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!