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And now the great international fun city you've all heard about: Amsterdam (a.k.a., A'dam). We actually stayed on a houseboat there, with Han and Maartje (she being the sister of Anneke's sister's husband). She was just about to have a baby when we saw them. It really was a boat, built to carry freight in 1905...but now it's all set up for living, kitchen, TV, computer -- the works. They're building a new one though, for the baby.
Our other Amsterdam friends, Jan and Uwe, took us to the gay pride parade...floating down the canal of course. That's the Israeli float (look carefully). The police were handing out these little cards, promising to protect us if anybody was trying to intimidate us on grounds of our sexuality.
Here's Uwe, the next morning, enjoying breakfast at the Rembrandt square. Jan took great pictures of everything...but I didn't get a good picture of him. Ain't that the way it always goes?
Later, Anneke showed me a little bit of her past, taking me down the streets where she once lived in Amsterdam, not far from the Anne Frank house. Here is one of those lovely brick streets, all torn up for reconstruction. A close-up reveals a Reiki practitioner giving a hands-on treatment under the Amsterdam flag.
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