the next time we are in Amsterdam. We decided to walk to the 'Kalver Toren' (calf tower) and down into the shopping district. I found Singel Kerk along the way, went in, made a note of it, and went back to the family.

Lunch was McDonalds. Hey the family hadn't had McDonalds in a while. We then toured the flower market and then on up the street to the Doopsgezinde Singel Kerk, the hidden church of the Anabaptists in the 17^th century. It was being used by a group of graduates who were singing in preparation for graduation. The acoustics were wonderful. The benches were old and somewhat in disrepair. No one sits in the balconies any more. Too bad. Maybe we will on the Sunday (July 10) when the First Mennonite Church in Winnipeg sings there.

We continued to Dam Square again, wearing down as the afternoon wore on. Feet were sore, bodies were tired. People filled the streets, talk about diversity! An amazing sight to behold; young and old, all nationalities and ethnic groups, gays and goths, upper class going to a theatre, lower class in anarchist t-shirts. The trams were running again and so people were getting around. We finally made our way back to the station, found the right train and headed back to Almere, tired but full of memory of the day.