Off to Amsterdam

I'm going to Amsterdam to visit Niels tomorrow.

It'll be a great trip for several reasons. I will be with the one who knows the life there, so I'll be off the beaten track. There'll be the Queen's birthday (Sat), the most important national holiday of the country. I have been working quite hard this holiday so deserve a break. And I want to spend some time in a new place with my notebook.

I have been wondering what I want there, and have come up with a few vague ideas. It's perhaps useful to spell this out, as a wish-list for my trip. So here we go:

a) Nice company
b) Nice food
c) Nice music
d) Nice arts, and
e) Nice views

I think these are pretty everything I could think of in a minute, which are indispensable for my quality of life. Nice company is absolutely guaranteed by Niels and his girl friend Vidhi. We'll be going to a party of the footsal club in which Niels plays. That should be an extra fun.

As for food, I will be looking for nice cheese of course, but also will try to get some Dutch herrings ニシン, and 'Genever'. This distilled liqueur has a notorious history, and I - as an historian -feel obliged to test its material impact. Wikipedia and other sources tell us that it was invented in the sixteenth century and came to the British isles with William the 'Orange' at the time of the Glorious Revolution. And thence it evolved into English Gin which came to mess up London streets * as it possibly does thesedays. I shall not forget to mix in my stomach Genever with some local Dutch beers.

As to nice music, I've been checking some Dutch dance music, techno things in particular. It's gonna be an entirely new genre to me. My frined Mr. Mth. might give me some suggestions in this respect, apart from what Niels might recommend.

As arts, I'm sure I will be visiting some museums, including the National Museum and the Van Gogh Museum. But apart from these big places, I will be trying to find some local craft shops or something of that sort. Plus, there will be a lot of fleamarkets on the Queen's BDAY (apparently anyone can sell anything they want that day!), so I'll enjoy that as much as I can.

Finally, as to nice views, I want to go and walk around the city, particularly around its canals. I can perhaps spend some time in a laid back cafe by one of the canals. I'm also keen on seeing hundreds of tulips. I like the shape and the colours of this flower!

Ok, I will report back to you once I have some time there or after I come back here!
Take care.

* William Hogarth, Gin Lane (1751).