My pickup from the hotel was right on time, and on the way to the airport he told me that a period of national service is compulsory for Finns, most of whom are put into the military. As to why, he suggested that it wasn’t to stop and invasion by Estonia. I checked in to a mostly empty airport and breezed through security, the one advantage of the early hour. The flight to Amsterdam was about two hours and was uneventful. On deplaning I got my luggage, found an Iamsterdam store, and got a transit pass. From there it was on to the train where I got my ticket and boarded the next one to Centraal Station. No forced change at Sloterdijk this time, thank goodness. On arrival in the city, I hopped a tram to Leidseplein and walked to Prinsen Hotel, my abode this trip. It was still early and my room wasn’t ready, so I stored my luggage and set out. I decided to get some cheese, so it was on to Fromagerie Kef. On returning to the hotel, there was a message from Caroline, I called back, and we arranged to meet for dinner that night. I lunched near Leidseplein, but the weather was typical Amsterdam weather, alternating rainy and sunny, so I curtailed my exploring a bit, and after a little wandering, returned to my room and had a short nap. I left for dinner and went to Gebr. Hartering where Caroline joined me, I gave her the cheese, and we had a good meal with some wine. After dinner we walked back towards Centraal Station, and parted halfway there after a couple hugs, she on her bike to her apartment, and me on foot to Centraal, where I got a tram back to the hotel. It was such a joy to see her again.
Day two started with a surprise. I was just about to leave my room when I got a call from the reception desk, and it was Merel who brought Elif with her. It was also a joy to see her again. I gave her the copy of Make Room for Ducklings I had brought with me, and she thought it would be a good introduction to English for Elif. We had some tea and chatted, but Elif was getting antsy, and needed to get home. Merel suggested we meet later that afternoon at Oosterpark for a concert, but the weather turned foul again, and she called to say the concert had been cancelled, so I had to make do with our morning get-together. Still, seeing both Caroline and Merel made the trip worthwhile. Realizing that I had forgotten my umbrella at the restaurant the night before, I made a trip back to retrieve it, but alas someone had snagged it. After failing in this mission, I wandered around a bit, including Spui, and returned to the hotel. This evening for dinner I went to the Uptown Meat Club on Van Baerlestraat.
My last full day at least turned out to be sunny. I found that reception at the hotel had umbrellas for sale in addition to their loaners, so I bought one, though in the event it proved unnecessary on this trip. The morning started with a visit to the Stedelijk Museum. Modern art, and not usually to my taste. That afternoon I took a trip to Oosterpark to see the venue I had missed out on the day before. It was a lovely, spacious park, through which I wandered for a while. I took the tram back as far as Van Woustraat, and walked from there to see Albert Cuypmarkt. It was somewhat disappointing, but I did stop at a Vietnamese stall for my lunch. I walked most of the street until I got to a Metro stop, then took that to Centraal Station and browsed some of the shops there before heading back to Leidseplein. After walking to Eerste Huygenstraat as far as Eerste Helmerstraat, I repaired to the hotel to relax a little before the evening’s adventures. Dinner was once again at the Seafood Bar, and it was still a good choice. After dinner there was a concert by a youth orchestra at Het Concertgebouw with a so-so performance of Symphonie Fantastique and a wonderful solo turn by Alexander Romanovsky in Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Variations. Then it was back to the hotel and to bed.
The last day was uneventful. Tram to Centraal, buy my train ticket, catch the Intercity to Schiphol, go through the usual rigamarole to get to the plane, wait, board, then suffer for eight hours to Boston. We did get in a little early, and after clearing customs, I got the bus back to N. Londonderry where I picked up my car and made it home. Whew!