WC 2014 #19

[worldcitizen1723]

Day 19

It's the Saturday market
The last weekend of our visit

Rains buckets
Even the Dutch are complaining
This is beyond normal

When it clears we get the dog to 137
Sit in the sun as we have a 60 minute window before the next dark cloud

And once again we get back and the skies just open up with more buckets of rain
Thank you app!

These are not just a rain storm or a shower
There is thunder and lightening
Wind and more rain than people are accustomed to dealing with

It stops
We Want to go to Vondel park
To catch a funk band in the park

We have not caught any vondel park concerts since we have been here
We have NOT even caught any of the grachtenfest concerts because of rain (except the opening)
We get delayed at the boat with stuff around the house and taking care of the dog
It begins to pour again. This rain did not even show up,on the app!

Feeling like every impulse I have somehow gets convoluted or just turns in on itself
today

There's an underlining unspoken frustration that I can not put my finger on
Well maybe I can
Trying to make sense of why I keep returning to this place. The
Strange attraction. Thought I would be living here by now. I am not, don't know how that will ever happen in this life, now. So visiting is always part pleasure and part pain. Sometimes I feel like I am just a bull waving my own red flag in front of my face.

This city has changed. It has changed in some way in the same fashion as NYC. NY used to be for New Yorkers ..now the city caters to tourists. There is a difference when an event is a community event or when it is designed to cater to a larger more diverse audience there is a difference. An intimacy that is lost.

We used to have a neighborhood food fair back in the 80's and into the 90's it was great fun. Everyone in the neighborhood would be out there drinking and eating, being social. Dancing, singing. Now - people crowd in from everywhere. The streets are so packed you can not even turn around. The fucking thing ends up on television. It is no longer our community event. Most of the locals no longer even show up. So I have great empathy for the problems that are now facing Amsterdam.


To be honest
I don't know what I did today

It was mostly a lot more false starts and
rain
More and more rain
We had a Lovely dinner at the house
And the rain decides to give the city a break
So we actually make it to the
Prinsengracht concert!

It is the big event of the grachtenfest
It was picture perfect
It felt like being in a movie set
Everything perfect, the boat parties, the residents with their tables and chairs by the canal. It is cool out and after all that rain, there are crowds, but it is less packed than other times. Looking at the boats clogging the canals - I noticed that you could tell the difference, between those that had done this before and those that had not. Those in the know have their boats backed in, so when the concert is over, they can easily drive off, those not thinking are locked in head first....their return trip will not be so simple and I will not remain here to watch.

Here is a link to my favorite part - the ending

http://avro.nl/prinsengrachtconcert/pla ... pgc14/?r=1


here's the entire concert

http://avro.nl/prinsengrachtconcert/

Back to the boat it must be close to 11pm
We grab the bikes and head out for a ride in the crisp air
I mislead the way to Utopia
Lol sometimes I just get into the rhythm of riding up the little bridge hill
Then down the little bridge hill and do not want to stop
the mate takes over as leader and gets us to utopia

Okay. We are out, it appears to be a beautiful night
Let's go off to the wateringhole to find Kees

Midway there
Without warning
The skies just burst open
Rain
More rain
Big rain
Soaking rain

Mate is annoyed he wanted to go to ruigoord once again.
I was not up for going somewhere I could not easily get home from this evening

Wateringhole is packed
There is a long line out the door
They are Young
It's a Very young crowd
loud very loud
We stand in line
Look inside
This ain't gonna happen
We will not survive
The wetness is slowly soaking thru to the bottom layers of clothes
It seems obvious that we will not get to Kees
Why would he even be interested in meeting us
With so much action and young blood there
Besides we probably would not hear each other anyway.

Give up
Mission aborted
We drive home wet and cold

I spend the night coughing with a really bad throat
It is that Amsterdam throat
Always used to get it when we came in May

It is tight and dry in my throat
I take herbs and try to sleep.

[Dogbreath]

:-)

Dogbreath

[moe.]

We'd love some of that rain here in Oregon.