Popmartijn
Blue Crack Supplier
Hello,
I just got back from the Dutch Interference meeting in Amsterdam. It was really great! As sulawesigirl is visiting the Netherlands this week (and staying at DrTeeth's) we wanted to have some get-together, meeting other Interferencers etc. Coincidentally, this was also the first get-together of Dutch Interferencers. Over the past few weeks we made some plans and looked who would be there and in the end Salome, Vorsprung, Rono, DrTeeth, Sulawesigirl and yours truly said they would meet at Amsterdam's Central Station. And you know what? Everybody came!
We had agreed to meet at the Central Station at noon. Sula, DrTeeth, Rono and Vorsprung would meet eachother in the train, while Salome (who was accompanied by his girlfriend; to watch over him?) and I would be at the station. Meeting was easy (hey, the Netherlands is a small country after all!) and so we went into the city. The plan was to go to the Artis zoo. This way we could have some fun while meeting and knowing each other. It would certainly give Sula the opportunity to see a little bit of Amsterdam instead of sitting in a bar all day. However, when we found some spot for drinking some coffee and tea (it was still very early for some, it's weekend after all) it appeared that there was also a proposition to do something culturally challinging: visit a museum. I mean, the Netherlands is getting ready for winter and it was quite cold outside. Maybe many animals don't mind, but given a choice we'd rather go somewhere inside. Either the Van Gogh museum or the Rijksmuseum (which is something like the Dutch national museum) would be honored with a visit by Interferencers. In the end we decided upon the Rijksmuseum. It has a more diverse collection and still many highlights (like many paintings by Rembrandt (Nightwatch, etc.) and Vermeer (Kitchen Maid, etc.). It was really great (and it was a lot more comfortable than the cold outside!), seeing some historical paintings, sniffing some culture and just chatting. We didn't stay in the museum for too long as Amsterdam has many more things to offer for tourists.
So, yes, we went into some pub for a late lunch. And the late lunch grew a bit more (with some more drinks). And time passed by (with some more drinks). We finally got to meet the persons on the other side of the alias. As I said before, the Dutch Interferencers had never really met before (last year there was an attempt, but I think not too many came (I didn't)) so this was an opportunity for some bonding (group hug everyone!).
Eventually, we left the pub to have a walk around the city centre (as Amsterdam is quite a beautiful city). Unfortunately, it was getting a bit late and Rono and Vorsprung had to leave a bit early (as they had a long train journey in front of them). So that made only five of us left. The whole day long Sula had walked in Amsterdam amazed by the sight of so many Indonesian restaurants. She just had to go into one of those (as there aren't that many of them in the USA or in many other countries). Who are we to deny her that? Not that we (or at least I) protested as it is really nice. The Dutch may take Indonesian food for granted most of the time, it's still very tasty (and spicy!). Anyway, in the restaurant Sula became the one to know all the ins and outs as she was the only one to understand and speak Indonesian (the Dutch might eat the food, but most of them do not know the languange). During the day she might have had some trouble with the Dutch language (words like 'gracht' and 'wegsleepregeling'), but in the restaurant she was the one teaching the Dutch what all the different names for the dishes meant. Needless to say that the dinner was wonderful.
And this brings us to the sad part, the goodbye. Salome and his girlfriend had to leave to catch a train to the south and DrTeeth and Sula had to catch a train to the east. However, it has been a beautiful day (bad pun maybe, but oh so true). It definately deserves continuation somewhere in the future. We may be a weird bunch, but we certainly can arrange a nice get-together.
C ya!
Martijn
I just got back from the Dutch Interference meeting in Amsterdam. It was really great! As sulawesigirl is visiting the Netherlands this week (and staying at DrTeeth's) we wanted to have some get-together, meeting other Interferencers etc. Coincidentally, this was also the first get-together of Dutch Interferencers. Over the past few weeks we made some plans and looked who would be there and in the end Salome, Vorsprung, Rono, DrTeeth, Sulawesigirl and yours truly said they would meet at Amsterdam's Central Station. And you know what? Everybody came!
We had agreed to meet at the Central Station at noon. Sula, DrTeeth, Rono and Vorsprung would meet eachother in the train, while Salome (who was accompanied by his girlfriend; to watch over him?) and I would be at the station. Meeting was easy (hey, the Netherlands is a small country after all!) and so we went into the city. The plan was to go to the Artis zoo. This way we could have some fun while meeting and knowing each other. It would certainly give Sula the opportunity to see a little bit of Amsterdam instead of sitting in a bar all day. However, when we found some spot for drinking some coffee and tea (it was still very early for some, it's weekend after all) it appeared that there was also a proposition to do something culturally challinging: visit a museum. I mean, the Netherlands is getting ready for winter and it was quite cold outside. Maybe many animals don't mind, but given a choice we'd rather go somewhere inside. Either the Van Gogh museum or the Rijksmuseum (which is something like the Dutch national museum) would be honored with a visit by Interferencers. In the end we decided upon the Rijksmuseum. It has a more diverse collection and still many highlights (like many paintings by Rembrandt (Nightwatch, etc.) and Vermeer (Kitchen Maid, etc.). It was really great (and it was a lot more comfortable than the cold outside!), seeing some historical paintings, sniffing some culture and just chatting. We didn't stay in the museum for too long as Amsterdam has many more things to offer for tourists.
So, yes, we went into some pub for a late lunch. And the late lunch grew a bit more (with some more drinks). And time passed by (with some more drinks). We finally got to meet the persons on the other side of the alias. As I said before, the Dutch Interferencers had never really met before (last year there was an attempt, but I think not too many came (I didn't)) so this was an opportunity for some bonding (group hug everyone!).
Eventually, we left the pub to have a walk around the city centre (as Amsterdam is quite a beautiful city). Unfortunately, it was getting a bit late and Rono and Vorsprung had to leave a bit early (as they had a long train journey in front of them). So that made only five of us left. The whole day long Sula had walked in Amsterdam amazed by the sight of so many Indonesian restaurants. She just had to go into one of those (as there aren't that many of them in the USA or in many other countries). Who are we to deny her that? Not that we (or at least I) protested as it is really nice. The Dutch may take Indonesian food for granted most of the time, it's still very tasty (and spicy!). Anyway, in the restaurant Sula became the one to know all the ins and outs as she was the only one to understand and speak Indonesian (the Dutch might eat the food, but most of them do not know the languange). During the day she might have had some trouble with the Dutch language (words like 'gracht' and 'wegsleepregeling'), but in the restaurant she was the one teaching the Dutch what all the different names for the dishes meant. Needless to say that the dinner was wonderful.
And this brings us to the sad part, the goodbye. Salome and his girlfriend had to leave to catch a train to the south and DrTeeth and Sula had to catch a train to the east. However, it has been a beautiful day (bad pun maybe, but oh so true). It definately deserves continuation somewhere in the future. We may be a weird bunch, but we certainly can arrange a nice get-together.
C ya!
Martijn
Amsterdam! Holland, in general. Aside from Amsterdam, I visited Rotterdam and The Hague. My uncle's daughters live in those three cities. I hadn't seen them since the late 70s, so it was great hooking up with them again.
), saw the hookers at the red light district 
