rain, rain, and only rain

Oh my goodness, I've never been so wet in my sorry life! Yes, I could take the tram, or the bus, or the metro, but I am being stubborn. I wanted to walk, to see, to take pictures. Well, I'm walking and seeing at least (8730 steps so far). It's a lovely city, quite clean, in spite of the very few trashcans I found....but it sure is wet. Water to look at , water to walk in, water to drip down, water to get splashed by, water to get in your coffee (which by the way, is very very very good coffee!).

On the bright side, there weren't too many lineups at the museums. This morning after the Anne Frank house, I walked over to the museumplein. I spent a few hours at the Rijksmuseum (and yes, Esther, I saw the Night Watch). My favourites were actually black and white oil paintings--something I must say that I don't recall seeing before. They were a set of four by Gerald de Lairesse...one of which is here.

The museum is under renovation, so all the masterpieces were placed in one area. This was good, as I have a limited tolerance for being able to absorb information in a museum. I like them....I just only survive a few hours in them. That is why I am not in the Van Gogh museum just yet. I needed to walk and clear my head. And that meant getting wet. So be it.

I actually realized that I am pretty close to the Albert Cuyp market, which is an outdoor market and supposed to be quite good. I am suspecting that it will still be open, even in the rain, but likely not as busy. Yes, I am trying to look at the bright side. I don't know what I'll find there, but I do think that I will enjoy it. Someone else who looked worse for wear asked me for directions--I had to explain that I am geographically challenged, but we looked at the map, and as it turns out, so is she. So I don't know if she will get to her hotel or not.

M is in school, and he thought that he would be done around 2. But, that's not to be. He will actually not be done till 4:30, and not likely at the meeting place until closer to 6. We have reservations at an Indonesian restaurant--I am going to try the rijstafel because I want to. I need to go find the restaurant before the meeting place though since I suspect we will be a little bit late getting there. Ah well, such is life.

I am also very grateful for free internet at the libraries. They are very kind about it, and allow me to speak in English--though I have tried to learn please and thank you, and a few other niceties. It's a place to dry off for half an hour, and a place to write little notes like this one.