In the Netherlands

Hi Gramma,

I got into Amsterdam on Thursday (left Wednesday night), and haven't had much internet access since then.  The last couple days I spent in Amsterdam, and visited the van Gogh museum as well as a photography and a film museum.  It's actually pretty warm here, well, sort of warm, in the 40s and maybe even low 50s.  Apparently the worst of winter has passed, so there's no one skating on the canals.

Glad to hear you didn't get too much snow.  We got a little bit of snow on Tuesday in DC, maybe an inch, but it was almost all melted by the next day.

Today I came to Nunspeet, the small town where we'll be staying while we're here.  I walked around a bit and had a nice dinner, at a Louisiana-style steak and ribs place, no less.  At first I thought it must be a joke, but the food was actually really good, and the portions were huge, which was a nice change, especially since I hadn't eaten much since breakfast.

Aside from a few restaurants, pretty much all stores are closed on Sundays, including grocery stores.  Seems like the only place stores weren't closed was Amsterdam; I actually went to one before I caught the train this morning and picked up some basics: bread, cereal, milk, juice, and dried sausages, so that there'd be something to eat for breakfast tomorrow, and on the off-chance that loads of kimchi hadn't been packed.  Not that I had to worry about that; this evening the Koreans arrived, with a lot of kimchi and ramen packed in with the set and costumes.  It's kind of funny, and smelly, but it was also a good thing, because it meant they were able to put together a half-decent meal for supper.  

Tomorrow we have a load-in day at our first theater, which should be nice, let us ease back into the process instead of having to rush on Tuesday.  Still, there's going to be plenty to do, so I'd better get to bed.  Hope you are well.

Love,

Colin