It all started with a purchase in Holland...

We left our beloved Amsterdam for Den Haag.  Then we left our beloved Den Haag for Delft.  I was walking through a flea market in an otherwise deserted city, trying to see why Delft was such a big tourist draw.  Then I saw it...

Neither Jeff nor I are big shoppers.  Jeff probably less so than I am, at least as far as flea markets are concerned.  Up until now,  we have not bought anything during our travels for ourselves.  So, while I was wandering through the small holiday weekend market in Delft, I didn't expect to see anything of interest.  Aisle #2 had it.  A beautiful collection of Art Nouveau!  I was immediately drawn in.  I eyed a beautiful platter.  The vendor tried to draw me in.  I looked at Jeff, whispered that I *really* liked it! and then walked away.  Fast forward 20 min, and a few more vendors stalls.  I went back to buy the platter, hoping it would still be there.  It was.  The vendor was willing to negotiate.  He won, I won!

When we arrived in Brussels, I noticed that there were several buildings in our neighborhood that had beautiful Art Nouveau architectural details.  Hmmm.  I just bought an Art Nouveau platter, then I find myself in a turn of the century neighborhood with lots of good examples.  We stopped at an information center to pick up maps and I asked about the prevalence of Art Nouveau details.

Victor Horta lived and worked extensively in Brussels at the turn of the century.  I never heard of him.  We got a map of an Art Nouveau architecture walk.  When we got back to the apartment, I looked up Horta.  He was a MAJOR influence in the Art Nouveau movement, particularly in Brussels.

The universe was lining up...the platter, the Ixelles neighborhood in Brussels where we are staying where there are 3 of the 4 Horta homes on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list, and a day without rain and not too hot for walking to take pictures of as many as I could!  And a great man willing to support the effort without complaint!!!  Jeff gave up seeing Ghent and Bruges so that I could do the walking route!!

I have added some pictures of the unbelievable examples of Art Nouveau architecture!!

Nothing but blue skies in Brussels!

They threw out the Catholic Church and then...

Update to original blog:  Mercer survey puts Amsterdam as #12th ranked city to live in in the world!!!


Tomorrow morning we will leave The Netherlands.  What an amazing country and culture!  Here are some random thoughts that, taken in the aggregate, tell a story:

They threw out the Catholic Church in the 1500's, and empowered the Protestants (Calvinist).
They have welcomed and integrated a wide variety of non-Dutch cultures.
They have legalized marijuana and hashish, purchased in coffee houses, in small quantities.
The vast majority of the Dutch speak English, including the bathroom matron in McDonalds!
They give priority to bikes on the roads.
They still have a queen.
The prime minister often goes to the square outside the government buildings to have a beer at the end of the day (we are told...).
They have the best social pension plan in the world (I read in the International Herald Tribune).
They have a thriving international economy.
My friend Jan Allex de Roos lives here.
May 22 it was still light out at 9:45 pm.
The average temperature during the hottest months of July and August is 71 F.  (per Wunderground)
Vermeer, Rembrandt and Escher were Dutch.

The End of the Story.

We have loved The Netherlands!

Blue skies!

Bikes are Boss

I'm updating this post to include this link to the photos of bikes that I posted on Facebook.

We had a hard time trying to find a hotel room in Amsterdam.  All the internet sites we tried showed nearly every hotel as being sold out for the dates we wanted.  The rooms that were available were $700+ or the reviews were so bad we couldn't ignore them.  Finally we found a site that had apartments for rent for short term.  There was an apartment, reasonably priced, in a good neighborhood, with good reviews!

It was a great apartment- updated, fully stocked kitchen, private bath, large room with beds, a big table to eat on and a couch and coffee table and a beautiful double door to a garden!  Perfect, except for one thing- the street is very residential and the parking is limited and very expensive.  The manager told us to take our car to the Olympic Stadium parking lot, go through the middle ticket gate marked P+R (Park and Ride) and take our ticket to the parking garage office.  They will give us 2 bikes to use while we are in Amsterdam- FREE!

We couldn't believe our ears!  We had already figured out that "bikes are boss" in Amsterdam.  They have their own lanes in the streets, including separate traffic lights, they have the right of way in the large traffic circles, they have bike racks everywhere for parking- which are always full!

So we got outfitted with our bikes, and locks and have happily been joining the swarms of people who use bikes for transportation. 

Just think of what you do in and with your car, and Amsterdammers do it on their bikes- text, talk on the phone, eat lunch, go grocery shopping, pick up kids from school, go on a date!  It is wonderful!

The bikes come in a wide variety of models, but there is a basic black, single speed, no hand brakes model that is most prevalent.  The bikes are equipped with bells.  There are bikes for one person that have large woven baskets in the front, or plastic baskets strapped to the back, bikes that have huge box cars in the front for up to 4 children, or a week's worth of groceries for those 4 children!  Bikes can also have small seats for children in the front or the back or both- smaller seats in front of the rider usually include a little windshield.  99% of the riders do not wear helmets.


You can imagine what it might be like trying to find your black bike amongst several thousand other black bikes.  People personalize their bikes with plastic flowers, ribbons, paint, or decorate their baskets.  Most bikes have interesting locks- ones that close through the back tire's spokes so the wheel won't turn and then big thick chains with a lock for the rest of the bike.

Whatever the color, whatever the size or shape of the bicycles, this city is one of the best for its promotion of bicycle use.  We keep wondering if there is a connection between the Amsterdammers' generally sunny disposition, their overall fitness, their perfect posture and their use of bicycles!!  We believe there is!

Cycling under Delft Blue Skies!

The Ride of My Life!

We were just visiting my sister and sister-in-law who moved to Italy 2 years ago after living in Taipei for nearly 30 years. The move to Italy came as a surprise, and it was all the more shocking that they bought a house on top of a mountain, built into the side of the hill, on a terrace that is not more than 20 feet wide.

To get to their mountain home you have to drive, up. I had driven to visit them 2 years ago and had not forgotten the drive. So, on this bright sunny morning when we set out from Antibes, France to drive to their house, I didn't even offer to drive. I had told Jeff about the last time I drove there. I am sure he thought I was exagerating. (I inherited the ability to embellish from my mother.) Or maybe he forgot. But either way, I did not remind him. We stopped for gas along the way. I weakly offered to drive. “No, I'm fine to keep driving.” Phew!

We got to the city at the bottom of the mountain and started up. First town- the road was fine. Second town up the mountain, the road got narrower. We stopped for a coffee and stretch. Third town up, the road got narrower still and the white dividing line disappeared, and by the time we got to the fourth town, the road was barely wide enough for two small cars to pass each other. This forth town is perched on the top of the mountain, it is the bus terminus and has a population of 300 (which everyone swears is too high). It is so old, there aren't roads into the village, just covered walkways and tunnels. Cars park in one of two small town parking lots. The residents walk the rest of the way to their homes. 

My sisters live above this village. From the car park, you have to look carefully to find it, but there is a paved cart path leading further up. The “road” hugs the side of the mountain the way that I was hugging the door handle, ready to jump out when the car went over the edge. The hairpin turns were so tight and narrow that Jeff couldn't make some of the turns and had to roll backwards half way through in order to go forward. I offered to get out and walk. In most places, the road did not have a guard rail. There were a few stretches that had them, but you could see huge dents in them! Sometimes the guardrail was an old stone wall about a foot high. There were several gaps in the wall...and there were more than a few memorials erected along the way. 

 

The road climbs up and up and up. Turn after turn after turn. Just as Jeff was asking what to do if a car comes the other way, a car came around the bend. My heart stopped! Luckily, it was a small car like ours, and they hugged the mountain wall while we inched past hoping the road edges would hold. I didn't breathe again until we were safely back in the middle of the road. To think that we might meet a larger vehicle made my feet ache.

It really is a shame that I was so terrified in the passengers seat, and had no desire to be in the driver's seat. Either way I couldn't enjoy the breathtaking views of the mountains and valleys. There weren't any convenient touristy lookout points to pull into. 

We couldn't even drive all the way to my sisters' house! The last turn to go up to their house is straight up and then their driveway is so narrow (jaw dropping drop offs ), and there isn't anywhere to turn around which would mean backing out! So instead, we park in front of a little chapel that is at the foot of their road. Of course in order to do that, you have to pull very close to the drop off to get far enough off the road so as not to block traffic (!). Made me want to light a candle in the chapel!

In the course of the 2 days that we were there, Jeff drove up that hill (and down again!!) 3 times. He drove it like a pro! And was such a sport to not ask me to share the driving until the day we were leaving, and we had descended past the narrowest roads, and I had loosened my death grip on the door handle.  

 Do you know that the sun came back out and the skies turned blue right about the same moment!!?? Are you surprised?

I Woke Up in a Fog

In our wonderful third floor bedroom, the view is usually spectacular at 7am- the sun is just lighting the tallest of the trees on the facing hill and then it shines all the way down the valley.  Today I opened by eyes and saw nothing.  We were completely fogged in.

This was a test for me on our last day in Ansouis.  Could I visualize the sunny morning view?  Could I remember the first time seeing that hill at 7am, when except for the pines, the trees were still bare, waiting for the weather to warm up.  Could I remember it from two days ago?  The trees are nearly fully leafed out, the cherry blossoms have all fallen.  The valley floor has become a lush green after being plowed and planted into straight rows.  When the wind was so high yesterday, we could see the it ride across the green fields- that is how much they have grown since we came here five weeks ago.

It reminds me of a quote from William Edward Hartpole Lecky I found recently:  "There are times in the lives of most of us when we would have given all the world to be as we were but yesterday, though that yesterday had passed over us unappreciated and unenjoyed."  I hope that I will always appreciate and enjoy tomorrow's yesterday.

I also like the idea that I, in some silly way, am like the facing hills and valleys this spring.  I arrived still a little weary from the winter and the rat race, and as we adjusted to the rhythm of life here, I grew a bit, struggled a bit, grew some more, took nourishment from the sun and rain, and history, and friendship and love that surround me here.  And while I would love to stay longer and experience the next season here, I am also anxious to move on, to take the next step in the journey.  To develop the bud that will become the blossom.

Alors, au revoir Ansouis.  Merci et a bientot, j'espere!

Blue skies!

Maximiser or Satisfiser

In the book I just finished reading, The Happiness Project, Rubin (see link in sidebar) gives definition to a personality trait which she then puts on a continuum.  The end points of the continuum are The Maximiser and The Satisfiser. 

Jeff is the Maximiser without hope.  I am the Satisfiser embodied.  Jane is a hopeless Maximiser.  Bjorn is a more balanced Satisfiser.  Ann is a Maximiser in denial, I guess.  Which are you?

What is this trait???

The Maximiser-makes the optimal decision.  Even if they see "one" that meets the requirements, they can't make a decision until after they've examined every option so they can make the best choice possible.

To illustrate in the extreme:  The Maximiser wants to go out to eat.  Eatery A looks good.  Yes, but what else is there.  Eatery B could be interesting.  Yes, but what else is there.  Eatery C comes recommended.  Yes, but...iterate a few more times and then.  "Let's go to Eatery B."

Sound like anyone you know?

The Satisfiser-makes a decision or takes action once their criteria are met.  As they find "it" that has the qualities they want, they're satisfied.

Again, to illustrate in the extreme: The Satisfiser wants to buy a new car.  She establishes her requirements (eco friendly, reliable, not too many miles, reasonable price).  She goes to Car Place A.  No car that meets all the requirements.  Car Place B.  Finds car that meets all the requirements.  Buys car.  No need to look any further.

Recognize anyone?

Most people fit someplace in between the extreme ends of the continuum.  Happens to be that Jeff and I define the extremes.  Imagine the two of us trying to make a decision together?

During this trip, the only times that we have snapped at each other is when we waited too long to start looking for a place to eat.  Blood sugar levels had dropped precipitously.  Jeff wanted to look at "just a few more menus" and I saw a place 5 blocks ago that looked fine and wasn't too expensive and couldn't figure out the need to keep looking.  Didn't he understand how hungry and grouchy I was?

At first I thought that there was some invisible, secret formula that Jeff used for finding a place to eat, and I just didn't know what it was.  How could it be that this place was okay, and that place was okay, but neither one was okay to eat at?  So imagine the "aha!" moment reading the definitions of Maximiser and Satisfiser.  I knew I had found the answer to my question.  An opportunity to eat good food is too precious in Jeff's world to waste on the wrong decision about where to eat.  He needed to evaluate as many places as possible before deciding.

At least now I understand that he has a need to look at ALL the options before deciding.  We try to compensate for our mismatched buying traits by first of all, being aware of them, and secondly, I usually recuse myself from the restaurant decision making process, but we sometimes forget...and then people give us wide berth on the sidewalk.  I am beginning to understand why Jeff can be so amazed by my credo  of "Leap and the Net will Appear."  (Thanks, Lib, for the card you sent to B with those words of wisdom on it.  It is framed in our house!).  It is just as foreign to Jeff as his approach is to me!

And on good days, each of secretly wishes that we were just a little more like the other, and feel gratitude that we offer balance to each other.

Blue skies!