Liberation and then Domination - Momento Park is home to all Communist era statues and reliefs that were not destroyed by jubiliant Hungarian people after the 1989 freedom takeover. Posing along side (or in front of) the prototypical soviet soldier with raised arms in their salute is bittersweet. by the way- I HATE MY NEW IPHONE. IT TOTALLY SUCKS.

IN BUDAPEST WITH SHADOW SHE & ME - Day #1 and it appears we are being followed by these two shady figured. Our hotel window looks oit over the Danube, pretty cool. Going to check out Momento Park and all the relocated Communist era statues. I am sure these two wont be far behind.

OCCUPY DC, RAIN OR SHINE - Protests in the 60’s and 70’s were intense in many cases but we always knew we would be going home at day’s end. Not these hearty protesters. They are putting themselves out there in their own tent city for things it would be tough for anyone not to support: jobs, housing, decent wages, more for the 99% and less for the 1%, who can argue (well the 1% I guess). They have a 16 point guideline that should be adopted by all of us. Visit them, talk with them, support them, IT DOES MATTER.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON AMSTERDAM - It’s tough to start off a trip with 5 days in Paris and almost forget about it entirely, but that’s what a week in Amsterdam was able to accomplish. I choose this picture because it captures one of my favorite things about Amsterdam, for a city of almost 800,000 people (DC for comparison has 600,000) it feels so very comfortable and at peace with itself. Here it is at 3:30pm in a busy part of the city and what do you see? one, count it, 1 car., along with bicycles, vespas, trams and pedestrians (notice bike lanes and tram lanes) . I don’t know the woman in the foreground of the photo but she is a new hero of mine. Imagine texting while riding your bike uphill in a downtown area as you are about to cross over a bridge spanning a canal and seeming so natural about it? This isn’t uncommon either. Of course she doesn’t have two small children, dogs or many bags (only 2) as others do but still it looks so easy. The city of “free to be you and me” delivers, with culture, history and forward thinking that i found so cool and refreshing. Until next time.

NIEUWMARKT (DE WAAG) AT NIGHT (our last night for this trip in Amsterdam) - Amsterdam doesn’t sleep much in this neck of the canals. From our apartment window (we have floors 2,3,4 and floor 1 is an Italian restaurant) we can see and hear it all. Bars, coffee shops, and benches full of people enjoying life, and almost all of it outdoors. Do you think Americans would be out in these numbers sitting outside in 55 degree weather? Uh, no. Even more amazing is that so many of these people arrived via bikes. Everyday 30% of Amsterdam rides a bike (that’s 350,000 people). And these are no ordinary bikes. They sometimes have a baby seat, a passenger seat, a driver’s seat, and a front basket for a dog. They will all be driving home on their bikes after midnight. Is that great or what?

DE OUDE KERK (The Old Church) - Facts: this church was built around 1300 (about 200 years before even Columbus saw America); In 1578 the Dutch tossed aside Catholicism and embraced Dutch Reformed; at that time most of the Catholic goods were thrown out or destroyed. Ok, but what did last? The choir stalls had sculpted into the bottom of the seats around 1480 images which symbolized popular proverbs from that era. I can’t quite figure out the meaning of this one even with the translation. Any guesses?

GOING UPTOWN TO HAARLEM - “If a taxi won’t take me, I’ll catch a train,” and that’s just what we did as Haarlem is just a short 15 minute train ride, and a world away, from Amsterdam. What an impressive town (8th largest city in Holland). We could have spent a very long time there, and in fact we sat and watched people for 2 hours at Madam Marlie’s where people go for lunch, borrel (drink) and dinner. After some culture at the Frans Hals Museum we wanted to do nothing more than to watch Haarlem ride their bikes past us while we had some beer and wine. It was definitely tough work but if not us then who?

MONGOZO, HOLLAND’S GLUTEN-FREE BEER - Found the beer I was looking for just floating over the Kloveniers Burgwal Canal right next to Nieuwmarkt Square. It’s never easy to find this stuff but if you look at every beer label in every supermarket you are bound to get lucky. With every bar selling and advertising Heineken and Amstel gluten-free beer just has no chance. Watch out Heineken and Amstel, Mongozo is the wave of the beer guzzling future of Amsterdam.

ANNE FRANK HOUSE - Since I never did much in the way of schoolwork back in the day, I might have been the only person there who never read the Anne Frank Diary. OK, I will accept my shortcomings in the literature department but I am not a stranger to tales of oppression, brutality and total lack of humanity and those 3 ingredients were all front and center both in the case of the Anne Frank house and also at the not-to-be-missed Dutch Resistance Museum. Systemic resistance while staring down monsters takes amazing courage, and the Dutch showed how it could be done. Lessons learned should not be ignored.

THE DAM, HOME TO EVERYTHING AMSTERDAM - In some way, shape or fashion Amsterdam history past and present passes through here. The current Royal Palace which was built in 1655 as the City Hall looms over the entire square and of course the ever present comforting hordes of bicycles helps fills its space. Named the Dam because way way back a dam was built here on the Amstel River (hence the name Amsterdam) and the town grew out from there. The Lion in the photo is one of two “Lion guards” of the WW2 National Monument (out of picture). The two women next to the Lion are there to guard the Lion. Much like DCs Washington Monument grounds if there is a protest to have it will most assuredly begin here. So far, none tthis week.