Van Gogh

This morning we returned to the Centraal Station to take the tram to the museum district. We needed to be there by 10 a.m.  We had time for breakfast in the Centraal Station.

The Van Gogh museum is so busy they schedule patrons to come throughout the day.

We toured the museum for 90 minutes.

We walked about 8 blocks to a park that was very beautiful and crowded with people. So many bikes here! Those yellow flowers in bloom across the water are marsh marigolds.

Then we took another tram back to Centraal Station to take a canal ride. We bought an Amsterdam City card for 4 days so our tram rides and canal ride were included with the card. From this bridge you can see 7 other bridges in the distance. Sorry about the poor picture.

We came to one intersection that is so busy the boats have traffic signals (red and green only).

Our 90 minute canal ride was very relaxing. With the wind we were glad to be in a covered boat.

We have the first third of this house boat. Our hostess has the rest of the boat. It's very nice.

 

Netherlands

Traveling is getting to be a chore. I traveled from Winona to Minneapolis to Dublin with a final destination of Amsterdam (or, as the pilot calls it, The Amsterdam). The older I get the more difficult it is to lift my luggage into the overhead bin. The older I get the more my legs swell. The older I get the more uncomfortable compressions socks feel. The older I get the less comfortable I feel with pressurized air filling my intestines.  A gate agent in Dublin told us our gate was 305. We waited at 305 from 8 in the morning until 1. Our actual gate was 407 so we missed our connection. We had to go through customs to buy another ticket. We told the customs man what happened. He suggested we buy the tickets and then buy some lager. We took his advice and bought a half pint of lager and a glass of wine. As I waited for the bartender to fill my order I told the young guy next to me that this was my first time in an Irish pub. He told me I was definitely not in an Irish pub. I was in an airport pub in Ireland but not an Irish pub. Whatever buddy, I an considering this an Irish pub. Then we waited patiently at our gate until they moved it to another gate. We got on our plane and landed at Schiphol Airport. We took the train to the Centraal Station where we had planned to walk with our luggage a thirty minute trip to our houseboat. But since it was dark and raining we decided to take a cab to our houseboat. Our hostess was very gracious and we were happy to be in the Netherlands at last.

 

 

 

Forensics

This time I read a non-fiction book. Val McDermid is a crime writer and she also wrote Forensics The Anatomy Of a Crime. Each chapter has a different area of forensic medicine. The first chapter was about bugs. The age of maggots can help determine the time of death. The was a chapter on blood spatters and a chapter on DNA evidence. There was a chapter on finger prints. She lives in Scotland so many of the cases are from Scotland. She interviewed forensic experts all over the world. Several of her experts have done work on mass killings like the one in Kosovo. Several of the more famous forensic experts of the time were wrong. The last chapter was on court room drama. A forensic expert has information crucial to the trial but if the lawyers don't ask the right questions the truth does not come out. And sometimes juries make fickle decisions.

 

 

Belgrave Road

Belgrave Road is a novel written by Manish Chauhan. The story is about Mira and Tahliil. Mira was living in India with her family when her parents agreed to an arranged marriage. Mira traveled alone by plane from India to England. Now she resides is a small house outside of London with her husband and his parents. If she remains married for five years she will be able to be a citizen. Her husband and his parents grossly misrepresented their wealth. After taking an English class and gaining confidence, she gets a job at a restaurant. The restaurant is next door to a small market. Tahliil works at that market stocking the shelves and moving merchandise. Tahliil and his sister moved from Mogadishu, Somalia to England to care for their mother. Tahliil and his sister are applying for citizenship. Tahliil and Mira meet during their lunch breaks behind their shops. Both are searching for better lives. They hope to be together someday.

 

 

When The Lights Go Out

When The Lights Go Out is a mystery book written by Mary Kubica. Only she turns the R around in her first name like Toys R Us. The story is about a young woman named Jessica who is nearing the end of high school when her mother, Eden, discloses that her breast cancer has returned and she is now terminally ill. Jessica gets insomnia; really severe insomnia. She goes for a week without sleeping. This part of the story is told slowly and in great detail. I think there was too much of the insomnia symptoms. Also, Jessica goes to apply to college and is told her social security number lists her as deceased. She has no birth certificate. Jessica suspects her mother of stealing her as a child. The ending was ridiculous. Loose strings all over the place. 

 

 

Happy Equinox

 

Baking Cakes In Kilgali

Rwanda is a country that has many issues. Killing gorillas for bush meat, civil war between the Hutu and the Tutsis, HIV infections, female genital mutilation, and poverty. I learned much in reading the book Baking Cakes In Kilgali. In this story we learn what life is like through the eyes of Angel. Angel lives with her well educated husband who is a professor at the local university. The couple lives with their five grandchildren. Their son died of AIDS and their daughter, HIV positive, died of suicide. Now Angel makes money baking cakes for special occasions. She is like an artist with her cakes. Angel uses vast quantities of food coloring. She is big on being professional. She had a cake order form printed up using four local languages. She interviews each client looking for ideas that will give her inspiration. Her conversations with her clients remain private. Over the years she has learned how much to charge for the cakes so she can still make a profit. She thought about declining to make a cake celebrating female genital mutilation. In the end she makes the cake but is fearful to go to the celebration. This author used an amazing plot twist to make a good outcome on that day. I was amazed. While she is doing all that plus being a wife and a mother, Angel finds time to help her neighbors. She encourages a lonely diplomat's wife to teach literacy to some people in the neighborhood. She sponsors a wedding for the single mother/owner of local food mart down the street. She gives a talk at a local high school about her business and how to be an entrepreneur. She helps a young girl who is raising her siblings how to get out of prostitution and make money tailoring clothes. I loved reading about Angel and all her successes.