Damn! Amsterdam!

It started on the train from Frankfurt to Amsterdam  last Friday.  An Irish guy bummed a cigarette and then casually told us a story about getting stopped for drugs between Switzerland and Germany.  We got the distinct impression he wasn't going to Amersterdam for the Van Gogh Museum.  Then a kid next to him (nationality unclear, but English was not his first language) told him a good way to smuggle drugs was to put it inside a bar of soap which had been cut in half and hollowed out. 
 
We walked  up about 300 extremely steep stairs to our hotel room, Patty opens the door and says, "It smells like weed!"  O.k. so it has a drug culture.  But Amersterdam is a great place (if you happen to get the right weather) even without drugs.  We went on a canal ride with St. Nick's boats while the English couple across from us shared a bottle of Champagne for her birthday.  Saturday night was spend in a Dutch kareoke joint dancing in front of the bar and talking to a couple of English blokes and a Greek.  We DID see the Van Gogh museum and we shopped too. And ate.  And drank. And tried not to get run over by a bike, bus, tram or car.  (Someone actually got hit and killed in front of our hotel Friday night. Fortunately we weren't there to see it.)
 
On the train back a Dutch guy sat next to us.  He had once lived in Amsterdam for a year.  He had never been to a "Coffee House" (code for place where you can buy and use marijuana and hash).  Interesting?  Ironic? Go see for yourself.  Make sure the weather is good.   

The reason why

I was bored while surfing the web a few months ago and decided to see what happened when I put my maiden name into the Yahoo search engine. It isn't a very common name and I didn't expect to find much. Much to my surprise, I found a reference to myself from a boy ( now man) I went to grammar school with 38 years ago. Since then I've been in touch with him and have been reading his on-line diary. This was my inspiration.

I don't know if I will ever write anything else here but suspect I will.

My biographical information is as follows: Born 1952. Raised in Chicago. Attended Immaculate Conception Grammar School, Chicago, Ilinois from 1958 to 1966. Attended Resurrection High School, Chicago, Ilinois for one semester in 1966 then went to Prospect High School until 1970. Graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. Worked for the Baraboo News Republic and did some travelling before reentering UW-Madison and getting a Business Degree. Worked in Minneapolis and California . Moved to Germany in 1986 and am now married to Karl-Heinz  and the mother of Jessica (Jessi) and Katrin (Katie) Dullmaier.