Thusday, 12 May 2005-Last day in Amsterdam

Today is the first warm sunny day in Amsterdam and it
is the last day for Mark and me to be here.We head for
Bangkok tonight.

Mark and I went to Groningen on the
train yesterday and had to switch trains in Amfoort.
My friends from Emden picked us up and drove us to
Emden and proceded to train us in the Ostfriesland tea
ritual. For lunch we had huge white asparagus, boiled
potatoes, ham and tomatoes..it was lovely. Next we
went into the countryside to Ockenhausen. This area is
so beautiful and there were so many flowers. The homes
are all of brick and lovely. Pastures with beautifully
groomed horses. We had a nice visit with a cousin and
his family. They too are interested in genealogy.
I think May is probably a nicer time than April to be
in Amsterdam. Good luck to all of you.

Amsterdam, the adventures continue.

Mark and I may go to Germany tomorrow for one day to see an 84 year old cousin. Last night Mark was not feeling well and stayed in. I got a tour of the red light district. There was window after window with pretty girls in bikinis and some of the bikinis were flurescent or luminescent...and the windows were with red light. We also went to an old fortification like a castle for coffee..it had been aplace where women were weighed in the past to determine if they were witches.

Today was Mother's Day.
I rousted Mark's butt out of bed for early breakfast and he complained of his legs hurting, but I wanted him to see Amsterdam and I had figured out the tram and made him go to Central Station area to catch a boat...intending to ride the canal boat half a day which should not make his legs worse, since we would be sitting down... but we ended up getting off at the Van Gough museum since Mark wanted to see it, having lunch at a nearby restaurant and then seeing all the paintings in the Van Gough. Mark knew a good bit about a number of the paintings and seemed to greatly enjoy the museum although he was not feeling top notch. We came back on the canal boat which stops very close to the museum and we got off at a place close to hotel and had a beer and he went home and I rode boats some more. After he rested we took a late night supper at an Italian restaurant.