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Amsterdam, Netherlands
Sunday, Feb 15, 1998

Amsterdam, goodbye Ryker

David Murray
2007-02-02 02:23:40

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The first time we went to Amsterdam, we went to the Heineken brewery and watched the birthday celebrations. I decided that I wanted a part of that. We booked our flights and we flew from Gatwick. Landing, we caught a train and then tram directly from the airport straight to our hotel. You have to love good transport systems. First things first, coffee shop. I always believe you should try a different coffee shop, and I have tried a few. A few beers and we hit the bed. Up early, as it was birthday, we rushed to the front of the queue at the Heineken brewery. Now, as it is winter on this side of the world, we went straight to the front. Usual boring tour for the third time, but this time, there was that little added bonus of going to the bar as many times as possible in 45 minutes. We sat, we got the cheese, the call came out for who's birthday is it, I had my passport for proof, I sculled in one. Half a litre of beautiful Heineken. I think I had three maybe four, not five trips to the bar. I walked out with my Happy Birthday Stein and rolled a little number, because if you are going to be rolling, you may as well be screaming !!!!! We made our way to the Anne Frank house/exhibition. Lucy was amazed at my navigational skills, we toured and then we went to the Van Gogh museum. Now not normally an art admirer, but I was impressed, was it the smoke/beer, but he was a tortured man. His brush strokes seemed more and more like someone had been using a scalpel !!!!! I felt pity for the man plus a certain admiration. Was I getting old??? Appreciating art, only time would tell as we had a four month trip through Europe coming up. We arrived back in London on the 10th of February, parked the van, nearly got wiped out on my pushy that evening in Park Lane. Four days later, on Valentines day, I found the button for the door handle on the ground. The van had been stolen. Great, we had to find a new van and we only had three weeks. Ryker the van was gone but not forgotten.