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Well, it is getting towards the evenings and being just a day after the winter solstice, night comes soon. Which in Amsterdam is just fine for most folks. The city looks better after dark anyway with all the holiday lights.

After getting a glorious early morning check in to once again experience Dutch bathtubs (tall and deep and surprisingly hard to get out of). We are clean and happy and even got a short nap that was not in a tiny seat belted in surrounded by hundreds of people you do not know and, as always, three children that loudly exclaimed their dismay.

Corwin and I meet to find lunch while Susie rests. We explore Amsterdam’s local resources. I noticed Cafe Blom as it was busy and looked well happy. We then stopped by Wilderman as I had been there years ago and bought a t-shirt (matching my name, of course) and they suggest Cafe Blom for real food. Obviously, we are now going there. So we collected Susie and had a huge, happens when you order in a new place, lunch. 

We then headed over to Wilderman for Trappist style beers. Susie, with the food in her and beer, was all about to face-plant in her beer so I took back to rest in the hotel while Corwin finished out any left-over beer (and paid the bill).

Corwin and then I went shopping. Some missed clothing items for Corwin and large bottles of water for each room. We walked to the tourist parts of town. Oddly, the shop we purchased the clothing items was styled as an American shop with a California flag on the wall!

Corwin and I both went back to our rooms. I had a terrible asthma attack. Suspect that the intoxicants everywhere are not good for me and used my emergency inhaler (albuterol)  and recovered (breathing is not optional). A short nap (relaxing is the most important recover step for bad asthma attacks which requires not panicking when breathing is difficult) of a few hours and back to the streets!

Corwin did not answer email or phone–resting I assume. So off I go to see some more alone. I wanted to get back to the other side of the red-light district to see if it as I remember it. Nope, cleaner and safer–the Great Recession was none too kind to Amsterdam last time I was here. The food is cheaper and homier here.

I am tired so I look for a coffee shop to sit down that sells only coffee. DD. Excellent! An Amsterdam Donut; it is covered with a hard fondant icing and is cream-filled. Irony.

So walked some more and found a place open for Christmas dinner. I spoke to the manager, Mario, and have his card. It is across from our hotel (below). So we are set for Wednesday now–some shops, bars, and food places run different hours this week (Christmas)–haphazardly so you have to ask.

We start with our first tour item in the morning.

Michael R Wild

Inntel Hotel, Room 2266, Amsterdam

 

So the last minute Chrismas shopping done. Gift cards from the center of evil, also known as Amazon, sent to Gordon and Barb. Heat is already set to 55F at the house. Charger for laptop and pills and headphones in the backpack. Yes, for the first time I am traveling using a Nike backpack. As we need to drag our bags with us on a train from Schipol to Amsterdam, we need to travel light, and thus I get a backpack. Corwin is finishing up the dishes I did last night. So just about to start the beginning of the trip. Susie’s driver Mohamed will be here at 9. Boarding is about 12:45 PM so that gives us the required two-plus hours. Somehow the travel gods showed mercy and we are pre-screened TSA on our boarding passes.

We sleep and get up and eat and are ready on-time. I even wash all the dishes by hand and put them away so there won’t be week-old dirty dishes in the sink when we return. Mohamed gets us to PDX early and we follow the process without issue. Susie’s wheelchair pass gets us through all the checks in record speed and with no trouble.

The hardest part of the trip is the plane. Susie has to walk to the back of a 767-300. You think that you might change states while walking to the end. Ten hours of boring and well-fed tightly squeezed travel. Food is not bad. The plane is 100% full, it is a huge plane to be full.

I think next time I should turn down all the water and coffee and soda. I drove Susie out of her seat three times!

We get to Amsterdam and Susie I think walked for ten minutes to get from one end of the plane to the door. There a trainee (that was what his badge said) was waiting for us with a wheelchair. I missed getting his name as we rushed through customs and Susie’s walker even made it! He gets us train tickets and helps Susie get on the train. He even took our first group photo for Christmas here in Holland!

We got here and I remembered enough of Amsterdam to find the hotel on the first try. Corwin was surprised at how I just took the alleyways here and there–I was here for weeks over the years and walked the streets to relax. The sweet smell of various intoxicants is stronger than I remember.

We are often to find lunch soon or is it dinner or is it midnight snack…

We are all so happy to be here.

Michael R Wild

Inntel Hotel, Amsterdam Centre, Room 2266.

 

 

 

I left work early on Friday and followed along on-line at home and on my phone. The last-minute items were all failing to land at the Shoe Company–the upgrade work I was supposed to do on my time-off did not get final approval. No last-minute requests or upgrades. Free, well until the approval comes. Timesheets, three weeks, done. Out-of-office message in place. Work calendar blocked and non-blocking meeting showing me out to all my work colleagues done.  Handshakes and hugs, done. Out-of-there!

We are flying to Amsterdam for the holidays on Sunday. Never done Christmas in a hotel room before. Tickets, pre-purchased and allowing us to avoid the lines, are on my phone. The international Apple plugs for my computer charger found. New around the ear noise-reducing headphones, cheap, purchased for Susie and Corwin. So I think we are ready.

The Rijksmuseum on 24th. The Van Gogh Museum on Christmas. The Rembrandt House Museum on 26th. We arrive on the 23rd and leave on the 28th. So the trip is bookended with free days; a low-stress trip.

So packing is nearly done and passports found. Euros already acquired and distributed.

I received a Christmas card from the makers of my very lovely (expensive) chess computer with wooden pieces and an electronic board.

Yes, little hats, scarfs, and Christmas sweaters for my king and queen pieces. It is the best chess machine.

I have also taken the next week off and I have all these projects to do.

My 3D printer broke, don’t ask. We have new pasts to put in.

The supercapacitor charging circuit needs just a little more work. I have already acquired the buck regulator circuit to use the supercapacitor.

So much do.

So I expect I will be dreaming of boardgames, supercapacitors, 3D printing, on the plane.

 

 

 

 

I have returned to the Hollywood Theater again. It is day 2. I started with a set of short films. The Critters was cute and funny–something unique to this form of horror. The jokes are good, and then you scream! The Hidebehind was scary for me. A man lost is suddenly haunted by a tree spirit that disappears behind trees only to reappear and harry the man again. I hope I won’t get worse agoraphobia–a still night in open spaces still scares me. Too many tornados in my childhood. But all were good. I thought one a bit long, Lane 9–but still not bad. It made a bowling ally creepy. This was used in the movie Constantine too.

Then the live H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society did a live version of the story Lurking Fear. They crowd supplies some of the sound effects. It is good fun and so well done that you can’t help enjoying it.

I also picked up my Kickstarter items. I helped fund the festival and get a few items.

Here is my Shoggoth sample (not my lunch!).

I had a long and chaotic lunch next door to the theater. The tables filled as us from the festival came in. There was one waiter! I got my order in, and it came in a slow thirty minutes. The guy next to me never had his order taken and took-off. It took me thirty minutes to pay. One group started clearing tables for them.

I sat next to a friendly couple from San Fransico who popped up to attend the festival. They have been going to these horror film festivals some time. Apparently, the California one is no longer happening, so they attend the Portland one.

I then listened to Victoria Price give a very uplifting keynote after getting seated in the theater again. She apparently finds that the horror fans are the kindest fans. Ms. Price finds it a pleasure to share her father’s life with the fans and doing horror conventions and leading tours. It was an inspirational talk with a horror fan audience. She got a standing ovation.

The next movie was one I knew staring, of course, Vincent Price. I stepped out and headed home. Stopping by to thank Victoria again. I also thanked Brian, the festival director who I often support in various Kickstart campaigns.

Got home, and Susie and Corwin decided they wanted, eye-rolling allowed a movie. And Susie wanted to see Joker! Oh my!

So we got the 10PM showing. It is a fantastic ride and too dark for me–but maybe it fits the current over rev-ing times. I cringed when the soon-to-be-joker could not get his jokes off–I never even noticed when I forgot I was watching a movie. It has been a long time since I felt like a movie put me into the story as a witness. This was no super-hero comic book guy with cool powers that we just there. This was stark and painful to watch. Maybe one of the best movies for this dark type material ever. Again, not a kids’ film and very dark and painful and immersive.

I will not return for the third day of the festival as I have much to do, and Susie misses me.