Sightseeing in the Mindfields
On a Sling and a Prayer: The Sacrament of Sedation
September 22, 2023
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Some of the details of my operation are unclear in my memory. For obvious reasons, I could not take notes. I do know that HL brought me to the outpatient surgical center on the first Thursday in May. Absurd as it seems, the receptionist insisted that I had to sign several forms even though my right wrist was broken. I complied, using my left hand t...
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On a Sling and a Prayer: A Dismaying Disclosure
September 15, 2023
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On my initial visit to Dr. L's office, HL and I had to wait quite a while before being ushered into the consulting room. The cubicle's walls were crowded with even more explicitly religious mottoes than those in the waiting room. As I read them, my apprehension increased.
There was nothing subtle about the surgeon's computer screen saver, either i...
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On a Sling and a Prayer: Amsterdam Aftermath
September 08, 2023
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My last night in Amsterdam was memorable, though I should have preferred to bid the city a less indelible farewell. As far as I can recall, I was hurrying across the street, alert for motorists, trams, and the speeding rogue cyclists who imperil pedestrians with impunity. HL, Miri, Pansy and I were on our way to a rijstaffel dinner, the final one t...
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No Tulips Without Rain, 16: A Birthday Party in Amsterdam
August 25, 2023
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The monarch’s birthday is a national holiday in The Netherlands. A peculiarity of the occasion is that the date changes from reign to reign, as may the name of the holiday. It was Queen’s Day when the current king’s mother was on the throne. When King Willem Alexander was crowned, it became King’s Day (Konigsdag).
King’s Day is 27 April, and we...
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No Tulips Without Rain, 15: The Hottest Ticket in Town
August 17, 2023
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It was fortuitous that HL and I obtained tickets for the Vermeer exhibit months ago, just as soon as we booked our stay in Amsterdam, because the show sold out in short order. The assembling of twenty-seven out of the thirty-four known works of the painter made this the most comprehensive presentation of Vermeer’s work ever mounted. It opened in Fe...
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No Tulips Without Rain, 14: The Jewish Quarter, Amsterdam
August 08, 2023
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The Portuguese Synagogue in the former Jewish Quarter (Joods Kwartier) was our destination, once we had stored our luggage at our hotel. Sephardic Jews expelled from Iberia in the Sixteenth Century had found refuge and an unusual degree of religious toleration in Amsterdam. They soon were integrated into the city’s commercial life. Ashkenazi Jews j...
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No Tulips Without Rain, 13: The Venice of the North
July 30, 2023
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We set out under leaden skies for a boat tour of Amsterdam’s harbor and canals. The ruling mercantile classes of the Dutch Golden Age ringed the city center with concentric canals and then built their narrow, handsome residences beside them. Often, they used the upper floors of their canal houses to store trade goods. For a century, beginning in th...
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No Tulips without Rain, 12: Tulipmania in Keukenhof
July 21, 2023
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This river cruise was advertised as one to Belgium and Holland (sic) in Tulip Time. Naturally, I anticipated that the itinerary would include some flower viewing. I had no objection. Desultory talks with my fellow passengers, however, revealed that their passion for tulips had been the motivation for most for booking the trip. Several of them were...
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No Tulips Without Rain, 11: At Home in Enkhuizen
July 14, 2023
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A visit to a local family is one of the distinguishing activities on a Grand Circle tour. The cruise line may not be the only one that arranges such interactions with local residents, but it claims to have initiated the activity. This morning, we passengers were divided into groups of eight or so before being directed to several private houses in E...
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No Tulips Without Rain, 10: Living on the Edge
July 05, 2023
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The Zuider Zee may be the sole name that many adults recall from their elementary school study of The Netherlands. The exotic alliteration doubtless served to deposit it in our memory banks. Now the body of water that bore that persistent name has been separated from the North Sea by dikes. The shallow bay has been divided into several smaller lake...
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