Lipstick for Putin

London, Shoreditch

Okay, guys, I am back! Thank you so much, faithful readers, for letting me know that you missed the blog and for insisting that I write you back. You know that the enthusiastic complimenting is one of the things I miss most about living in the US. Even if you have a terribly bad hair day, Americans will look at your shoes and shout: "Hey, you look amazing today!" I don't care if what they say is not completely true -- it always makes my day. In any event, it's better than "Oh, you look so tired today, are you all right?"

Hey, you look fabulous today, did you know that?

I have been quite busy so I will apply a corporate mantra: work smarter, not harder. And to work smarter, I will give you more pictures today, less words. Here’s my life of the last few weeks in pictures and a few words.

Oosterdok, Amsterdam

(Visiting Amsterdam, Monday, April 8) At the Oosterdok in Amsterdam, thousands of people shouted for human rights in Russia while Putin was trying to have dinner at the Maritime Museum. The energy in the crowd was unbelievable: it felt like we were having a big party while Vladimir was probably trying to drink his karnemelk (a sort of sour buttermilk, very popular in the Netherlands) with a straight face.

You + Bike = Happy

During the weekend (on April 13), the Rijksmuseum was officially opened by Queen Beatrix. Thousands of art-lovers crowded the sidewalks and bike lanes around the museum. All you could hear was a concerto of bike bells followed by shrieks of tourists who quickly jumped from the bike line onto the side-walk. Who knew that art could be so dangerous? No one wears bike helmets in Amsterdam (except for the occasional lost American tourist), but it may be an idea to make them compulsory for the foot-traveling tourist.

Vondelpark

Meanwhile at the Vondelpark... these fun Egyptian geese (my favorites!) took their kids out for a day of fun. I read on Wikipedia that they are native of Africa, south of the Sahara and the Nile Valley. Can you believe that they got it too warm at some point and decided to move to Amsterdam? (Wikipedia is silent on that matter and claims that they are escaped ornamental birds.)

Sunday morning began with a serious accident. Annelien dropped my lucky charm and it lost a leg and its trunk. I have strong suspicions that it wasn’t a real accident. Annelien never kept it a secret that she didn't like the elephant that I brought home from a trip to India. The elephant and the driver are currently recovering in the local Super Glue ICU.

Somewhere in between Monnickendam and Amsterdam

After I glued the elephant's leg and trunk back on, I had enough of the tourists in the city and we decided to go out of town. We took a ferry boat and rode our bikes to Monnickendam. 

Annelien claims she was born on a bike.

My white legs (in Dutch known as melkflessen) reflected the early spring sun after a long and hard winter in Europe. I am so glad spring is back!