Where are you?!
I nearly missed my flight to Amsterdam for a long weekend getaway with my husband, who was working in Poland. He planned to meet me at the Amsterdam airport on Friday. I was terribly mixed up, thinking I would fly out from Detroit on Friday evening and arrive Friday morning; for some idiotic reason, I thought the US was 8 hours ahead of Amsterdam when actually it’s only six hours, and we are are behind in time, not ahead. And because my ticket said I arrived Friday, I assumed I left on the same day. I didn’t notice the departure was actually Thursday. So much for details.
Anyway, he had arranged for a car to pick me up on Thursday to take me to Metro Detroit, and of course, I wasn’t home. I was out doing errands when he called my cell phone to ask “Where are you?! There’s a car in the driveway waiting for you!!” Eek! Luckily, I was only ten minutes away, and (because I’m organized… somewhat) I was all packed and ready to go. It also helped that my flight was delayed by one hour. Phew.
I made it
We had a lovely time. The highlights were the World Press Photo Show, featuring stunning photographs by 45 prize winners from 25 countries in eight categories; The Van Gogh Museum; the Heineken Experience (which covered everything from the Heineken family history to the brewing process); a Bag and Purse Museum that even Don enjoyed; the Red Light District; a canal boat ride; and all the fabulous little restaurants and neighborhoods. I wish we’d had more time because there was so much more we wanted to see. We’ll simply have to go again.
The people were incredibly friendly and welcoming, and everyone we dealt with spoke English. Fortunately no one asked us to explain our president.
A bit of history: we stayed in the Hilton Amsterdam, which is where John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged their “Bed-in for Peace” to protest the war.
Here’s a slide show:
Thank you for visiting.
Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a wrangler of words and big messy feelings in fiction and poetry.
In the Context of Love | Gordy and the Ghost Crab | Sleepwalker
Love and Other Incurable Ailments, coming fall 2026 from Regal House Publishing
Connect with Linda on social media: LinkTree