Parting Notes/Amsterdam

I am absolute crap at taking videos, so you can imagine my surprise at capturing this scene of the Concert-Gebouw at night. We were on our way home, looking for a tram, when we stumbled upon it. I hope it works on your computer, since it's worth viewing, it really is.

An hour before, sitting at dinner, Ron and I were discussing what we felt were the "bests" of our month in Holland. For me, it was easy. I loved riding my bike, even in the rain, down the smaller canals beside Marianne's house. These weren't the glamourous canals of the city, flanked by stately houses and laced with romantic bridges. Some were no more than glorified ditches, so choked by a carpet of green algae that you felt you could almost walk on top of them. Others were blue and tranquil, doubling the reflections of herons, clouds and the sky.

Best taste? For me, it was a shaving of fenugreek cheese, tasting exactly like walnuts. For Ron, it was either the duck liver parfait, served with stewed figs and little beads of champagne jelly, or the golden slab of fried fish, hot and crunchy from a market stall. Honourable mention goes to pannekoeken, tender as a newborn's skin.

Best sounds came from Idan Raichel's piano. Best scent was the Albert Cuypstraat Market at closing time, smelling alternately of fish, and then licorice. The Dutch department stores noticed a marked increase on sales of Sloggis, Ron's favourite underpants. The soft cotton waistband is really a treat, and I've been told they are wonderfully supportive. So I guess Sloggis win out in the category of best touch. Best sight (Ron's) was of Leiden rooftops on a rainy day, seen from a fourth floor department store cafeteria. After buying underpants. Best sight (Liz's) was Vera, hugging her hot water bottle.

In our high-tech world, it's still the low-tech that sustains us.

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