Day One

Well I flew to Detroit and went to a lovely Lebanese restaurant. It was just wonderful. The Chicken Sharwama was delicious. In a few short hours I was wheels up headed to Amsterdam. Klm's service to Amsterdam was very comfortable ( as comfortable as one can be in coach) and the Indian meal I had for dinner was wonderful. I met an interesting woman that works for US AID in the Sudan. She was telling me about what it is like to work and live in Kenya. She is involved with education for the Sudan and is currently working on a program that uses short wave radio to teach children living in remote areas of the Sudan. All very interesting to me as I am applying for a Fulbright to teach in Namibia.
I LANDED AT 7:25 AM in Amsterdam and took the shuttle to the Hotel Shiphol A4 on the main highway to Amsterdam. I was several hours early and they had a room reday for me and they checked me in and I took a shower and returned to the airport to take the 20 minute train ride to Amsterdam central station. The train ride was very pleasant and I met a fellow from Angola who works for BA in Luanda and we had a nice chat about his country and Windhoek in Namibia. I arrived in central station and went over the canal qand found a very nice coffee shop called Picasso's. I stayed there a bit and walked around the central station district before riding the canalbus over to the Van Gogh museum. This museum brought tears to my eyes just seeing the joy and pain in Vincent's work. What is amazing is the texture in his paintings; the thick impasato brushh strokes which is not usually discernible in prints or books of his work. It still amazes me that I stood just 2 feet from the painting of his bedroom. It was one wonderful painting after another . After that I walked for a bit and then rode the canal bus for about 2 more hours looking at all the houseboats that line all the canals in Amsterdam. There are approximately 2500 houseboats lining the canals all covered with potted plants and lovely flowers. What is really interesting is how the people of Amsterdam use the canals for transportation within the city. Amsterdam has to win the record for a city with the most bikes. It is not uncommon to see a bike park with over 500 bikes parked. Although Amsterdam does have vehicular traffic, you have to exercised caution because of the bike traffic and there is even special bike lanes and in some instances bike roadways. I had several "AMERICAN HOT DOGS" as the sign said, and took the train back to Shiphol and then the shuttle back to the hotel. Fell asleep at 8PM. Woke up in time for Day 2